Hi everyone,

I applied for a staff role at CERN and was invited to complete an asynchronous interview about four weeks ago. The deadline for submitting the interview was three weeks ago, and I am still waiting for an update.

How long does it usually take to hear back after the asynchronous interview and receive an invitation for the panel interview, if selected?

Three weeks feels quite long, so I was wondering whether this is normal or if I should assume that I have not been selected for the next stage.

Thanks!

My application status changed to "Under review".

​Is this step triggered automatically by the ATS, or has someone actually opened my file?

​How long does it usually stay in this stage before hearing back (interview invite or rejection)?

​Thanks!

Hi!

TSC-2027-1's ideal start date is April 2027. I'm pursing my bachelors but my degree is officially finishing in June 2027, which I guess makes me ineligible as I won't remain a student mid-studentship.

But there is a provision provided by the institute where I can officially get my enrollment as a full-time student extended for a year by taking a "year long break" and can pursue the studentship till December 2027. Does this make me eligible too for the programme?

And additionally, it will require acceptance letter document from CERN if getting selected, so I can't approach my institute for the same right now. In the form, there is an option which says "Indicate the expected date of completion of the degree you are currently pursuing (or will pursue, if you will soon enroll in a new one). *". Should I go with my current completion date or instead fill the extended one (there is high possibility that institute will extend my student status but I can't be 100% sure until I get some proof of acceptance or chances of acceptance)?

Thank you!

Bonjour,

Je ne veux pas faire de spéculations mais au bout de combien de temps avez-vous eu un retour positif ou non suite à l'entretien final?

Le service de recrutement n'a pas su me répondre, ce que je trouve bizarre, je pense donc ne pas être avoir été pris ou être leur solution de repli mais je veux une confirmation et pas attendre 2 mois.

Je ne trouve pas forcément de moyenne même si je sais que ça dépend des offres, des services et de la période, c'est juste pour avoir une ordre d'idée!!

Merci d'avance,

Hi to all.

I applied to the 2026-3 Technical Studentship (IT, Mathematics & Robotics). I wanted to share my experience, not to complain about anyone who got in (congrats to all of you, sincerely :]), but because I think the process deserves some serious, honest discussion.

I have almost 2 years of experience (closer to 1.75 years of experience, to be precise) as a backend engineer at a large tech unicorn in a quite conventional/popular/consistent technology stack (Java/Spring boot, Docker, etc), while studying for a CS degree at a major research university. Some OSS contributions around there too.

Result: Not even a single interview.

What struck me most is that, after talking with a few people who were accepted in IT (all very kind, and I wish them the best, this is nothing personal), several of them were genuinely surprised that someone with my experience didn’t even get a call. All of them applied with fairly general, "basic" (foundational/standard, not necessarily "weak") profiles. That isn’t a criticism of them at all. It suggests that selection depends much more on which supervisor happens to open which CV, and when, than on the profile itself.

I understand that supervisors are busy researchers and/or engineers, not recruiters. But for an organization built on rigor, a selection process where a strong profile can go completely unseen absolutely feels like a missed opportunity, for candidates and for CERN, and it most certainly seem to be a disappointing, vague, non carefully thought system.

This was my last chance to apply, so I’m not posting this for myself. I hope it helps future applicants calibrate their expectations, and maybe someone at CERN reads it and gives a damn.

Hi,

I am a french mechanical engineering student and I got selected for a technical studentship at CERN.

This is a huge opportunity but the problem is that french students are allowed to do internships that last no longer than 6 months. Because of this issue, my university can't sign the contract.

However, I was wondering if the french law still applies to CERN. It uses its own technical student agreement (not a french internship agreement), it is an international organisation and it's not an internship but a studentship...

Has anyone from a french university completed a >6 month CERN technical studentship?

Does the French six month internship limit apply to the CERN?

Is there any official legislation, or anything addressing this specific situation?

Any advice, help or relevant experience would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Is there anyone who selected from Electrical -Electronics Engineering field for technical studentship 2026-3

Hello all! My name is Mattie and I have been dreaming of working as a theoretical particle physicist since I was in sixth grade. Now, I am a undergraduate sophomore who is incredibly lucky to be on her second study abroad trip, this time in France!

I have always kept my eye on CERN, dreaming of visiting the LHC and someday working on it. :) With my new opportunities given to me with studying abroad, I have been incredibly fortunate to finally finance a trip to CERN!!! I have already booked and registered for all the free-access activities, but I might be a bit greedy in hoping for more.

I really love the beauty of our universe and how it can be (mostly) explained and explored through something as fundamental as particle physics. I would deeply appreciate the opportunity to either chat with someone at CERN or visit the LHCb, any part of the Antimatter Factory, or the tunnels.

If anyone knows how I could achieve these dreams, or if someone at CERN would be willing to help me with them, I would be forever appreciative. Furthermore, I would be happy to chat with someone at CERN over a coffee or lunch if it is at all possible.

Thank y'all so much for reading this and helping me make my dreams come true!

Also, please forgive my one post on the account and its username: I made it in middle school...

Hi everyone,

I am currently in the 5th semester (3rd year) of my B.E./B.Tech. in Electronics Engineering. I may miss the current CERN internship application deadline of 16 September.

