What It Does: CERN specialises in scientific research and provides infrastructures such as particle accelerators needed for research in high-energy physics. CERN has the biggest and highest-energy particle collider in the world. This facility stores and analyses data from experiments as well as the simulation of real-time events.
Mission: CERN's mission is to provide state-of-the-art research in fundamental physics.
Size and Presence: CERN employs about 1,000 researchers, scientists, and technologists in the UK.
Best Known For: When it comes to particle Physics, no other laboratory or facility is more renowned than CERN. CERN is best known for the invention of the World Wide Web as well as the discovery of Higgs Boson. In the UK, CERN is the national laboratory for Physics research.
The Good Bits: CERN is a culturally diverse organisation. The facility has a lot of attractions for employees, and its welfare program is excellent. The work is exciting and impactful. The working environment is friendly.
The Not-So-Good Bits: N/A
CERN came into existence in 1954 when 12 Western European countries, including the UK, ratified the convention establishing the research facility. CERN is an acronym for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, which means European Council for Nuclear Research in English. The first site of the council was at the University of Copenhagen before it moved base to its present headquarters in Geneva. After the dissolution of the provisional council, the research facility still retained the name "CERN." Sir Benjamin Lockspesier was the first president of CERN, while Edoardo Amaldi and Felix Bloch were the general secretary and Director-General, respectively.
Initially, the research facility was solely focused on studying atomic nuclei. Eventually, the laboratory delved into high-energy physics, which became its mainstay. This field has to do with the interactions between subatomic particles. Due to the facility's new focus, the lab was renamed European Laboratory for Particle Physics. CERN has been credited with numerous scientific achievements, such as discovering neutral currents in the Gargamelle bubble chamber in 1973. In its PS210 experiment in 1995, the laboratory created the first antihydrogen atoms. In 2010, CERN successfully isolated 38 antihydrogen atoms. The following year, CERN successfully maintained antihydrogen for 15 minutes. As of today, CERN comprises 23 member states.
The work culture of CERN is established on five core values, namely commitment, diversity, integrity, creativity, and professionalism. CERN has a unique working environment that attracts scientific talents from all over the world and unites them with a common goal and objective. As a champion of diversity, CERN includes every employee regardless of their race, socioeconomic background, gender, sexuality, religion, and political affiliation. CERN employees also live by a code that guides their behaviour as well as how they treat each other. The friendly work environment makes CERN a haven for freshers and interns.
As a foremost research facility in Europe, CERN is naturally a fan of employees' career progression. It provides several opportunities for its workers, be it interns, new graduates, or even experienced professionals. There's the Doctoral Student Program for students who can combine their thesis work with up to 3 years of experience working with cutting-edge technology in the facility. New graduates can sign up for the Graduate Program, which doesn't just boost their career growth but nurtures their skills, knowledge, and expertise. There's the ORIGIN program for early career professionals, among other more advanced programs.
The hiring process ranges between 3 to 6 months. It includes:
A fresher at CERN earns an average of £40,000 yearly.
Through its Support a Summer Student Program, CERN provides world-class training for up-and-coming scientists from low-income and middle-income countries.
There's no widely published controversy involving CERN in the UK.