On Tuesday, 12 January 2026, CERN welcomed Matthias Diependael, Minister-President of the Government of Flanders, together with the rectors of Flemish universities: Prof. Herwig Leirs (University of Antwerp), Prof. Petra De Sutter (Ghent University), and Prof. Jan Danckaert (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), along with other Flemish representatives.

The delegation visited the Synchrocyclotron, CERN’s first accelerator, the CERN Control Centre, and the Muon Lab, before continuing to the LHC Superconducting magnet test hall and the CMS experiment. Participants also met members of the CERN community to discuss ongoing scientific challenges and opportunities for collaboration.