LIP, Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics, is the reference institution for experimental particle physics and associated technologies in Portugal. It was founded in May 1986 to exploit the unique opportunities created by the country’s accession to CERN, the European particle physics laboratory. LIP brought experimental particle physics in Portugal to a truly international ground and will continue leading this challenge.
Researchers at LIP participate in experiments addressing some of the most compelling questions in science today. They study the properties of the Higgs boson and search for new particles at the LHC, where they recreate the conditions that existed just after the big bang. They investigate the nature of dark matter, neutrinos and very-high-energy cosmic rays. With this goal, they develop new instruments and methods which also have applications in other domains, namely health care technologies, space exploration and information technology.
The LIP hub in Minho was constituted in 2010, a year in which a collaboration protocol was signed between LIP and the University of Minho. It currently has about 30 members, including researchers, students and technicians. The activities of LIP in Minho are structured in four groups: Particle Physics with Accelerators, which highlights the participation in the ATLAS experiment and the phenomenological studies associated with the measurements of the top quark and Higgs boson, as well as the research of new phenomena of Physics, not foreseen by the Standard Model; Astroparticles; Advanced Computing and Scientific Outreach.