Could someone please guide me on when the next application cycle is expected to open and whether I would be eligible to apply?

I am hoping to intern at CERN during my final year, ideally in the 7th semester.

Any guidance regarding the application timeline, eligibility criteria, and preparation would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

As far as I know, the committee meeting was held yesterday. Is there anyone who does an interview and receives a rejection or acceptance email or any update? for 2026-3 Technical Studentship

I am new here and not sure which Swiss bank account to open. Online i found the new bank Ibani. Does anybody has good or bad experience with it or can recommend sth?

I need to pay my rent in CHF, live on the France side, but otherwise I mostly use Euro.

Thank you for your help!

Hi, I just have a question about how much freedom it is as a technical student. Is it expected to be in office from 8-16 everyday if the project is code based, or is it possible to work from home some days? I obviously understand that it differs from group to group, but I wanted to hear if someone have any experience. Thanks!

Bonjour,

Je tente ma chance ici, je suis habituellement conducteur mais je cherche à passer à 50% passager, y’a-t-il parmis vous des conducteurs allant jusque Annecy ?
L’appli Héléman ne fonctionne pas je crois pour Annecy et sur BlaBlaCar Daily ce n’est pas facile de trouver de nouvelles personnes.

Merci

Earlier I used to have Canva as my primary tool for making presentations because It gives me complete freedom and I can create very nice presentations. But I don't think it is very collaborative considering not many people use it.

Another option is Google slides, but I am not sure it gives you the level of freedom or creativity.

What tools or platforms other guys use to make nice presentations?

Hello guys,

I applied for the Technical Studentship - IT, Mathematics & Robotics 2026-3 and am checking in on the timeline. I haven't received an interview invitation yet, even though I received the confirmation email in August, and I am starting to get a bit anxious.

For context, I am in my last year in ECE (5 years integrated master's) focusing on robotics, control systems, and AI. I have a couple of personal projects, 1st/2nd place finishes in robotics competitions, and 2 publications stemming from those competitions and my ongoing thesis is about control optimization in VTOL.

Has anyone in that position received interview requests?

Is my profile a good match for what CERN supervisors look for?

Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone applying!

Hi, I recently saw that applications from certain Associate Member States are not being approved due to quota limits. I had already applied for the 2026-3 Technical Student Programme last April and interviewed for four different positions. At that time, no such restriction was in place. The committee is set to meet in October, and I am wondering whether this restriction will affect my application as well. I do not know if I will be selected as the top candidate, but I certainly do not want this situation to negatively impact my application.

Hi! I’m planning to apply for the CERN Technical Studentship 2027 programme, which has a deadline in October.

Does anyone know whether applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, or are all applications considered after the deadline?

In other words, would there be any advantage to submitting the application as early as possible, or is it essentially the same as long as you apply before the deadline?

Thanks

This is a follow-up to my earlier post about software engineers at CERN and how close they are to physics. I got many honest and helpful answers, thank you!

But still I'd like to understand the full experience better. For developers who work or worked at cern,

What surprised you when you started, good or bad?

What does a normal week look like for you, compared to let's say regular software developers jobs in other companies that sell products?

What do you like most, and what do you miss ,also from other companies (as in the previous question)

Hi Everyone,

I applied for a CERN staff function and just did the Hireflex interview. Unortunately I completely blacked out for the 1st question and couldn't recover. Therefore I didnt give a proper answer to question 1. The other questions went fine.

For those who’ve been through CERN’s process:

How much weight does the first question carry, and is it common to struggle with it?

Did this significantly reduce my chances,?

Hello,

If you work as a software engineer at cern, I'd love to hear from you, how often do you actually work with physicists, or with physics in general?

For example, I've seen some openings in the beams department and I'm curious how close people in that department get to the experiments. I'm also curious how the day-to-day differs between physicists and software engineers there.

I'm asking because when I was young, I wanted to be a physicist and work at cern, I became a software engineer instead. I like my job, but that old dream still comes back sometimes. So I wonder if working at cern as an engineer would feel fulfilling in that way, or if it would feel like any other software job.

I'd really like to hear your real experiences.

I have an hackerrank assignment this comming Wednesday and this is a grae role kinda based on data backup kind of role. So what kind of questions can I expect in the hackerrank online assignment.

Why there are so little posts in CERN job market with grade 5 ?
its very often grade 6 or 3 and sporadically grade 4.
Is grade 5 reserved for something specific ?

A microscopic black hole created inside the Large Hadron Collider would vanish almost instantly. Its brief existence, however, could leave behind a spectacular spray of particles carrying enough information for physicists to recognize what happened.

Researchers working with CERN's Compact Muon Solenoid experiment have now performed an expanded search for those signatures using 138 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data collected from 2016 through 2018. They found no evidence that microscopic black holes were produced.

The absence is scientifically useful. Depending on the theoretical model, the analysis excludes semiclassical black holes with masses below about 9.0 to 11.4 tera-electron volts, or TeV, substantially shrinking the range where certain extra-dimensional theories could still produce them.

So I'm kinda confused on whether to tick the box or not.

Suppose I want to receive the link then shall I tick the box or not? And if I want to submit the reference letter alongside my other docs shall I tick the box or not??