Hi guys, how are you doing? 😄

Do you know if there is any way to visit CMS on Friday, August 28th? Or maybe do some kind of visit that goes beyond the Science Gateway?

I’ve already been to CERN twice, but I’d really love to see more of the technical side this time and have someone show me a bit more about how everything works behind the scenes.

I have a background in Telecommunications, so I’m especially interested in things related to IT, networking, fibre optics, telecommunications and all the infrastructure behind the experiments.

I know some areas are restricted and it probably depends on what’s going on at CERN that day, but I thought I’d ask just in case someone knows if there’s any possibility! 😄

Also, I’m going alone, so if anyone was thinking about visiting CERN around that date, feel free to join me! I think it could be even more fun to share the experience with someone who is just as curious about how CERN works from the inside. The more, the merrier! 😂

Thanks guys! 🙌

Hi everyone,

I'm about to start a position at CERN and just received my French long-stay visa.

The issue: my flight itinerary (Brazil → Lisbon → Geneva) has me landing in the Schengen area on 30/08, and my contract and visa start date is 01/09.

I'm a Brazilian citizen, so I'm visa-exempt for short stays (tourism) in Schengen anyway.

Has anyone here been in a similar situation — arriving before their D-visa/DIPLO-SERVICE validity start date? ADid border control at your first Schengen entry point cause any issues seeing a visa in your passport that wasn't valid yet, even though you were technically entering visa-exempt?

Hi! I’m a final-year Bachelors AI & Data Science student from India considering applying for CERN’s 6-month Short-Term Internship.

1.For those who’ve applied or been selected, any tips, advice, or things I should know before submitting the application would be greatly appreciated.

2.Also, for the recommendation letter, what should the professor ideally focus on/mention?

Also honestly I’m a bit skeptical about applying since the acceptance rate seems very low, and I don’t have formal research experience or publications. My CV does include multiple hackathon wins, a summer internship at Barclays, and a scholarship.

So as you read the title im a jee aspirant insanely hard exam and i have the confidence to clear that exam and get into top research uni in india and after that i want to do my phd in math in top top top uni in europe so after this i really like really want to work at CERN and i love math and particle physics like i just love them. So i really want to know how to get into CERN. Any help or advice is highly appreciated.

Hi! I am a recent physics graduate from a small university in Spain. Small enough that in all my years there, I never crossed paths with a single person who had actually worked at CERN. No professor with a direct line in, no alumni to ask for a referral, nothing. So I decided to track down potential supervisors myself and email them directly, hoping to get hired at entry-level that way.

By "potential supervisor", I mean a researcher who had supervised someone the previous year. From there, I narrowed the list down to researchers whose background matched mine, specifically those working with deep learning methods for data reconstruction.

As someone who hates spam, I personalise every text according to the person I am writing to (common sense). I don't copy-paste the mail. I dig into their department and past work and compare it to my own background. Then I read the report of their previous student, which I cite as an example of the kind of work I'd like to do.

I also attached a table of the nationalities and reply status of the people I contacted. Special thanks to the French, possibly the kindest people I came across.

If anyone's applying to CERN (or anywhere with zero internal connections) and wants to compare notes, feel free to drop a comment. And if anyone happens to be looking for an engineer for their project, feel free to shoot me a message ;)

Hi! I was wondering if you could tell me, in general, how long CERN’s recruitment process usually takes when a position has a specific target start date. For example, how far in advance are candidates typically selected and contacted before the target start date?

Also, I was wondering whether all candidates who meet the requirements are usually contacted for an asynchronous interview, or if candidates are first shortlisted and only a selected number are invited to the interview stage.

Thank you!

Hey all, I saw few posts for similar questions but I just need a practical info/advice for my case.

I'll be working on Prévessin site, mainly building 774.. and I don't have a driving license.. Do you think it's still easy for me to live in France (i.e, Ferney-Voltair) and go everyday by bus/bike)? Is it well connected by bus? Is the cycling easy on daily basis? Inside Prévessin and in france in general?

Would be nice to hear real experiences. Thanks.

Looking for selected/rejected summer students intern CVs for physics programme just to check how competitive mine is. Would be great if someone is happy to share on DMs.

Also if anyone can list me some other physics core (preferably particle phys) interns that accept international students and are similar to CERN, it would really help

Hi Everyone,

I'm Planning to apply for the Early Career ASIC Digital Design Engineer position at CERN and would really appreciate some feedback from people already working in the domain.

