Scottish expertise involved in building and operating the Large Hadron Collider should be recognised and acclaimed, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Fiona Hyslop said today.

The Collider, the world’s largest machine, was switched on in Geneva today. It will smash particles such as protons together at the highest energies ever achieved to simulate the conditions which existed a fraction of a second after the Big Bang.

Particle physicists hope the experiments will help them solve various problems to do with the very building blocks of the universe.

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Hyslop said that work done by Scottish scientists, particularly at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities, on the project must be congratulated.

“Scotland has a proud and distinguished history of scientific discovery which has continued to the present day, with the high standard of our research being recognised by recent international studies. This is amply demonstrated by the contribution of many Scottish scientists in developing the LHC and the experiments that it will run.

"This project shows what can be achieved when countries work together to share knowledge and expertise and I am delighted that Scottish universities are key partners. I would like to pay particular tribute to Professor Higgs, who I met today. His studies into the physics processes that govern our universe have given rise to the exciting questions which the LHC will attempt to solve."

(GK/KMcA)