"Portugal marks 40 years as a CERN Member State - a partnership that has driven science, innovation, and international cooperation."
On 26 April 1985, Portugal signed the Agreement of Accession to CERN - the European Organization for Nuclear Research, initiating a process that culminated, on 16 October 1985, with the Signature of the Instrument of Accession to the CERN Convention by President António Ramalho Eanes and Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaime Gama.
Portugal officially became a CERN Member State on 11 January 1986, marked by the hoisting of the Portuguese flag at CERN’s headquarters in Geneva.
26 April 1985 | Signing of Portugal’s Agreement of Accession to CERN as a Member State, by the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jaime Gama, and CERN Director-General, Herwig Schopper.
Seated, from left to right: W. Kummer (President of the CERN Council), Jaime Gama (Minister of Foreign Affairs), Herwig Schopper (Director-General of CERN). Standing, from left to right: Castro Brandão, Pinto Lemos, Favila Vieira, José Mariano Gago, and Jean-Marie Dufour (Director of CERN Legal Service).
16 de Outubro de 1985 | Carta de adesão de Portugal à Convenção CERN, assinada pelo Presidente da República Portuguesa, António Ramalho Eanes, e rubricada pelo Ministro dos Negócios Estrangeiros, Jaime Gama.
This was a historic milestone for Portuguese science and science diplomacy, coinciding symbolically with the country’s entry into the European Community.
The diplomatic process was led by Jaime Gama, with decisive involvement from José Mariano Gago, then a young physicist.
More than a political act, it was a declaration of confidence in knowledge and international cooperation - a strategic commitment to the modernization of Portuguese science and technology.
One year later, in 1986, the LIP - Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics was founded as Portugal’s official partner institution to CERN, bringing together the national particle physics community and ensuring coordination of the country’s participation in CERN’s major scientific programs.
Over the past four decades, Portuguese teams have contributed to leading experiments such as NA38, PS195, DELPHI, COMPASS, ATLAS, and CMS, playing significant roles in construction, data analysis, and technological innovation.
Their work contributed to landmark discoveries - including the observation of the Higgs boson in 2012 - and to the development of technologies with direct applications in society.
Today, Portugal contributes around 1% of CERN’s global budget, ensuring access for national teams to large-scale experiments such as LHCb, ALICE, and the upcoming High-Luminosity LHC.
More than 50 Portuguese professionals now work permanently at CERN in areas ranging from electronics, electrical and materials engineering to physics and chemistry, while hundreds of others have participated in CERN projects over the years, advancing fundamental research and high-performance computing.
Portugal’s participation in CERN stands as a remarkable example of scientific diplomacy, strengthening the country’s role in European science policy and fostering international collaboration.
From the early years, LIP’s expertise in instrumentation was matched by strong investments in scientific computing, making Portugal a full partner in global infrastructures such as the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) and other European data-science consortia.
“Celebrating 40 years of Portugal at CERN means acknowledging a remarkable collective journey - the vision, commitment, and hard work of all those who made it possible - while looking ahead to the future. CERN faces new challenges, and LIP stands ready to contribute with the same determination and foresight that inspired the decision taken forty years ago.”
— LIP Board, October 2025
In 2025, LIP celebrates this milestone with the digital commemorative edition “40 Years of Portugal at CERN”, revisiting Portugal’s journey in the European laboratory and highlighting the scientific, technological, and human impact of this collaboration.
Digital brochure available here.