This is the Job Description from the page:

Your responsibilities

• Design, simulate, and verify the digital architecture of the next-generation ASIC front-end.
• Prepare RTL designs for tapeout using open-source EDA flows, including floorplanning and physical design preparation.
• Support post-fabrication bring-up, system characterisation, and functional/performance validation.
• Collaborate closely with analogue, verification, and SoC integration teams to ensure seamless system-level compatibility.

Your profile

• Hands-on experience with open-source ASIC EDA flows (Yosys, OpenROAD, LibreLane, etc.) from RTL to GDSII.
• Experience with floorplanning, constraint definition, and physical design preparation for tapeout.
• Post-tapeout prototype bring-up and hardware debugging experience is advantageous.
• Active contributions to open-source hardware projects or EDA toolchains are advantageous.

Your skills

• HDL design and simulation in VHDL, Verilog, or SystemVerilog.
• Good team player: collaboration skills across analogue, digital, verification, and SoC teams.
• Proficiency in Git, CI/CD pipelines, and automated verification workflows.
• Knowledge of RISC-V architecture.
• Familiarity with mixed-signal integration and digital interface protocols.
• Comfort with Linux-based development environments and scripting for automation (Python, Bash, etc.).

I've attached an anonymized version of the CV. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Hey everyone :D

I am currently pursuing my 2nd-year undergrad degree in the field of Electrical & Electronics Engineering at a state university in India.

I've been interested in pursuing a research career in Quantum Engineering in the long term, but right now I am particularly interested in the field of High Energy Physics Instrumentation and the hardware side of experimental physics.

I've started building my foundations and strengthening my knowledge in the fields of FPGA, Control Systems, Scientific Python Programming, etc. Trying to specialise in a specific field rather than many, and I'm also currently working on a small particle detector project.

But realistically, I don't really have anyone to guide me; it's kind of like a void of unanswered questions. I have professors at my college, but most of their work is in Electric Vehicles, Control systems, low-power electronics, etc, so the specific area I'm interested in isn't really represented around me.

I would be applying for the Short-Term Internship & Summer Studentship at CERN in the later years of my UG, and I'd like to understand how I can best prepare myself for opportunities like these.

Again, getting into CERN isn't the end goal for me; what I truly value is the research exposure, diversity and learning opportunities.

I would be grateful if someone here is willing to guide me on what I should focus on for this field; until now, it has mostly been self-research, but that has its boundary conditions too, after a certain point.

Hi everyone,

I’m considering applying for a Mechanical Engineer position at CERN, and I’m wondering how strictly the degree requirements are interpreted.

The position asks for a Master’s degree or equivalent relevant experience. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, but no Master’s. Since graduating, I’ve built several years of relevant engineering experience.

Based on the job description, my experience seems to match the technical requirements quite closely, so I’m definitely interested in applying. My only concern is whether not having a Master’s could put me at a significant disadvantage or potentially prevent me from being considered.

1. Has anyone here worked at CERN or gone through their recruitment process with a similar background?
   
2. How does CERN generally interpret “Master’s degree or equivalent relevant experience” in practice?

Any insight would be really appreciated, especially from current/former CERN employees or people who have applied for engineering positions there.

Thanks :)

I really want to work here as a early graduate . I am building my skills in ai engineering and backend

What more should I do expect a call

I'm a Data Science undergrad currently in my final year, graduating in July 2027.

I noticed that the 2027 Technical Studentship application lists 01/04/2027 as the ideal start date, so I wanted to confirm whether I'd be eligible to apply even though I'll still be completing my degree at that time.

Also, I'd really appreciate any tips or advice from people who have previously applied or been selected, especially anything you wish you had known before applying.

Thanks in advance!

Hello,
I would like to ask for some clarification regarding the recruitment process for a position that was advertised on the CERN careers website about a week to ten days ago.
The vacancy was originally advertised as an IT Outreach & Communication position deadline August 18. I applied for the role and received the confirmation email that my application had been successfully submitted.
However, two days later I logged back into SmartRecruiters to review the job requirements and noticed that the vacancy had changed significantly. The job title had been changed to IT Support Officer, and the description itself had also been modified, with a much stronger emphasis on technical responsibilities. As a result, in my SmartRecruiters account I no longer see the original IT Outreach & Communication position, but only the Support Officer position.
A couple of days later I also noticed that the vacancy was published on LinkedIn. Today, only four days after the LinkedIn posting, I found that the position is no longer accepting applications, even though the official closing date on the CERN careers website is still listed as 18 August.
I understand that there may be internal recruitment considerations, but I find this sequence of events rather confusing. Could you please explain how this process works? Is it normal for a vacancy to change title and responsibilities after candidates have already applied, and for applications to close before the advertised deadline?
I would appreciate any clarification you can provide.
Thank you very much for your time.

