CERN Accelerating science

Editorial - August 2013

The Summer Student program is well known and is a great success thanks to the dedication of CERN staff and of the numerous teachers from our community who contribute to an excellent series of lectures. What is probably less well known is that, following the strong involvement of pioneers such as John Ellis (interviewed by students in this issue) and thanks to the financial contribution of several countries and foundations, the number of Non-Member States students  has grown almost at the same level as for Member States. Needless to say that it creates a fantastic “melting pot” of different cultures at CERN, which offers a unique experience for the students. This is well reflected in the (sometimes quite original) reports by students that you will find in this Newsletter.

In a similar way, the High Energy Physics Schools, organized by CERN in collaboration with various institutes, have also crossed the borders of Europe, as you will see in the dedicated article.  Let me stress the essential role of the PH department in the organisation of these schools.

Finally, you will also find several articles about the EPLANET program, or its predecessor HELEN, funded by the EU, which is fostering a strong collaboration between Latin American countries, CERN and some other European states.

I hope you will enjoy reading this large amount of material collected during the Summer. Please do not hesitate to signal this Newsletter to our outside collaborators.

Philippe