Limburg institutions to collaborate with research institute CERN

Kennisinstituut CORMEC in Roermond and the Universities of Maastricht and Wageningen are to collaborate with research institute CERN to gain new insights into market forces in the formation of agricultural prices and to detect fraud.

What can a particle accelerator teach us about financial risk management for farmers? A lot, thinks chairman Bas Boots. CORMEC stands for Commodity Risk Management Expertise Center and is a knowledge institute in Roermond.
By working together with universities and the renowned CERN institute, they hope to gain new insights into how financial markets work and to detect fraud in those markets. Boots: "A lot of money goes through agricultural futures markets. If those markets work better, it will be good for food prices and stability."

Bundling knowledge

The research combines unique market data from WUR and CORMEC and their extensive knowledge of markets with key expertise from CERN in data analysis and techniques such as ROOT. Thanks to these techniques, very small signals can be picked up from enormous amounts of data that indicate fraudulent behavior. This would allow market fluctuations due to market design and market manipulation to be spotted and fraud to be tackled.

Big data techniques

In the institute in Switzerland, research is being done into the big bang. This is done with a particle accelerator, in which researchers let particles collide with each other at enormous speeds. These collisions provide a lot of data. The data includes measurements of the forces that are released and the speed at which the protons collide. In order to be able to process all this data, new techniques have been developed in Switzerland. The parties are now going to apply these techniques to the financial markets. Professor Joost Pennings, who works at the Universities of Wageningen (WUR) and Maastricht (UM): "What happens in Switzerland in the particle accelerator is actually very similar to what happens on the stock markets. On the markets you have bidding and letting. When that comes together, you get collisions. Just like with protons."

Pin in haystack

"The collaboration between CERN, Maastricht University, CORMEC and WUR is an example of how different sciences can inspire each other," says Sittarden resident Han Dols. He is head of the business development department at CERN: "Our many years of experience in big data analysis is an excellent basis for this project. CERN is good at measuring very small signals. We are basically looking for a needle in a haystack." In addition, Dols expects that CERN in turn can learn from the analysis methods used in the financial world.

Lobby for Einstein Telescope

The project requires an investment over the next three years of 2.9 million euros, largely funded by the universities. The province of Limburg will contribute 100,000 euros. According to Commissioner Van den Akker, the collaboration with CERN can help bring the Einstein Telescope to the region, an important initiative for research into gravitational waves and the creation of the universe. Van den Akker: "If we can become a sort of hub for CERN, that is of course good for our lobby. Because the renowned institute in Switzerland is also doing research into the Big Bang."

Sources: 1Limburg, WUR, CERN

Photocredits: CERN