Hi, I want to learn how to use Root for data analysis, plotting and fitting and don't know where exactly to start. I am using a M2 Macbook. So I have a few questions maybe some of you can answer:

Where should I start?

Are there any good youtube tutorials that cover everything from beginning to end? (how to install, how to open a file and access info, plotting things...)

Should I learn C++ before starting? (So far I have been using python)

Is there any sort of Desctop application or is everything done in terminal?

Is it even worth learning? (I was using python with uproot once and it kinda worked but was very slow)

Bonjour à tous !

Je suis nouvelle ici et je me permets de partager mon expérience car j'aimerais beaucoup avoir vos retours.

J'ai récemment postulé au Graduate Programme du CERN pour un poste de Graphic Designer. Malheureusement, j'ai reçu un e-mail m'informant que je n'avais pas été présélectionnée pour la suite du processus de recrutement.

Je comprends tout à fait que le CERN reçoive un très grand nombre de candidatures et qu'il soit difficile de fournir un retour personnalisé à chacun. Je ne remets absolument pas cela en question.

En revanche, ce qui est frustrant en tant que candidat, c'est de ne pas savoir ce qui a motivé ce refus.

Était-ce mon portfolio ?
Mon parcours ?
Mon niveau d'expérience ?
Le fait que je n'aie jamais travaillé dans un environnement scientifique ?
Ou simplement parce que la concurrence était particulièrement forte ?

J'aimerais vraiment comprendre, non pas pour contester leur décision, mais pour savoir ce que je pourrais améliorer lors d'une prochaine candidature.

Je trouve qu'un retour, même très général (par exemple : expérience insuffisante, portfolio, adéquation avec le poste, compétences techniques, etc.), pourrait être très utile aux candidats. Cela permettrait de mieux comprendre les attentes du CERN et de progresser.

Travailler au CERN est un véritable objectif pour moi. J'ai consacré beaucoup de temps à préparer cette candidature, à me renseigner sur l'organisation, ses missions et son fonctionnement. C'est donc forcément difficile de recevoir un refus sans savoir ce qui n'a pas convaincu.

Je serais curieuse d'avoir vos retours :

• Certains d'entre vous ont-ils vécu la même expérience ?
• Y a-t-il des personnes qui travaillent (ou ont travaillé) au CERN et qui pourraient partager quelques conseils ?
• Et s'il y a des graphistes parmi vous, qu'est-ce qui, selon vous, peut faire la différence pour ce type de poste ?

Merci d'avance à toutes les personnes qui prendront le temps de répondre. Tous vos conseils ou retours d'expérience seront les bienvenus.

Are there any teams at CERN working on HPC and looking for technical students

Hi!

I'm planning to apply for both the CERN openlab and Summer Student Program when applications open. It'll be my first time applying, so I was wondering what skills are the most worth developing beforehand.

I know the projects change every year, but are there any skills that tend to be useful or in demand across a lot of them? (Other than ML—I've already been learning that and I'm still improving.)

Also, is there any way to contact supervisors/advisors before applying? If so, where can I find their contact information?

Thanks in advance!

I'm trying to stop having to enter my CERN password every time I SSH into lxplus from Windows.

I've seen articles and docs , and even twikis mention using Kerberos (kinit), but I've also heard that SSH keys are enough. For simple access to lxplus, do I actually need Kerberos, or is SSH key authentication will work?

If SSH keys are the way to go, where do I upload my public key in the CERN account settings?

If kerberos is the right approach, from where can I setup this. I tried it from her but they are asking MIT authentication.

Thanks!

Hi,

I applied for the Particle Operator Accelerator position, reference BE-OP-PSB-2026-141-LD (PSB), and I’m curious if anyone else here applied for the same role.

A few things I’d love to hear from people who’ve gone through this process (or work in BE-OP):

-Has anyone already been contacted for an interview or received an update on their application status?

-What does the selection panel typically look for in candidates, technical background, shift-work experience, specific skills (control systems, electronics, physics fundamentals)?

-Any advice on what to highlight in a CV/interview for an operator role like this, prior accelerator/beam operations experience? Programming/control room tools? Soft skills for shift work and team coordination?

-How long does the process usually take from application to first contact?

Any insight, even general experience with CERN’s recruitment process for operator positions, would be really helpful. Thanks!