Abu Dhabi: The UAE University delegation visited the headquarters of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, to enhance research cooperation between the two parties. The university delegation was headed by Prof. Ahmed Ali Murad - Associate Provost for Research. The delegation also included Prof. Maamar Benkraouda - Dean of College of Science, Prof. Taieb Znati - Dean of College of Information Technology, Prof. Salah Nasri - Department of Physics at College of Science, and Dr. Mohamed Bulfaqir, post-doctoral fellow, UAEU and Atlas project research member.

Prof. Ahmed Ali Murad, Associate Provost for Research, explained that the university attaches great importance to research cooperation with international scientific institutions which strengthens the university’s position globally. This research cooperation has a positive impact on the quality of research outcomes, which as such helps in achieving qualitative leaps in the world university rankings. These partnerships include the cooperation with the Atlas project, one of CERN’s projects that the UAE University cooperates with several national universities in this important project concerned with particle physics, which began in August 2021. This research and the qualitative partnership resulted in the publication of 23 research papers on the Scopus database.

Initially, the UAE University delegation met Andreas Hoecker, the Atlas project official spokesman, who welcomed the delegation and gave an overview of the project and future’s plans as the UAE University is part of this project research team. The delegation then visited CERN's data center and attended the presentation on the center's development and data process.

Dr. Mohamed Bulfaqir, post-doctoral fellow, UAEU and Atlas project research member, explained the positive research results for the participation of the UAE University as an active member in the project and the next phase action plan by increasing the number of the project’s team members from the UAE University in the fields of physics and software and computer sciences. Finally, the delegation visited the University of Savoy Mont Blanc in Annecy, France, and toured the university's data center.