Celebrating the 5th Anniversary of the Founding of Nova Gorica Polytechnic.
In 2000, five years have passed since the founding of Nova Gorica Polytechnic. The offer of the educational activity of this core of the new Slovene university is expanding, with the research activity also being strengthened, which ensures the freshness and expertness of pedagogical work. The bonds of Nova Gorica Polytechnic with reputable foreign institutions and individuals are becoming more frequent and closer.
One of the most notable international projects, in which an important role is taken up precisely by the Laboratory for Astroparticle Physics of Nova Gorica Polytechnic, is the construction of the largest observatory in the world, the goal of which is to ascertain the origin and properties of high-energy cosmic rays. The role of our laboratory in this project, and consequently the start of a new direction of research in Slovenia (astroparticle physics), is the fruit of several years of close co-operation of our colleagues with the head of the international P. Auger Collaboration, the Nobel Prize winner Prof. Dr James W. Cronin from the University of Chicago, USA.
Demonstrated as a special confirmation of the research orientation of our institution is yesterday's decision by the Senate of Nova Gorica Polytechnic to award an honorary doctorate (doctor honoris causa) to Prof. Dr James W. Cronin as a sign of recognition and thanks for his co-operation and for the promotion of Nova Gorica Polytechnic in the world.
Following his doctorate at the University of Chicago, Prof. Dr J.W. Cronin dedicated his research work from 1955 onwards to the study of the basic building blocks of matter, and in the beginning of the sixties led a number of experiments which led to the discovery of the violation of CP symmetry in the world surrounding us. Because of the importance of this discovery Prof. Dr J. W. Cronin, together with Prof. Dr V.L. Fitch, received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1980. Professor Cronin is the recipient of several eminent recognitions and an Honorary Doctor at Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, and the University of Leeds.