Chile has strong traditions in theoretical physics and in engineering, and a first International Cooperation Agreement (ICA) with the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT) was signed in October 1991. This agreement ended in 2001 and a new one was signed in September 2004. A Protocol to this ICA regarding the participation of institutions of Chile in high- energy physics experiments at CERN was signed in 2007.

The Universidad Federico Santa María (UFSM) in Valparaiso and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUCC) in Santiago have strengthened their contacts with CERN through the EPLANET programme and its precursor HELEN (2005-2009), sending students to work in ATLAS and on related theoretical subjects. Both institutions signed agreements with the ATLAS Collaboration during the visit of President Michelle Bachelet in June 2007. A joint Chilean team from PUCC and UTFSM became a member of ATLAS in 2007. The Comisión Chilena de Energía Nuclear (CCHEN) participates in experiments at the ISOLDE Facility.

With the signature of the Memorandum on Cooperation (MoC) for the CLIC Detector and Physics Study (CLICdp), in September 2013, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile became partner of the CLICdp Collaboration.

The 4th CERN-Latin American School of High Energy Physics (CLASHEP) took place in Viña del Mar in 2007.

Rectors of participating and other large universities from Chile visited CERN in 2018, further stressing the country’s interest in cooperation.