[Infowarrior] - Austria to pull out of European CERN institute

[Richard Forno]

Austria to pull out of European CERN institute

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gXpK1nNNGu1TG7V0RjfTwt9y3-MA

VIENNA (AFP) — Austria is pulling out of the European Organisation for  
Nuclear Research (CERN), Science Minister Johannes Hahn announced  
Thursday, citing budget concerns.

The 20-million-euro (26.9-million-dollar) yearly membership in CERN --  
which is responsible for Europe's Big Bang atom-smasher -- makes up 70  
percent of the money available in Austria for participation in  
international institutes and could be better used to fund other  
European projects, he said.

"I feel bad about every membership that we cannot keep up," Hahn told  
journalists.

But a choice had to be made between continuing work with CERN or  
encouraging other prospects for the future, he added.

Hahn said he hoped Austria could find "a new kind of cooperation" with  
CERN and described Vienna's withdrawal from the project as a "pause",  
noting that some 30 states were already working together with the  
Geneva-based centre without being members.

The science ministry was aiming "to enhance Austria's research  
profile" by participating in a variety of projects across a wide range  
of disciplines, and while CERN's work was high-profile, Austria's role  
in it was rather limited, said Hahn.

The newly-available funds will now allow Austria to take part in new  
European projects, boost its participation in old ones as well as help  
the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the country's main organisation  
funding research.

But top Austrian scientists criticised the move Thursday, just months  
before the CERN is due to relaunch the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a  
27-kilometre (17-mile) multi-billion-dollar underground particle  
accelerator designed to shed light on the "Big Bang."

"This is a catastrophe," said renowned Vienna physicist Walter  
Thirring, who headed CERN's theory group from 1968 to 1971, warning  
that other states could follow Austria in pulling out of the  
organisation.

The head of the Austrian Institute of High Energy Physics, Christian  
Fabjan, meanwhile called it a "black day for Austrian research."

Austria, which has been a member of CERN since 1959, just needs formal  
approval from parliament and the government now to pull out of the  
organisation. Its membership could then end officially in late 2010.