Ireland will officially become an Associate Member of CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, in October 2025. This milestone unlocks new opportunities for Irish researchers, industry, and students to engage with one of the world’s leading scientific institutions.
Tyndall National Institute played a notable role in Ireland’s successful bid for CERN Associate Membership. In January 2023 Tyndall participated in a national delegation to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, where CERN membership was promoted as both a scientific and a strategic opportunity for Ireland.
By July 2025, that vision became reality with the Cabinet decision to join CERN. Tyndall’s Micheal Nolan, Head of Group for Materials Modelling for Devices, who participated in key delegations to CERN in 2024 and 2025 commented:
This is the fruit of many years of behind-the-scenes work. CERN membership is a gateway to global collaboration, knowledge transfer, and industry engagement.
Ireland’s Associate Membership of CERN unlocks a wealth of opportunity across science, industry, and education It enables researchers and students to participate in world-leading experiments, while Irish companies can bid for CERN contracts worth up to €1.6 million annually, driving innovation and growth. The membership also opens doors for fellowships, internships and training programmes as well as research collaborations with CERN, helping shape Ireland’s future talent pipeline and grow Ireland’s scientific reputation. On the global stage, Ireland joins a select group of associate members, reinforcing its reputation as a hub of scientific excellence and international collaboration.
With only 33 Irish researchers currently registered at CERN, that number will grow strongly as a result of Ireland’s membership. Tyndall is already leading efforts to strengthen collaboration across the EU and beyond, through its support for the fabrication of precision micro-channel connectors for CERN’s detector arrays, advancing research infrastructure across borders. Tyndall’s impact also extends through Varadis, a spinout company that supplies RADFET radiation detection technology to CERN, used to measure high-energy particle radiation around the Large Hadron Collider.
As part of CERN’s global network of over 14,000 scientists from 116 countries, the growing presence of Ireland and Tyndall marks a step forward in the international scientific community and reflects Tyndall’s commitment to research excellence.
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