CERN LHCb Experiment Conference Starts at VU for the First Time in Lithuania

For the first time in Lithuania, on 14 September the CERN LHCb (Large Hadron Collider beauty) collaboration conference has started in Vilnius University (VU). The event, LHCb Week Vilnius, brought together hundreds of scientists, engineers, and early-career researchers involved in the LHCb collaboration, representing research institutions from around the world.

'This is the first time the collaboration has gathered in Lithuania, and this is the largest international meeting in fundamental science that our country has ever hosted. For a university, there are few greater compliments than to be chosen as a meeting place by one of the world’s leading scientific collaborations. I can assure you that the commitment of Vilnius University to CERN is not conditional. It will only deepen – through the analyses we lead, the students we educate, and the contributions we intend to make to the upgrades that will carry this experiment into the 2030s', says VU rector prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas. 

At the opening of the conference at the VU Life Sciences Center on 14 September, participants were welcomed by the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda.

The LHCb collaboration is one of the four major experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Its mission is to address one of the most fundamental questions in modern physics: why the Universe is made predominantly of matter, even though the Big Bang is thought to have produced matter and antimatter in nearly equal quantities. The experiment represents a global effort to better understand the nature of matter and the fundamental laws that govern the Universe.

In 2024, Vilnius University was admitted as an official institute of the LHCb experiment. The LHCb Vilnius group, led by Dr Mindaugas Šarpis, contributes to the development and characterisation of new detector technologies as well as the analysis of particle physics data.

Lithuania has been an Associate Member of CERN since 2018 and is currently pursuing full membership of the organisation.

Lithuania’s ambition to become a full Member State of CERN is included in the Government’s programme. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius has already written a formal letter to CERN’s leadership in support of Lithuania’s application for full membership, underscoring the country’s commitment to strengthening its role in international scientific research and innovation.

The conference will take place from 14 to 18 September. It is organised by VU and held under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda. Each year, LHCb Week is hosted in a different country, bringing together members of the CERN LHCb collaboration from across the globe. Last year, the conference was held in Beijing, China, and in 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland.