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On Wednesday 20 May at around 10.30 p.m., protons collided in the LHC at the record-breaking energy of 13 TeV for the first time. These test collisions were to set up various systems and, in particular, the collimators. The tests and the technical adjustments will continue in the coming days.
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This week, the LHC set an important record on the way to the start of data taking for Run 2. At around 10.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 20 May, two bunches of particles were brought into collision at 13 TeV for the first time as part of the commissioning process for the systems that protect the detectors from stray particles. This milestone triggered ripples of excitement around the Laboratory and, coming right on schedule, is a clear sign that we are on course for physics data taking to start at the beginning of June. My congratulations go to all involved.
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A new Business Incubation Centre is opening its doors in the Pays de Gex. This is the sixth incubator launched in association with CERN, and it will support the creation of businesses using CERN technologies.
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CERN will be changing mobile telephone operators on 24 June. As the community prepares for the summer switchover, everyone has questions. What brought on the change? Why are we losing our old phone numbers? What kind of improvements will we see?
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On 11 May, a major change concerning the requirements to access the CERN beam facilities was put in place and implemented in ADaMS in order to reduce the number of courses that people who need access to multiple installations have to follow. This revision includes dedicated safety training courses that replace, in particular, the “Safety during LS1” e-learning course, which is now to be considered obsolete.
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Ring the changes on Thursday, 4 June by commuting another way! CERN has signed up for the 5th “challenge mobilité Rhône-Alpes”, the aim of which is to encourage people to use modes of transport other than their car to get to work. Are you up for the challenge?
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CERN is one of the host sites for the Mozilla Science Lab Global Sprint to be held on 4 and 5 June, which will see participants around the world work on projects to further open science and educational tools.
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CERN will take part in the "Bike to Work" campaign again this year. In this Swiss national campaign, which attracts more than 50,000 participants every year, teams of four colleagues encourage each other to cycle to work throughout the month of June. Last year CERN was the organisation with most participants in French-speaking Switzerland. Let’s aim to keep that position in 2015.
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Curiosity is an essential attribute for anyone who works at CERN, and the HR recruitment team is about to pique the interest of its social media followers with the release of its second Enigma challenge, #CERNJOBSEnigma2. Starting on 29 May, daily clues will be revealed and social media followers can work together to solve the enigma before the answer is revealed on 5 June.
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Agnieszka Zalewska, President of CERN Council, participated in the Annual High-Level Forum “Women in Leadership”, which took place on 29 April in Geneva. The event was organised by a group of students participating in the International Organizations MBA (IO-MBA) programme at the University of Geneva, which has maintained a friendly relationship with CERN since its creation.
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On 8 May, the joint CERN and Swiss FameLab final took place in CERN’s Restaurant 1, which was transformed into a cosy setting for the special occasion. The jury selected Oskari Vinko, a Master’s student in synthetic biology at ETH Zurich, as the winner of the Swiss final while Lillian Smestad, a physicist in the Aegis collaboration, will be the first CERN finalist to go to the international final at the Cheltenham Science Festival. In addition, CMS physicist Christos Lazaridis was awarded the audience prize.
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On Thursday, 21 May, 783 people (9 Nordic walkers and 129 teams of 6 runners each) took part in the 45th CERN Relay Race.
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Do you love riddles, hide and seek or picture puzzles a la “ Where’s Wally”? Then take a look at the photo below, and try to spot the error.
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A few weeks ago I attended the 2015 annual conference of the International Ombudsman Association. It was the second time that I had participated in this conference (see here my report from last year) and, once again, I would like to share some of my experience with you.
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Rudolf Böck, a distinguished scientist who worked at CERN for over 40 years, died unexpectedly on 15 April at the age of 80.
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Following a call for tenders issued in 2014, Swisscom will replace Sunrise as CERN’s mobile telephony operator from 24 June 2015. As of this date, CERN mobile telephone numbers will change from the +41 (0)76 487 xxxx format to the +41 (0)75 411 xxxx format and people with a CERN mobile telephony subscription will need to change their SIM card.
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