The European research centre Cern is looking into the possibility of collaborating and investing in local companies, including STMicroelectronics.

A delegation of two scientists from Cern, John Ellis and Emmanuel Tsesmelis, discussed the possibility of collaboration during a visit to STMicroelectronics yesterday. Accompanied by Maltese scientist and former Cern researcher Nicholas Sammut, the delegation also met Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

The scientists looked into the possibility of training Maltese people, creating new job opportunities and access to knowledge and technologies that would not be available otherwise. Three Maltese final-year students reading engineering, ICT and science are following a three-month course at Cern. The government funded the training of two and Cern paid for the third.

The possibility of launching training courses for Masters and PhD graduates was also discussed.

Dr Sammut, chairman of the Malta Council for Science and Technology, was responsible for the implementation and optimisation of the feed forward control system of the particle accelerator known as the Large Hadron Collider.

In January 2008, Dr Gonzi had visited Cern and signed a five-year memorandum of understanding with the research institute because he believed there were many in Malta like Dr Sammut who could benefit from collaboration with Cern. He also believed Maltese researchers would return to the island to create a research community there, paving the way for Malta to attract high-tech companies that would require such resources.