CERN: 70 years of groundbreaking research
CERN celebrates its 70th anniversary. Germany was one of the founding members and has close ties with the research centre.
Geneva (dpa) – For elementary particle physicists, Geneva is one of the most important places in the world. Since 29 September 1954, it has been home to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The name is an abbreviation of the organisation’s French name: Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Council for Nuclear Research). Around 2,500 people work directly at CERN. Collaborations with physicists around the world who analyse data involve more than 17,000 people. People all over the world benefit from their groundbreaking inventions in their daily lives: CERN inventions include the World Wide Web and new cancer therapies, while the most elusive particle in physics - the Higgs boson - was also discovered there. CERN has 24 member states, including Germany, which is by far the biggest donor and was one of the founding members 70 years ago.