Minister Pandor travels from Russia to New York to address 60th anniversary celebrations of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN)
Following a week-long visit to Russia, where Minister Naledi Pandor signed a new science and technology agreement between South Africa and Russia in Moscow, held bilateral discussions with her Russian counterpart, Prof. Dmitry Livanov, and visited the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), she is now heading to New York for the 60th anniversary celebrations of CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research.
Perhaps best known for operating the Large Hadron Collider, CERN was established in 1954, after the Second World War, by 12 European states, with the aim of collaborating on science for peaceful purposes.
Its operations are centered on fundamental physics ‑ finding out what theuniverse is made of and how it works. It currently has 21 member states from all over the world.
A number of events have been organised in several countries to celebrate CERN's 60th anniversary. Minister Pandor is attending a morning event at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on 20 October, where she will give an address, titled"the importance of science in bringing peoples and cultures closer and the present political and diplomatic context".
Other speakers include Ban Ki-moon (UN Secretary General), Prof. Carlo Rubbia (Nobel Physics Prize winner and former Director-General of CERN), Kofi Annan (Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Secretary-General of the United Nations), Prof. Fabiola Gianotti (member of the UN Scientific Advisory Board), Prof. Hitoshi Murayama (member of CERN's Scientific Policy Committee) and Ambassador Martin Sajdik (President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council).
The contributions of the participants are expected to cover different perspectives of the past, present and future role of science for peaceful cooperation and development.
Among other things, the event hopes to raise awareness about CERN and its mission, celebrate the values promoted by CERN's approach to science (neutrality, inclusion and cooperation), present CERN's governance as a model for effective international collaboration, promote the role of science in international debates and decision-making, and activate support for science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
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