In February 2014 CERN and Costa Rica signed International Cooperation Agreement (ICA) to establish a scientific and technical cooperation in high-energy physics. Its aims are foster the establishment of a community of particle physicists and the cooperation in other areas of common interest.

Also thanks to the support of national entities, Costa Rican students of physics and engineering regularly participate to the CERN Non-Member State Summer Student Programme. Scientists from the “Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica” participated in experiments at the ISOLDE Facility.

In June 2022 a consortium of the country universities was accepted as a full member of the LHCb Collaboration. Represented by the Consejo Nacional de Rectores (CONARE), this team comprises the Universidad de Costa Rica, the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, the Tecnológico de Costa Rica, the Universidad Técnica Nacional and the Universidad Estatal a Distancia.