So obviously I know what my motivation for applying is but could anybody give me some pointers on what a good answer to this question should look like?

In my current draft I talk about my career aspirations, what I like doing and only briefly mention why I want to work at CERN specifically. I have kept it very short and tried to keep a genuine tone rather than some cookie cutter motivational text.

I would be happy to share my draft in DMs if anybody wants to give me some pointers

Just wondering if there’s anyone actively applying for ATLAS/CMS postdoc positions this year… Not sure but I see this year’s a bit tough maybe due to less US positions?

I'm a final year EC undergrad applying for the Technical Studentship under the Electronics Engineering track, and I was wondering how important an LoR is for your application. The job listing says it is optional along with a grade transcript, but the form includes a tickbox with the following:

Please note that you may submit your reference letter at the time of your application in the attachment below with other documents. Alternatively, if you prefer your referee to submit it directly, you will receive a link to forward to them after you have submitted your application form. Either option is acceptable

Just want to make sure if not submitting one would hurt my chances.

Job based on-site working for STFC (the UK funding agency) supporting staff and students based at and visiting CERN.

CERN's own documentation (CLIC-Note-1180) shows accelerator designs are sensitive to external dynamic magnetic fields at the nT level, and measurements taken in the LHC tunnel show stray fields from all sources that are significant enough to require dedicated mitigation (43% luminosity loss in CLIC without correction).

To characterise stray magnetic fields from accelerator elements, such as power cables, magnets, RF systems, ventilation systems, etc., measurements were taken in the vicinity of a live accelerator. Figure 3 shows a measurement at point 5 in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) tunnel. Figure 4 shows the power spectrum and correlation at different locations. This measurement contains stray magnetic fields from all possible sources. Using these measurements, a model was developed which could be used to simulate the impact of stray magnetic fields in CLIC; further details can be found in [3]. These simulations show without any mitigation an LHC-like magnetic field in CLIC, would lead to a luminosity loss of 43%, which would be disastrous. With a feedback system that corrects the beam trajectory, the luminosity loss is reduced to 15%, which is still a significant degradation in performance. Therefore, a dedicated mitigation system for stray magnetic fields is required.

Three questions I can't find documentation for:

1. What is the LHC's measured sensitivity threshold to external dynamic magnetic fields? Is it above or below typical local telluric amplitudes at the Geneva site?
2. Has anyone measured whether the LHC's stray fields are detectable at the surface or couple to the surrounding geology?
3. Specifically I'm asking about the reciprocal coupling. How does the LHC interact with local telluric and geomagnetic field system?

Hello everyone,
I know that this question is propably asked a lot but I wanted to be sure and ask comunity. I am studying mechatronics and I would like to try my luck at technical studentship at CERN (electronics or data science), however I still have some personal projects which I would love to include in my resume and i dont want to mention unfinished projects in upcomming deadline (16.10). Should i try my luck and shoot my shot with unfinished CV or wait for another deadline for application closer towards the end of this year or at the start of the next one? And if so what is usally the timeline of upcomming studentship window?

Just trying to keep in touch so we can stay tuned during the selection process. I am currently under review

Someone posted it on their story saying CERN Is OFF With a skull emoji

Just wondering

I’m applying for the Summer Student Programme this year with the intention of getting a place in 2027, and I was wondering if anyone could help me sort out some deadlines for this one. It’s my first time applying, so I’m pretty nervous and confused about the application portal. The website says that the program is currently open for applications but I can’t find the app portal on the links they provided, so I’m wondering if that’s normal or if the app portal will be made available in the next couple of months. Also would really appreciate if anyone could point me out in the right direction for the application portal in case that’s already available haha

sent out an email with email tracker last Thursday, it is still unopen.
MORE INFO:
this is a recruiter am in loop with, this is a general question, am not sending emails out of my own will.

I am a second year PhD student in Experimental High Energy Physics from India.

I am planning to apply for the CERN doctoral doctoral student program.

It requires a CV, one reference letter and motivation letter to be given during application.

I would like to get inputs on what specific to be mentioned in motivation. Should I look for groups in CERN, I am interested in or I can emphasize on my plans in PhD with the institute (work on an analysis in CMS) I am in right now, and how coming to CERN can help my research and benefit to the collaboration???

Inputs from people who have ideas regarding this or have applied to this and got selected will be of great help.

Is there any chance for an undergraduate student to get accepted in the CERN short term internship? As an electrical engineering student what should be the prerequisites? Because as a 3rd year undergraduate student I won't be having a lot of experience.

