INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Europe's physics lab CERN said Sunday that some 500 scientists linked to Russian institutes will be affected when it stops cooperation with
Russia in late November as planned.CERN's decision-making body agreed in June 2022 to terminate cooperation agreements with Russia and its
ally Belarus over the war in Ukraine.Thus, Belarus's five-year agreement was not renewed when it expired last June 27, and Russia's will not
be extended when it ends on Nov
30, CERN said.This has already reportedly left around 15 Belarusian scientists cut off from cooperating with CERN, and hundreds of Russian
to stop such cooperation," CERN spokesman Arnaud Marsollier told AFP, confirming reports.Those scientists have until now figured among a
community of around 17,000 researchers worldwide, mostly working from their own host institute or laboratory as they participate in
CERN-linked work, including experiments and data analysis.When CERN's decision-making council finalized the decision to halt cooperation
with Russia last December, it stressed that it would "not affect the relationship with scientists of Russian nationality affiliated with
other institutes."Marsollier estimated that around 90 Russians had moved to other labs and would be able to continue their collaboration.The
decision also does not impact employees at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), based in Dubna, around 110 kilometers north of
Moscow.It is considered "an international organization," Marsollier explained.The exclusion of Russia also means CERN will lose out on
significant financial contributions.Russia had been pitching in around 4.5 percent towards the annual operational costs of the experiments
run in the lab's giant particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, or around 2.3 million Swiss francs ($2.7 million).And it had vowed
to pitch in 40 million francs ($47.57 million) toward the dramatic upgrade underway of the LHC, set to come online in 2029 and increase the
number of detectable events by a factor of 10.Other member states will step in to cover Russia's budget contribution, and Marsollier said
CERN would fill the gap on the LHC upgrade.There is "no delay expected due to this," he said.
