IIT Jodhpur becomes a part of full member of CMS Collaboration at CERN

IIT Jodhpur is proud once again of its landmark achievement, it has now become a full member of CMS Collaboration at CERN.

CMS Collaboration is Compact Muon Solenoid Collaboration and CERN (The European Organization for Nuclear Research) is the world's largest particle physics laboratory.

It is located on the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva in Switzerland. With this membership, IIT Jodhpur has now become a part of group of institutions working together to answer some of biggest scientific questions like 'What is the Universe made of? How did it begin? What are the fundamental building blocks of matter?'

CMS Experiment

CMS Experiment is one of the flagship experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. It is globally renowned for the historic discovery of the Higgs boson, popularly  known as the "God Particle", in 2012—one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the 21st century.

Full member

As a full member, IIT Jodhpur will now take part directly in long-term scientific programme of CMS Collaboration. 

Researchers from the institute will contribute to frontier research in particle physics, develop next-generation detector technologies, and employ advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques to analyse the enormous volumes of data generated by experiments through particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, say sources from IIT Jodhpur.

The lead

The CMS programme at IIT Jodhpur will be led by Dr. Lata Panwar and Dr. Jitendra Kumar, faculty members of the Institute, who bring extensive experience from CERN. Both have previously worked as researchers in the internationally acclaimed ATLAS, ALICE, and CMS collaborations at CERN and have made significant contributions to experimental particle physics.

Their outstanding scientific work was also recognised through the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, awarded to researchers associated with CERN's Large Hadron Collider collaborations.

Defining moment

Turning into a full member of CMS Collaboration is a defining moment for the institution, said Prof Avinash Kumar Agarwal, Director of IIT Jodhpur.

It is a defining moment in IIT Jodhpur's journey towards realising their aim of achieving global scientific excellence, he said.

'This achievement reflects the Institute's commitment to pursuing frontier research that addresses the most fundamental questions of science while simultaneously driving technological innovation.'

Our participation in one of the world's most prestigious scientific collaborations will provide our faculty, researchers, and students with unparalleled opportunities to work alongside leading international scientists and contribute to discoveries that shape humanity's understanding of the Universe, he said. 

It also reinforces India's growing leadership in global science and technology, he said.

Significant step

CERN has long been recognised as a cradle of transformative scientific innovation. 

Beyond groundbreaking discoveries in particle physics, the organisation is also credited with giving birth to the World Wide Web, illustrating how curiosity-driven fundamental research can generate technologies that profoundly transform society.

With this milestone, IIT Jodhpur has taken a significant step onto the global stage of frontier science, joining the worldwide effort to unravel the deepest mysteries of the Universe and contribute to discoveries that will shape the future of science and humanity.

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