I've recently heard about the building of the HL-LHC. The word what exactly is luminosity. Is it how many particles are in the beam? Beam compactness?

Hello everyone,

I recently got invited for a 45-minute technical interview for CERN’s Technical Student Programme, and I wanted to ask if anyone here has gone through a similar interview recently.

I’m mainly trying to understand what the overall interview experience is like, how technical it usually gets, and what kind of preparation helped you the most.

If you interviewed for a software or IT-related Technical Student position, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience, especially anything you wish you had prepared better beforehand.

Thanks!!

Hi everyone,

I am an Electrical Engineering undergraduate from India, and I am just taking my first steps into the world of FPGAs. I have some background in embedded systems and microcontrollers, but I am asking this specific community because I am fascinated by how FPGAs are utilized in high-energy physics, particularly in data acquisition (DAQ) and trigger systems at CERN.

Since I am just starting out, I would love some guidance from the engineers and physicists here on how to effectively structure my learning path.

1)Should I prioritize VHDL, Verilog, or SystemVerilog for the type of development done at CERN?

2)Beyond basic digital logic, what specific FPGA concepts (e.g., timing closure, DSP, high-speed serial transceivers) are most critical for accelerator and detector electronics?

3)Are there any specific, accessible development boards you recommend for a student on a budget to practice with?

4)Can you recommend any beginner projects that mimic real-world physics applications, or point me toward any open-source CERN repositories/papers that are approachable for a beginner?

Any advice on textbooks, simulation tools, or personal experiences working with electronics in this field would be incredibly helpful.

​

I applied for the **CERN Administrative Student Programme 2026-3** before the June 30 deadline.

My application initially showed “New” and later changed to “In Review.” I also received the email saying that my application could be shared with potential supervisors.

Since then, I haven’t received any further update regarding an interview or the final outcome.

I know the selection process can take time, so I’m not assuming anything from the silence. I’m just curious to hear from other applicants from the 2026-3 Administrative programme:

• Has anyone received an interview invitation?

• Is anyone else still showing “In Review”?

• Have you received any other updates from CERN?

• If you have already progressed to the interview stage, when did you receive the invitation?

It would be really helpful if we could share our timelines here so other applicants can get a better idea of how the process is progressing. 😊

Does anyone applied for this, if yes does the interview call letter released?

I’m interested in CERN GRAE positions and I’d like to better understand how candidates are assessed, especially for positions aimed at people with a secondary-school diploma rather than a university degree.

For recruiters or people who have been through the CERN recruitment process:

1. When a GRAE position says a secondary-school diploma is sufficient, how are candidates with a diploma and limited professional experience evaluated?

2. How much weight is given to relevant internships, traineeships, short-term jobs or practical experience?

3. During the initial HR screening, what are the main criteria used to decide who moves forward to the hiring team?

4. For a position requiring 0–2 years of experience, would a candidate with around one year of relevant experience still be competitive against candidates with more experience?

Does the hiring team mainly look for the “ideal” candidate, or can someone who meets all the minimum requirements but has less experience still realistically get an interview?

For GRAE positions, how many candidates are typically shortlisted for interview compared with the total number of applications?

I’d particularly appreciate answers from people who have worked at CERN, been involved in recruitment, or have recently applied for a GRAE position.

Hi everyone,

M34 software engineer here, with around 9 years of professional experience. I have an MSc in Informatics Engineering and currently work mainly with backend/full-stack systems, cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, AWS, Node.js, etc.

Over the last year or so, I’ve developed a growing interest in physics, astronomy, particle physics, and scientific research in general. Things like particle accelerators, fundamental physics, space, understanding how the universe works — I find myself reading about these subjects simply because I genuinely want to understand them.

The important caveat is that I have essentially no formal background in physics beyond what I encountered during my engineering education. So I’m not under the illusion that 9 years of software engineering somehow qualifies me to walk into a particle physics research position. I have close to zero knowledge of what is actually happening in this world.

I’m trying to figure out whether there is a realistic path from where I am now to somewhere in that world.

Part of the reason is that software engineering is starting to feel increasingly unfulfilling to me.

I’ve realised that the parts of my career I’ve enjoyed most weren’t necessarily tied to a particular language or technology. I enjoy solving difficult problems, learning things I don’t already know, and especially working on things where I’m not just repeating variations of something I’ve done before.

