The CERN Science Gateway, a new educational and outreach facility of about 7000 m2, will be a unique attraction in the heart of Europe, bringing visitors up close to the science and innovation at CERN. Thanks to authentic and inspiring content, visitors will experience the wider context of scientific research, in the place where science is happening.

The main purpose of Science Gateway is to inspire a diverse audience, to instil in them curiosity for science, and to help them make sense of the science that shapes their lives. In particular, it intends to engage younger students to the pursuit of scientific studies. CERN has joined forces with education leaders to develop, for school children and teachers, a novel way of learning and teaching science.

The Science Gateway will enable interaction with the science and the people working at CERN, the discoveries, the research projects, the innovation, and the peaceful collaboration across nations that makes it all possible.

Finally, Science Gateway will reach out to build ties across CERN member and Associate Member States, and beyond, sharing content and encouraging co-creation with other museums, science centres and education networks.

Private funding is crucial for the completion of Science Gateway, which will be co-developed in close collaboration with donors to reflect a shared vision and common values. The CERN & Society Foundation has launched the capital campaign for the Science Gateway. In-kind contributions of components and services for the building by companies are also being sought.

These days, hadron therapy is a term appearing more and more frequently in the news and media. It has become part of the vocabulary that scientists use to talk about the latest advancements, bringing new hope in cancer treatment.

The ENLIGHT- European Network for Light Ion Hadron Therapy - programme offers immeasurable value, both from a training perspective and from the opportunity to join the ENLIGHT network of experts and experienced practitioners. There are three types of trainings available, ranging from introductory training to internship opportunities. The program is aimed at research students around the world studying particle therapy, who are in their final years of undergraduate studies or beyond. Depending on their education level, students can follow and benefit from one or more training cycles offered at CERN and/or other research and clinical facilities involved with the ENLIGHT network. 

Our aspirations:

• to provide young researchers in particle therapy with an opportunity for high-level multidisciplinary education and training with the involvement of leading experts in the field;
• to establish a worldwide network of young scientists engaged in information and knowledge sharing, and reaching out to emerging countries globally;
• to reinforce the hadron therapy field with qualified experts who can further develop and diffuse the therapeutic techniques worldwide;
• to demonstrate how fundamental research can be linked with and provide viable solutions to critical issues like cancer for the benefit of society.

At CERN, we are dedicated to scientific research and we work to create a world where high-quality, scientific education is universally available. We are pleased to share our knowledge with educators world-wide via CERN’s Teacher Programmes. The Programmes are intended for high school science teachers, and offered on-site at CERN to promote the teaching of modern physics. The National Teacher Programmes are brief (up to 1 week) but intensive at the same time. The programmes include lectures from CERN scientists, hands-on activities and dedicated sessions as to how teachers can bring physics and CERN’s expertise into the school classroom. Subject to the availability of lectures speaking the same language, the Programmes are offered in the participants’ national language for maximum comprehension.

Since the beginning of the Programme in 1998, about 11’500 high school teachers were trained at CERN. Every year, around 40 national courses take place in 21 languages.

The costs of all scientific, administrative and technical support for the Programmes, such as scientific content and provision of national language facilitators, lecturers and guides, as well as all necessary infrastructure are paid by CERN. However, CERN does not cover the costs of travel and other necessities, which often represent a barrier for teachers to attend a Programme. 

The CERN- UNESCO Schools on Digital Libraries initiative is a week-long training session for librarians and IT specialists at research institutions in Africa. These sessions are followed up by a more in-depth training for selected participants at CERN. Up to 30 participants learn how to replace expensive and quickly outdated hard copies of publications with digital versions, and to use up-to-date information technologies to promote the global sharing of information. In particular, participants are taught how to use the Invenio digital library software, a free open source tool for digital library management developed at CERN.

These Schools help participants become familiar with all principles related to open access and open knowledge, as well as giving practical solutions for setting up and running digital libraries. Our ambition is to enable increased access to information for African researchers, to make African research more visible to the rest of the world.

The ATLAS PhD Grant Scheme encourages young, talented and motivated PhD students in particle physics, research and computing for physics. The scheme offers students a unique opportunity to enhance their studies in a world-class research environment under the supervision and training of ATLAS collaboration experts.

How it started:

Fabiola Gianotti and Peter Jenni, former ATLAS spokespersons, received in 2013 the Fundamental Physics Special Breakthrough Prize for their leadership role in the discovery of the Higgs boson. They donated their share of the Prizemoney towards creating a Grant scheme, for which the first students were selected in 2014.

The Grant:

Selected candidates receive a stipend to spend one year at CERN followed by one year at their host institute. Students work as research physicists within the ATLAS collaboration, as part of the work required to obtain their PhDs. During their time at CERN, students receive daily supervision from ATLAS scientists.

Our objectives:

• to offer a unique educational opportunity to outstanding students to meet and work with world-class specialists at ATLAS;
• to fuel the spirit of scientific curiosity and take the students one step closer to their own scientific discoveries;
• to engage home universities and ensure they guide their students successfully to a PhD degree;
• to strengthen scientific collaboration across the world and bring home institutes, ATLAS and CERN closer together