From left to right: Peter Jenni, deputy chairperson of the CERN & Society Foundation board, Martin Steinacher, Director for Finance and Human Resources and president of the Foundation for the Globe of Science and Innovation board, and Nathalie Leuenberger, member of the Foundation for the Globe of Science and Innovation board, after the official signature of the merger. (Image: Julian Ordan/CERN)
On 6 June 2018, the CERN & Society Foundation and the Foundation for the Globe of Science and Innovation joined forces by becoming a single entity, with the ultimate goal of broadening the impact on society and optimizing fundraising activities.
The Foundation for the Globe of Science and Innovation, established in 2007, and the CERN & Society Foundation, established in 2014, have over the past years successfully carried out complementary missions, sharing the overarching objective of promoting engagement in science to support the broader mission of CERN.
After the merger, the combined Foundation will continue to have the name “CERN & Society Foundation”, and the existing partnerships and projects of the two foundations will be brought together in this Foundation. The mission and activities of the Foundation for the Globe of Science and Innovation will continue in the new framework.
Thanks to this merger, the enlarged CERN & Society Foundation will enable a more efficient and coordinated approach to better serve local and international communities.
The enlarged Foundation will have the purpose to support and promote the widest possible dissemination of the benefits of CERN's mission through education and outreach, innovation and knowledge exchange, and culture and art. It will also continue to support and promote any related activities.
The purpose of the Foundation extends to supporting the operation of the Globe of Science and Innovation and promoting it, notably through its use as a venue for scientific exhibitions, conferences, meetings and debates open to the general public, in the spirit in which the building was donated to CERN by the Swiss Confederation.
"The Foundation also supports the development of the Globe’s infrastructure and, in particular, the capital campaign for the Science Gateway” says Matteo Castoldi, Head of Partnerships and Fundraising and Secretary of the Foundation Board, which together with the CERN Legal Service has been instrumental to the merger and will be in charge to raise funds on behalf of the enlarged entity.
After being approved by the Swiss Federal Surveillance Authorities the merger became effective on the 11 October 2018. The Foundation for the Globe of Science and Innovation ceased to exist the same day.