• Question: Which qualifications do you need to work at CERN?

    Asked by markus15 to Kristian, Joel, Tim, Venus, Zachary on 8 Nov 2013. This question was also asked by conorduguid.
    • Photo: Kristian Harder

      Kristian Harder answered on 8 Nov 2013:

      There are many different career paths at CERN, and CERN offers opportunities at almost any stage in a career. But most people at CERN
      are actually sent there by universities or research institutes elsewhere, for example in their home country. And then it’s up to the home institute what qualifications they think are needed to make it worthwhile for them sending you to CERN.
      But despite many differences in detail, typically you are expected to either
      have or work on getting a PhD in order to participate in the experiments at CERN. For engineers, there are probably opportunities at all levels after at least a bachelor’s degree, plus chances for internships even before that. But I am not very familiar with what engineering degrees are expected for what kind of jobs.
      Maybe it’s worth pointing out that people are usually paid for getting a PhD, and thus, other than in may other branches of academia, getting a PhD in particle physics is almost a “regular job”. You are definitely expected to do it in order to move on to your next job in science, which will almost certainly be a fixed term position for a few years, doing very similar things as you did during your PhD, but with increasing responsibility and possibly more advanced topics.

    • Photo: Venus Keus

      Venus Keus answered on 10 Nov 2013:

      I think other scientists could answer this question better than me, since I’m a theoretical physicist. Theoretical physicists come up with cool new theories and particles and ask people at CERN to find them 😉

    • Photo: Zachary Williamson

      Zachary Williamson answered on 10 Nov 2013:

      The people who work at CERN can be sort of split into two groups: those who build stuff, and those who use the stuff that’s been built to do physics stuff.

      If you want to build stuff at CERN you need to be an engineer. I’m not an engineer but I think you would need a university degree in engineering to walk down this path.

      If you want to do physics stuff at CERN you’ll most likely need a masters degree in physics (4 years of university study). I got lucky and had the opportunity to work at CERN a year early, but that’s a bit rare.

    • Photo: Joel Goldstein

      Joel Goldstein answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      Most of the physicists at CERN either already have, or are working towards, a PhD.
      There are lots of other jobs at CERN (admin, support, engineering etc) where the qualifications are similar to those in similar jobs elsewhere: maybe a relevant degree, maybe professional qualifications, maybe just on-the-job training or an apprenticeship.

    • Photo: Tim Hollowood

      Tim Hollowood answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      CERN employs a lot of physicist, engineers, computer scientist as well as many non scientists.

      I first went to CERN as a summer student which you can apply for when you are doing a degree. It gives you a chance to attend some courses on particle physics and have an attachment to an experiment. I really recommend that programme. (Have a search on the CERN website.)

      Later after I had a PhD I worked at CERN for 2 years as a “CERN fellow” in the theory division. It was a fantastic experience and I always go back at least once every 2 years.

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