Steven Goldfarb (CERN, IPPOG) Visited Ukraine and Karazin University

Scientific cooperation, support for young people, and strong ties with the global scientific community are what keep us going and inspire us to move forward. Recently, Ukraine welcomed Steven Goldfarb, Co-Chair of the International Particle Physics Outreach Group (IPPOG) and a CERN physicist.

The visit was exceptionally eventful and symbolic. The official start of the visit took place in Kyiv with the signing of a memorandum with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. This is an important step toward strengthening the scientific and educational potential of our country.

Steven then traveled to the resilient city of Kharkiv, where an extensive program awaited him:

• meeting with scientists — Steven spoke with researchers working on various CERN experiments and discussed current joint projects in detail;
• meeting with students of Karazin University — an open conversation about the future of science and modern research;
• the Shift.Science@Karazin popular science evening — exploring the magic of the microworld, quantum technologies, and precision medicine;
• at the Central Scientific Library of Karazin University, they visited the space where workshops on particle physics are held and learned about the library’s capabilities;
• at the Institute for Scintillation Materials of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, they toured the production of unique crystals that are made in Kharkiv and used directly at CERN.

A particularly significant and deeply moving moment was the visit to the building of the Education and Research Institute “School of Physics and Technology.” Steven saw firsthand the buildings of the School of Physics and Technology that were destroyed at the beginning of the full-scale war. This serves as a reminder to the world of the tremendous efforts at the cost of which Ukrainian science continues to live and develop.

We sincerely thank Steven Goldfarb for his visit, solidarity, and unwavering support for Ukrainian scientists and students!