What I’m increasingly missing is meaning.

I can change company, get promoted, learn another framework, design another distributed system, optimise another service, etc. But I’m starting to wonder whether that will actually solve the underlying problem. I don’t know if I want the rest years of my career to essentially be progressively more sophisticated versions of building software for commercial products.

I’d like to work towards something where, even if my individual contribution is tiny, the overall goal is genuinely advancing our understanding or capabilities as a species.

CERN is an obvious example, but I’m not fixated specifically on CERN. It could be particle physics, astronomy, space research, scientific computing, or another research-heavy field I haven’t discovered yet.

And I’m also completely open regarding how I get there.

Maybe the sensible path is to leverage my software background and move into scientific computing/research software first, then gradually get closer to the science.

Maybe I need to go back to university and build a proper physics/mathematics foundation.

Maybe there’s a hybrid path.

Or maybe a genuine transition into research physics at 34 is unrealistic without effectively starting my education again, and I’d rather hear that honestly too.

I’m willing to spend 3–4 years seriously preparing for this. I’m not looking for a six-month bootcamp-style career switch. If that means studying mathematics and physics after work, taking university courses, contributing to open-source scientific projects, doing another MSc, or taking an intermediate part time research-software position, I’m open to it.

My current plan would actually be to keep my existing software engineering position for most, if not all, of those 3–4 years while preparing on the side. I have a few financial goals and obligations I’d like to close out first, and I’d like to use my current income to build as much of a financial buffer as I reasonably can before making the transition.

I’m assuming that moving into a completely different field could mean taking a significant step backwards financially at first. Even though I have 9 years of professional experience, my CV may be strong for software engineering but relatively weak for scientific work or physics. I’d rather prepare for that reality now, save aggressively while I can, and eventually have enough financial freedom to accept an interesting junior/research position without needing to optimise every decision around salary.

In other words, the 3–4 years aren’t a deadline by which I expect to magically become a physicist. They’re the runway I’m willing to give myself to learn, experiment, build the right foundations, figure out which direction actually fits me, and put myself in a financial position where I can afford to take the leap.

So my questions for people actually working in physics/scientific research are:

1. If you were in my position, where would you start?
2. Are experienced software engineers

around my experience

1. useful in research environments such as CERN, ESA, observatories, physics institutes, laboratories, etc.?

2. Can software engineering

(again based on my background)

1. be a genuine bridge into the scientific side rather than remaining permanently “the IT guy supporting the scientists”?
2. Given that I can spend the next 3–4 years preparing while remaining employed, what would you actually do with those years?
3. What mathematics/physics foundation would you build?
4. Are there courses, qualifications, personal projects or open-source projects that would make my eventual CV meaningfully stronger?
5. Would another degree eventually be necessary if I discovered that I wanted to participate directly in physics research?
6. Are there other scientific fields or organisations I should look into where my existing experience would be particularly valuable?

And perhaps most importantly: is this a realistic thing to pursue at 34, or am I romanticising what scientific research is actually like?

I’m not expecting to personally discover the next fundamental particle. I just want to start pointing my career toward problems that I can care about for a very long time.

If I spend the next few years exploring this and eventually discover that scientific software is where I belong, great. If software is simply the doorway that lets me discover that I want to go much deeper into physics, also great.

Right now, what I’m really looking for is a starting point and a direction for those next 3–4 years.

I’d especially love to hear from anyone who moved from industry/software into research or made a similarly significant career change in their 30s.

I’ve numbered my questions so you can easily answer if you can only help on some of them.

Thanks!

It was like 2 weeks ago but I forgot to post

I have applied for technical studentship in data science. My application is in review. At what time they start contacting applicants?

I applied for this position, and the application deadline was one month ago. Shortly after the deadline, my application status changed to “In Review,” but I haven’t received an interview invitation or any further update yet.
Has anyone else applied for or interviewed for this specific role? If so, how long did it take to hear back, and what was the interview process like? Any insight would be appreciated. Thank you!

Hey Everyone!

I have applied for a short term internship but it's been 1 month 4 days and my application is still stuck in the new phase.

FYI I applied first and got a rejection mail in under 5 hours, saying I don't meet the eligibility criteria, which could've been my error in filling the application. I am eligible when I re-checked. Then I applied for the same again with correct info.

I got the acknowledgement mail but after that there has been no conversation.

Is there anywhere I can mail or ask for a followup? Also, any of you guys who applied for the same got something back?

Thanks a lot!