An-Najah National University: The Sole Palestinian Institution to Renew ATLAS Experiment Membership at CERN for the Third Consecutive Year

For the third consecutive year, An-Najah National University has renewed its membership in the ATLAS Experiment at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), reinforcing its status as the only Palestinian university engaged in this world-leading scientific collaboration. This milestone, driven by Dr. Ahmed Bassalat, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, and his research team, underscores An-Najah’s prominent role in cutting-edge particle physics research in the Arab world.
The renewal reflects An-Najah’s continued contributions to ATLAS-CERN, particularly in advancing the understanding of elementary particles and the fundamental structure of matter. Among the university’s most notable contributions is its involvement in research related to the historic discovery of the Higgs Boson particle, a breakthrough that earned the Nobel Prize in Physics.
An-Najah’s partnership with CERN places it alongside some of the world’s top academic institutions, further strengthening its role as Palestine’s gateway to international scientific research and innovation.
As part of this collaboration, An-Najah National University, under the leadership of Dr. Kherieh Rassas, Vice President for Partnerships and Global Initiatives, annually organizes the Winter School in High Energy Physics in Palestine (WISHEPP). This program, conducted in partnership with CERN, the University of Paris-Saclay, and IJCLab in France, has been a cornerstone of An-Najah’s engagement with the ATLAS Experiment. WISHEPP has expanded research opportunities and provided hundreds of training programs and numerous PhD scholarships at prestigious international institutions, offering An-Najah graduates unparalleled access to advanced research and academic development.
The ATLAS Experiment is among the most significant scientific projects in modern physics, bringing together over 3,000 scientists and researchers, including 1,200 PhD students from more than 40 countries. The experiment seeks to unravel the mysteries of the universe, study dark matter and gravitational forces, and deepen our understanding of the cosmos by analyzing the smallest building blocks of matter.