Prof. Dr. Joachim Mnich awarded honorary doctorate of the University of Nova Gorica
Today, the Rector of the University of Nova Gorica, Prof. Dr. Boštjan Golob, conferred the title of Honorary Doctor – Doctor Honoris Causa – of the University of Nova Gorica on Prof. Dr. Joachim Mnich, Director for Research and Computing at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
He received this honor for his exceptional contributions to the development of high-energy physics in Slovenia, including at the University of Nova Gorica, for advancing the international recognition of Slovenian researchers in this field, as well as for his role in the progress of experimental elementary particle physics.
Justification of the Title:
Professor Joachim Mnich is the Director for Research and Computing at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva. He is one of the leading experts and strategists in the field of high-energy physics in Europe and worldwide.
He earned his PhD in physics, specifically in particle physics, in 1987 at Aachen University. In 2000, he was awarded the title of professor and focused his work on the development of a silicon tracking detector for the future CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. In 2009, when the then-director of the DESY institute in Hamburg was appointed Director-General of CERN, Professor Mnich succeeded him as the director at DESY. In 2021, he was appointed to his current role as CERN’s Director for Research and Computing.
The field of high-energy physics, which has now expanded to include astronomy and astrophysics, marks the origins of the Center for Astrophysics and Cosmology at the University of Nova Gorica. The activities of the Center stem from longstanding collaboration between Slovenian scientists at the Jožef Stefan Institute and the University of Nova Gorica with CERN. Later, the work of Slovenian physicists also extended to the DESY and KEK institutes in Japan. In the field of high-energy physics, researchers at the University of Nova Gorica participate in the Belle and Belle II experiments in Japan, the CTA Observatory in the Canary Islands, and the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina. In the latter project, significant support for our university was also provided by another honorary doctor of the University of Nova Gorica, Nobel laureate Professor James W. Cronin. The University’s strategy is to maintain a high level of scientific excellence in astrophysics and to increase the number of students enrolled in the Physics and Astrophysics programmes at both the first and second Bologna cycle levels.
Professor Mnich has been a long-time supporter and friend of Slovenian researchers in high-energy physics. It is no exaggeration to say that without his support for Slovenian scientists working at DESY and CERN, the extensive activities of the Center for Astrophysics and Cosmology at our university would probably not exist. His support culminated this year with the full membership of the Republic of Slovenia in CERN – a goal that has also been long pursued by the honorary rector of the University of Nova Gorica, Professor Danilo Zavrtanik. Professor Mnich’s personal role and authority in the field of high-energy physics have contributed to the fact that Slovenian researchers now play a significantly more visible role in numerous international collaborations than might be expected based on the financial and human resources of the Republic of Slovenia.
