The Sharing Knowledge Foundation (PLS) is proud to announce the existence of an important agreement between CERN and PLS since 2013 (KN2238/DG signed on 26 August 2013) concerning:
Training of students, engineers and scientists from universities in the Middle East and North Africa in CERN’s student programs.
This agreement is an extension of the existing agreement between CERN, PLS and Morocco. Mohamed Gouighri, a Moroccan student, successfully took advantage of this program by coming to CERN to complete his PhD. Since May 2013, he has been appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Agadir.
This new agreement is an important extension of the case of Morocco (which has been part of CERN’s programs since 1996), to any university in the MENA area, whether or not it has a formal or informal agreement with CERN.
CERN is not authorized to receive donations, but allows our Foundation to raise money from third parties to establish scholarships for students to participate in CERN science programs. The amounts cover all expenses incurred by CERN so that the student sponsored by PLS has the same status as students from CERN member states.
CERN’s motivation stems directly from the concept of “Science for Peace”, which is formulated in the CERN Convention adopted in 1954. While during the Cold War the focus was on East-West relations, since 1990 CERN has supported North-South dialog by opening its experimental program to the Arab and Muslim world from Morocco to Pakistan.
The aim of our Foundation, since its creation, is to encourage the “Sharing of Knowledge” and dialog between scientists and engineers from the North, South and East of the Mediterranean.
Since the conclusion of this agreement, proposals have been made to Palestinian universities which offer courses in Physics, Engineering and Informatics corresponding to the scientific activities of CERN, namely universities: Al Quds University, Birzeit University and An-Najah National University. A selection committee was established in early 2014; the selected students were able to start their program at CERN during 2015.
