A royal visit

King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway made a trip to CERN on Tuesday 4 April, taking a tour of part of the LHC and greeting the Norwegian students and scientists at the Laboratory.


Norway's King Harald V and Queen Sonja take a tour of the ATLAS detector with CERN Director-General Robert Aymar.


King Harald V and Queen Sonja are greeted warmly by members of the Norwegian community at the CERN Globe.

CERN Director-General Robert Aymar welcomed the royal party, which included the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Støre, and provided an overview of CERN's history and current and future research. ATLAS deputy spokesperson Steinar Stapnes then quickly explained the concept and inner workings of the LHC, some LHC physics goals and ATLAS, which is one of the main experiments receiving Norwegian contributions. 'I don't think I've ever had so many distinguished students before,' Stapnes said jokingly to the crowd.
The royal delegation was then escorted underground for a look at the LHC tunnel and the ATLAS detector. They later greeted CERN's Norwegian scientists, Staff Members, Users and industrialists at a reception in the Globe.

There are currently 17 Norwegian Staff Members, a User community from Norwegian universities of more than 100 and about 10 technical students at CERN. Norwegian contributions are focused on the ATLAS and ALICE experiments, particularly the silicon detector systems, calorimeter modules and trigger and read-out electronics. Norway was one of CERN's 12 founding countries.

Norwegian CERN technical students Øyvind Østlund and Vidar Eide described their king as 'down to earth,' after they talked with him briefly during the reception about their studies, where they are living and the mountains in the area. 'It was exciting, definitely,' said Eide, who met the King for the first time during the CERN visit.

Norwegian scientists weren't the only ones eagerly awaiting the King and Queen's visit. An hour before the royal party arrived, a group of about 40 students warmed up their singing voices for their majesties' entrance. Members of Centre Youth, the youth organization of the Norwegian Centre Party, just happened to be in the country on a study trip at the same time as the Norwegian Royal couple. To honor the occasion, the group belted out 'The King's Song,' Norway's royal anthem, as the motorcade pulled up to the Globe.