CERN and ESA sign cooperation agreement

ESA Director General, Jean-Jacques Dordain, and CERN Director General, Rolf Heuer, after the signature of a cooperation agreement. Geneva, 28 March 2014. At a ceremony today at Geneva airport, CERN and ESA signed a framework agreement for future cooperation on research and technology in areas of mutual interest. Future areas may include the development and characterization of innovative materials for applications in extreme conditions and for cutting-edge scientific performances, the development of new micro-technologies to be applied in miniaturized distributed sensor systems and the development and testing of high-performance detectors for high-energy physics experiments and space payloads. Mauro Dell'Ambrogio, the State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation of Switzerland, highlighted how the two institutions complement each other as examples of successful European collaboration and worldwide excellence in science and technology: "CERN and ESA are two examples that attest to the approach of European collaboration for global benefit." Geneviève Fioraso, Minister for Higher Education and Research of France, stated that, "This cooperation agreement brings concrete expression to the long shared history of two international organisations that are emblematic of the strength of European science: CERN and ESA. This joining together in the exploration of the infinite, from the infinitely large that is the focus of the sciences of the Universe to the infinitely small in high energy physics, opens up new avenues for science and technology, bringing progress and strengthening European industry." "CERN and ESA have common roots and share a long history of pioneering research work in their respective fields," said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer.