CERN Accelerating science

CERN Open Days are fast approaching

CERN OpenDays 2013 will be taking place in one month’s time. During Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 September 100 000 visitors are expected in the world’s biggest laboratory.

The organizers have prepared a rich programme that aims to entertain and educate the visitors. It includes visits to the laboratories, performances, and other activities.

Earlier this month the first tickets were released through the online reservation system and currently more than 35% of the tickets has gone. Visitors with reserved tickets will have the chance to visit underground points, including the LHC experiments, beam acceleration, and the beam dump system. It should be noted that tickets are free.

During the two days, a number of lectures will be given throughout CERN covering a wide range of topics. CERN scientists and experts will explore different topics ranging from the fundamental building blocks of matter and the Origin of our Universe to the relation between modern physics and the Arts.

The full list of lectures will soon be announced on the OpenDays website. It includes a number of Keynote presentations that will take place in the main auditorium on both from 9:30 to 17:30 . At the same time, there will be a number of  special topics at the Globe and the Council Chamber, which will be simultaneously transmitted in both places, giving the visitors the opportunity to attend as many as possible without missing a word. 

To run the Open Days we need the contribution of many. Volunteers are the key to this event and as guides, activity animators, lecturers, info agents, etc, volunteers will be present in all areas.  “We are grateful to the 1500 volunteers who have already signed up. The assignment process is on-going and they will soon be informed” says Virginie Blondeau who is running the volunteers workpackage.

Maybe it’s time for you to get involved as more volunteers are needed; especially for underground visits and “traffic security”. As thousands of visitors will arrive at CERN during these days, a lot of parkings will be at visitors’ disposal and volunteers are needed there to welcome visitors and give information. As the organizers understand the difficulties of the “traffic security”role they have decided to assign four hour shifts.“  Volunteers will receive training, the satisfaction of being able to say “I was there!”, exclusive Open Days 2013-branded clothing, packed lunches and drinks. Last but not least, through the visits service, once per week from October to December places will be exclusively reserved for all volunteers of the Open Days in LHC visits. “ Virginie points out.

Think how gratifying it is to share your passion with the public - and sign up to be a volunteer!  Just follow the link: https://espace.cern.ch/od2013/volunteers/Pages/default.aspx where you can also find all information related to Open Days.

The long list of events planned for the Open Days will conclude with a party on the Monday evening, to which over 22,000 will be invited. The main purpose of this party is to celebrate the splendid performance of the LHC accelerator and of all the related technical subsystems and to express the Organization’s appreciation to all those who have made a contribution to achieving the recent fundamental discoveries. More practical information for site access, parking, shuttle services will be available in the course of September at: http://cern.ch/bosonsandmore