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

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 short (up to 1 week) but intensive at the same time. The programmes include lectures from CERN scientists, hands-on activities and dedicated sessions on 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 have been 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 the 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. Covering these costs is only made possible thanks to generous donations from individuals, companies and foundations. 

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 programme 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.

CERN Science Gateway is a place to explore CERN and science through authentic, innovative and inspirational experiences. It is CERN’s new education and outreach centre, where we take visitors on a unique journey building on the physical proximity to CERN, its accelerators, detectors, facilities and people.  

Through immersive multimedia exhibits, hands-on lab workshops, science shows, events that blend science and culture, innovation-prototyping workshops and tours of authentic CERN places – all guided by CERN people – visitors of all ages and backgrounds can engage in the discoveries, the science and the technologies of CERN.  

Our vision is for a world where science and learning are part and parcel of everyone’s life. Our younger visitors may leave inspired to explore a career in science and technology. We hope that all visitors will feel empowered to make sense of the science that shapes their lives.  

This vision is housed in an iconic building designed by the world-renowned Renzo Piano Building Workshop, with support from Brodbeck-Roulet architectes associés. 

An iconic building  

Inspired by the diversity and curiosity that are intrinsic to CERN, the building encompasses multiple elements, embedded in a green forest.  

Five different spaces host three exhibitions, two hands-on labs, an auditorium, a shop and a restaurant, all connected by a 6-metre-high bridge that spans across the main road in front of CERN. Two suspended tubes mirror the cutting-edge technology of the CERN accelerator complex. Raw shapes and forms, and exposed concrete, celebrate CERN’s industrial character. 

The building symbolises the inseparable link between science and society, with sustainability at its core. Almost 4000 square metres of solar panels provide energy to the Science Gateway and other CERN buildings. A forest of over 400 trees and 13 000 shrubs provides a habitat for animals and plants. When in operation, the building is carbon-neutral.  

Open Data for Open Science

Despite the fact that the sharing of research findings has advanced science throughout history, today, data is rarely shared following the release of scientific results.

Data is often far too big or complex to find a home in traditional publication chains. This prevents researchers and scientists from drawing the full benefit from the results of public research, which leads to a duplication of research efforts and therefore a waste of resources that could otherwise be used for furthering original research.

Access to research data is not the only problem though. It is often very difficult or even impossible to interpret the data without also having free access to the code used to perform any analysis which was published.

Free and easy access to research results, data and analysis code - Open Science - is the very heart of the scientific process. All such information must be available to everyone, anywhere in the world, and needs to be safely stored in a long-term repository available for society at large, if we want society to fully benefit from public research results.

Zenodo was born at CERN with the EC’s OpenAIRE project to address this very need, i.e. to make the publishing, sharing and long-term stewardship of scientific data and software a reality for all researchers. Zenodo taps into CERN’s long standing tradition and know-how in sharing and preserving scientific knowledge for the benefit of all. The scientific community now has the opportunity to store their data in a non-commercial environment, freely available for society at large.

Zenodo is already capable of accommodating the needs of modest data sets, but this is just a fraction of the overall need for data services in the scientific field. We need your help to expand Zenodo’s features and storage capabilities. With your donation, we can make Open Science for all possible.

You can find out more about Zenodo and latest developments.

Arts at CERN, the Laboratory's distinguished arts programme, facilitates meaningful exchanges between the realms of art and science. Each of Arts at CERN’s programmes is crafted in collaboration with cultural institutions, other partner laboratories, cities and artistic communities that are eager to connect with CERN's research, support our activities and contribute to a global network of art and science.

• Art residencies: Arts at CERN invites artists from all creative disciplines to spend dedicated time within CERN and in dialogue with CERN’s community. Through these experiences, artists gain first-hand insight into the pursuit of fundamental questions about the universe through particle physics. 
  • Collide is our international residency award organised every three years in partnership with a city. It invites artists from around the world to further their artistic practice in connection with fundamental science. 
  • Connect, launched in 2021 in collaboration with the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, serves as a global platform for dialogue between artistic and scientific communities. It offers dual residencies at CERN and partner scientific institutions, organised in collaboration with local cultural organisations. Two selected artists share both residencies, gaining new insights into their practices through engagement with fundamental science across diverse cultural contexts.
  • Resonance invites Geneva-based artists to expand their practice by engaging in meaningful dialogue with CERN’s scientists, engineers, and staff. The programme is organised in partnership with the Republic and Canton of Geneva and the City of Geneva. 
• Art Commissions: Arts at CERN supports the production of new artworks following the artists’ research and time spent in the Laboratory, and with the support of the scientific partners, experiments, companies and institutions.
• Exhibitions & Events: Our exhibitions and events extend the reach of our artistic programmes, creating dialogues with audiences interested in science and culture.

If you also believe in the combined creative power of art and science to explore and make sense in the universe, please help us keep the dialogue going.