CERN apprenticeship scheme honoured

Prestigious awards for two apprentices who did their practical training at CERN.

Sylvain Heinzen, apprentice physics lab technician at CERN, receiving his award from Pierre-François UNGER, State Councillor responsible for the Federal Department of the Economy and Health. The other award-winner, Cédric Gerber, is on the right of the photo.

Among Geneva’s top apprentices who were honoured by the Fondation sociale de l’Union industrielle genevoise (UIG) on 28 October this year, were two CERN apprentices. Electronics technician Cédric Gerber and physics lab technician Sylvain Heinzen both did their four-year sandwich course at CERN, obtaining their professional qualification, the Certificat fédéral de capacité (CFC), in June.

On top of that, Cédric Gerber, who had been a particularly outstanding apprentice, received two further distinctions at the CFC awards ceremony - the State Council prize for achieving one of the top-ten overall grades in the Canton of Geneva, and a "Fédération des entreprises romandes" prize, which is awarded to the four best apprentices in the secondary and tertiary sectors.

In any given year, some eight young people who served their apprenticeships at CERN pass their CFC, generally three electronics technicians, three physics lab technicians and two assistant documentalists. They do their apprenticeships in many different teams, under the ever-watchful eye of their appointed supervisors, whose cooperation is key to the success of this programme, which is entirely in line with CERN’s mission as a place of education.

If your group would like to host an apprentice, please feel free to consult the HR website:

https://hr-recruit.web.cern.ch/hr-recruit/appr/default.asp