CERN, or the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the largest and most prestigious scientific centers in the world. Located on the French-Swiss border near Geneva, it is best known for its gigantic particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This infrastructure allows scientists to explore the foundations of the universe by observing particle collisions at very high energies.
Founded in 1954, CERN has played a crucial role in several major discoveries in particle physics, including the discovery in 2012 of the Higgs boson, a fundamental particle that gives other particles their mass. This discovery earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013 to François Englert and Peter Higgs, who had predicted its theoretical existence decades earlier.
CERN is also at the forefront of technological innovation. For example, the World Wide Web was invented here by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, revolutionizing global communication. CERN continues to develop new technologies in diverse areas such as particle accelerators, particle detectors and computing.
In addition to its physics research, CERN is a model of international cooperation. With 23 Member States and several international observers, it brings together thousands of scientists and engineers from around the world, working together across political and cultural differences. This collaboration has not only fostered scientific advances, but also helped train the next generation of physicists and engineers.