On Saturday, 14 and Sunday, 15 September, CERN will open its doors to the public, according to cern.ch. Taking advantage of the second long shutdown of the Large Hadron Collider, the Laboratory will be offering visitors of all ages the exceptional opportunity to visit its facilities, discover its groundbreaking technologies, have fun with physics and meet the people who work at the cutting edge of science and technology.
Some 150 activities are planned across nine of the Laboratory’s sites. During the two days, you will have the chance to operate a mini accelerator, learn about the medical applications stemming from research at CERN, drive a crane, discover the gigantic detectors and interact with scientists and invited guests. Places will be limited for the underground visits to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and its experiments, but there are many other things to discover on the surface. The full list of activities is available on the Open Days website.
The CERN accelerator complex is currently in shutdown. Work is ongoing to improve the performance of the accelerators and detectors through several upgrades. This technical stop provides an opportunity to visit CERN’s underground facilities, along with many other areas that will be open to visitors for these two days only.
“We look forward to welcoming our neighbours, as well as visitors from further afield, to the Open Days, where they will discover the fascinating research we do at CERN and the instruments we use. We are glad to have the opportunity to share with the public our passion for science and the impact of the technologies we develop. Visitors will be welcomed and guided by scientists from all over the world and other CERN personnel,” says CERN’s Director-General, Fabiola Gianotti.
To mark the beginning of this weekend of discovery, CERN’s Director-General will officially open the Laboratory’s doors at 8.30 a.m. on 14 September, at a ceremony attended by representatives of the local authorities.
Between 30 000 and 40 000 visitors are expected each day. CERN strongly recommends using sustainable transport and all the sites will be accessible on foot or by bike. It will not be possible to drive onto or park on the visit sites. If you need to come by car, consider car-sharing. Car parks will be available near CERN and shuttles and bus services will take visitors to the visit sites. For people with disabilities, dedicated car parks and shuttles will be available.
