From the SERI press-release:
On August 20, 2026, President of the Swiss Confederation and Head of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) Guy Parmelin received CERN Director-General Mark Thomson for a working visit in Bern. The focus was on the close relations between Switzerland and CERN.
President Parmelin assured Director-General Thomson of Switzerland’s support to ensure that CERN remains the global reference in particle physics. Topics of discussion included the initiatives launched by Switzerland since 2021 to support CERN projects, the next steps regarding the upcoming decision on the Future Circular Collider (FCC), and the diverse applications of CERN research.
The visit was complemented by three events organized by State Secretary Martina Hirayama:
- 🔬 In the morning, the Director-General met with representatives of Swiss particle physics, particularly from the federally supported initiatives Swiss Accelerator Research & Technology (CHART) and Swiss High Energy Physics for the FCC (CHEF).
- 🏛️ Over lunch, high-ranking representatives from the ETH Board, swissuniversities, and the Swiss National Science Foundation discussed how CERN and local research actors benefit from one another.
- 🏭 In the afternoon, representatives of Swiss companies and industry debated CERN’s role as an innovation driver for Switzerland.
