CLEVER OPERATION

Their core work

CLEVER OPERATION is a French SME based in Saint-Genis-Pouilly — directly adjacent to CERN — that provides specialist technical expertise to international particle physics and astroparticle physics experiments. The company contributes to research on neutrino oscillations, charged lepton flavour violation, and detector technologies such as crystal calorimeters and liquid argon time projection chambers. Through MSCA-RISE and MSCA-ITN mobility networks, they facilitate knowledge exchange between European, US, and Japanese research teams while contributing applied skills in instrumentation, data analysis, and machine learning to fundamental physics collaborations.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2017–2019), CLEVER OPERATION focused on a broad range of experimental physics including gravitational wave astronomy, gamma-ray astrophysics, x-ray polarimetry, and the anomalous muon magnetic moment alongside their core particle physics work. From 2020 onward, the scope narrowed and deepened around flavour physics, neutrino oscillations, and detector technologies, while adding machine learning, data analysis, and new astrophysical targets like dark matter and nuclear structure. The trend shows a company consolidating around intensity-frontier particle physics while integrating computational methods — a natural evolution as experiments generate increasingly large datasets.

Moving toward data-intensive particle physics with machine learning capabilities, while maintaining deep roots in detector instrumentation — positioning them well for next-generation neutrino and flavour physics experiments.

How they like to work

CLEVER OPERATION exclusively participates as a consortium partner, never as coordinator, which is typical for a specialist SME contributing focused technical expertise to large international physics collaborations. With 79 unique partners across 20 countries from just 4 projects, they operate in very large MSCA mobility networks — these are sprawling international consortia connecting labs across Europe, the US, and Japan. This makes them a well-connected node in the global particle physics community, comfortable working in highly distributed, multilateral research environments.

Remarkably broad network for an SME: 79 unique partners across 20 countries built through large MSCA mobility programmes. Their location next to CERN and participation in EU-US-Japan trilateral collaborations gives them connections spanning the major global particle physics hubs.

What sets them apart

Their location in Saint-Genis-Pouilly — literally at CERN's doorstep — gives them proximity to the world's premier particle physics facility, which few SMEs can match. As a private company embedded in fundamental physics research networks, they bridge the gap between academic experimentation and commercial technical services. For consortium builders, they offer an SME partner that brings genuine particle physics expertise and an extensive international network without the bureaucratic overhead of a large research institution.

Highlights from their portfolio

• INTENSE
  Largest single grant (EUR 82,800) and the company participated in two editions of this project (MSCA-RISE and MSCA-ITN), demonstrating deep, sustained commitment to intensity-frontier particle physics.
• NEWS
  Trilateral EU-US-Japan collaboration covering the widest scientific scope — from gravitational waves to x-ray polarimetry — showing the company's range beyond core particle physics.
• PROBES
  Most recent project (2022–2026), extending into dark matter, black holes, and gravitational wave detectors, signaling the company's evolving research direction.