Korea and Italy are launching a joint research center to study dark matter and neutrinos, considered key clues to understanding the composition and structure of the universe.
The Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) under the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) will hold an opening ceremony for the IBS-INFN Neutrino and Dark Matter Center at the IBS headquarters in Daejeon on the 30th and begin full-fledged activities.
Scientists say only 5% of the universe is matter that emits or reflects light like stars or planets and can be observed by us, while 68% is dark energy that pushes the universe to expand and 27% is dark matter that does not emit light but pulls objects. It has not yet been revealed what dark matter is or how it works.
Neutrinos also remain in the unknown. Although they are one of the fundamental particles that make up the universe, they interact so little with other matter that they are called "ghost-like particles." Because dark matter and neutrinos are not easily detected, researchers must observe rare signals deep underground, where cosmic radiation is shielded. Research institutions around the world have been conducting precision experiments in this way.
Italy's Gran Sasso laboratory is the world's largest underground experimental facility and a research hub that has produced major results in neutrino oscillation experiments and dark matter searches. The IBS Underground Experimental Research Group has been conducting dark matter and neutrino research at Yemilab, Korea's only deep underground experimental facility 1,000 meters below ground in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province, and recently drew attention in academia with research that rebutted DAMA/LIBRA, the representative Gran Sasso experiment.
The two institutions, once competitors, are establishing a joint research center to build a formal cooperation framework. The center will be co-led by IBS Director General Kim Young-deok and LNGS Director Ezio Previtali. Both sides will each invest 5 billion won in research funding annually, and after operating for five years and undergoing evaluation, the term can be extended to up to 10 years.
Core goals include developing materials for dark matter searches and technologies to detect neutrinoless double beta decay. The Korean team will handle sodium iodide (NaI) crystal purification, while the Italian team will be responsible for crystal growth and radioactivity measurements, securing world-class low-radioactivity crystal samples. Based on these samples, they plan to develop next-generation detectors with enhanced sensitivity and proceed to follow-up experiments. The joint research center will also promote personnel exchanges to train next-generation researchers and establish a foundation for long-term research.