The University of Bath has strengthened its research and educational ties with CERN, the world-leading European Laboratory for Particle Physics, in a move that will open up new opportunities for its students.
The new collaboration agreement builds on the university’s existing research partnership with Switzerland-based CERN’s Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, one of its major particle physics detectors and part of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) complex.
Under the deal, Bath students and researchers will continue to expand ongoing research into engineering aspects of CERN’s facilities, including optimisation of key accelerator physics devices, work with advanced carbon nanotubes and on improving cooling systems and transporting equipment.
More opportunities for PhD and undergraduate placement students are also included in the new agreement.
One new PhD position, funded by CERN, will allow a candidate to split their time between Bath and CERN and will involve research into how to grow carbon nanotube wires with optimal mechanical properties.
These are used in scanners which rapidly pass the wires across a beam – a stream of particles travelling at close to the speed of light – to characterise its properties. New opportunities for placements will also be made available to Bath students.
Dr Alexander Lunt, from Bath’s Faculty of Engineering & Design, who manages the university’s relationship with CMS and CERN, said: “We are absolutely delighted to sign this new agreement and to see our partnership with CMS and CERN grow.
“We recently had an incredibly productive visit to Geneva, which has allowed us to expand our relationship and build connections to open up future opportunities for Bath students and academics.”
Dean of the Faculty of Engineering & Design Professor Tim Ibell added: “It is fabulous to see our partnership with CERN continuing to grow and flourish. Opportunities associated with this collaboration are extraordinary, perfectly aligning with our faculty research priorities.”
The University of Bath is regarded as one of the UK's leading higher education establishments for high-impact research. It ranks seventh in the Guardian University Guide 2023 and eighth in the Complete University Guide 2023.
Founded in 1954, the CERN laboratory sits astride the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 23 member states.
Physicists and engineers at the facility use the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments to study the basic constituents of matter – fundamental particles.
