The Republic of Cyprus submitted an application on June 3 to become a full member of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, an official announcement says.

It adds that the examination/evaluation of Cyprus’ application will be done by a working group which will be set up to this effect and it will last around six months.

Afterwards, if the recommendation of the working group is positive, then Cyprus will obtain the status of a candidate country for membership for a period of time between 1-5 years, during which it must meet specific criteria, it notes.

CERN, it explains, is the largest experimental centre of nuclear research and especially particle physics, in the world. It is located in the Switzerland - France border.

CERN was founded in 1954 by 12 European countries and currently has 20 member- states, including Greece, which is also a founding member. It currently employs some 2.000 permanent employees, while around 6.500 scientists and engineers (representing 500 universities and 80 different nationalities), about half of the particle physics community in the world, are dealing with experiments made by CERN, it concludes.