The is one of the world's largest and most respected centres for scientific research, and the funds for Croatia's associate membership have been earmarked from the the state budget and EU finds, the Croatian science and education ministry has stated in a press release.
Joining the CERN will enable Croatia to have prerequisites for excellent science, the minister was quoted as saying.
Minister Divjak commented on a handful of benefits from the CERN membership, including the increasing capacities for the development of fundamental sciences, and Croatian companies' eligibility to participate in tenders advertised by CERN or enhancement of cooperation in the research and scientific fields.
Ministry's State Secretary Tome Anticic says that CERN capacities are available to some 8,000 researchers from 580 institutions.
Anticic goes on to say that Croatia's admission to CERN is vital for the Croatian industry, too.
Currently, there are a score of Croatian companies ready for cooperation with CERN, and this will be a huge step forward for our industry and a basis for creating a high-tech economy for which Croatia is striving, Anticic says.
The CERN laboratory was founded in 1954. It was one of Europe's first joint ventures and now has 22 member states. CERN is run by the 22 member states, each of which has two official delegates to the CERN council. One represents his or her government’s administration; the other represents national scientific interests.
The name CERN is derived from the acronym for the French "Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire", or European Council for Nuclear Research, a provisional body founded in 1952 with the mandate of establishing a world-class fundamental physics research organisation in Europe. At that time, pure physics research concentrated on understanding the inside of the atom, hence the word "nuclear".
Croatia is one of non-member states with co-operation agreements with CERN. In 2012, it was stated that Croatia earmarked some HRK 1.5 million annually for its collaboration with CERN.