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    CERN

    Also known as European Organization for Nuclear Research, Organisation européenne pour la recherche nucléaire

    CERN is the intergovernmental particle physics laboratory on the Franco-Swiss border, founded in 1954, with 25 member states as of October 2026.[1][2] It runs the Large Hadron Collider, where the Higgs boson was discovered, and in May 2026 its Council named the Future Circular Collider as the preferred next flagship.[3][4][5]

    Editor reviewedUpdated Particle physics and cosmologyPhysicsScience
    Key facts

    What it is

    CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is an intergovernmental laboratory near Geneva. Its founding convention was signed in 1953 by 12 states and entered into force on 29 September 1954.[1] As of October 2026 it has 25 member states, the newest being Estonia (2024) and Slovenia (2025). It also has 11 associate members, including India, Brazil and Ukraine.[2] The United States and Japan are observers with respect to the LHC, and the European Union and UNESCO are observers to the organisation.[6]

    British particle physicist Mark Thomson became Director-General in January 2026.[7]

    Facilities and results

    CERN’s flagship is the large-hadron-collider, a 27 km superconducting ring that first started up in 2008.[3] There, on 4 July 2012, the ATLAS and CMS collaborations announced the discovery of the Higgs boson.[4] In 2025 its LHCb experiment reported the first observation of matter-antimatter asymmetry in baryon decays.[8] In September 2026 CERN reported that ATLAS and CMS had found strong evidence that pairs of Z bosons from Higgs decays are quantum entangled.[9]

    The LHC is fed by a chain of older accelerators. One of them, the Super Proton Synchrotron, turned 50 in October 2026. Its best-known result is the 1983 discovery of the W and Z bosons, which won the Nobel Prize in Physics the following year.[10]

    The LHC entered Long Shutdown 3 at the end of June 2026 for its high-luminosity upgrade, with a gradual restart from 2028 and high-luminosity operation from 2030.[11][12] CERN’s 2026–2030 strategy, published in September 2026, makes finishing the High-Luminosity LHC on time its number-one priority for the next five years.[13]

    Strategy and the next collider

    On 22 May 2026 the CERN Council updated the European Strategy for Particle Physics. It kept the High-Luminosity LHC as the top medium-term priority and named the electron-positron future-circular-collider (FCC-ee) the preferred next flagship.[14][5] The Council asked management to build a funding plan with member states, other countries and the EU, and will decide by 2028.[15] CERN’s own strategy aims to put it in a position to seek Council approval for FCC-ee in 2028.[13] Money is the main obstacle. CERN estimates the first stage at 15 billion Swiss francs, and Physics Today reported that this is more than CERN’s regular budget can cover.[16][17] Germany, a major contributor, said in 2024 that it could not afford the project.[18] In June 2026 Thomson said he was “reasonably optimistic” about finding the roughly €16.5 billion needed.[19] The arguments for and against are set out in the next-collider debate.

    Beyond Europe

    CERN supplied the steel and expertise for the far-detector cryostats of the US-hosted DUNE. It was the laboratory’s first infrastructure investment for an experiment outside Europe.[20] In return, US national laboratories are supplying superconducting magnets for the High-Luminosity LHC.[21]

    CERN also works with experiments it does not host. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole is a CERN Recognized Experiment. Its founder, Francis Halzen, won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of high-energy neutrinos from beyond the Solar System.[22][23] At the LHC itself, the FASER and SND@LHC experiments detect neutrinos made in collisions.[22]

    Questions readers ask

    Who runs CERN?

    CERN is governed by its 25 member states through the CERN Council. Mark Thomson has been Director-General since January 2026.[2][7]

    Is the United States a member of CERN?

    No. The United States and Japan hold observer status with respect to the LHC.[6]

    What is CERN's next big project?

    In May 2026 the CERN Council named the electron-positron Future Circular Collider its preferred next flagship and asked for a funding plan, with a decision by 2028.[5][15]

    Sources

    Each numbered claim is a statement we checked against the sources listed with it. Status shows how well established it is.

    1. [1]

      The CERN convention was signed in 1953 by 12 founding states and entered into force on 29 September 1954. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    2. [2]

      As of October 2026 CERN has 25 member states, the newest being Estonia (2024) and Slovenia (2025), and 11 associate member states including India, Brazil and Ukraine. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    3. [3]

      The Large Hadron Collider is a 27-kilometre ring about 100 metres underground on the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva; it first started up on 10 September 2008. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    4. [4]

      On 4 July 2012 the ATLAS and CMS collaborations at CERN announced the discovery of a new particle consistent with the Higgs boson. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    5. [5]

      On 22 May 2026 the CERN Council updated the European Strategy for Particle Physics, naming the electron-positron Future Circular Collider as the preferred next flagship project. confirmedas of 2026-05-22

    6. [6]

      The United States and Japan hold observer status at CERN with respect to the LHC, and the European Union and UNESCO are observers. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    7. [7]

      British particle physicist Mark Thomson took up the role of CERN Director-General in January 2026. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    8. [8]

      In March 2025 LHCb reported the first observation of matter-antimatter (CP) violation in baryon decays, a 2.45% asymmetry in Lambda-b baryon decays with 5.2 standard deviations significance, using LHC Run 1 and 2 data. confirmedas of 2025-03-25

    9. [9]

      In September 2026 CERN reported that ATLAS and CMS had found strong evidence that pairs of Z bosons from Higgs boson decays are quantum entangled, the first such evidence for Z bosons, following their earlier observation of entangled top quarks. confirmedas of 2026-09-17

    10. [10]

      CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron, its second-largest accelerator, marked 50 years in October 2026; its best-known result is the 1983 discovery of the W and Z bosons, which won the Nobel Prize in Physics the following year. confirmedas of 2026-10-08

    11. [11]

      Proton beams circulated in the LHC for the last time before Long Shutdown 3 on 27 June 2026; the final proton-proton collisions took place on 16 May and the final lead-lead collisions on 14 June. confirmedas of 2026-07-23

    12. [12]

      During Long Shutdown 3, 1.2 km of LHC magnets and components are being replaced; the accelerator complex is due to restart gradually from 2028 and the High-Luminosity LHC to begin operating in 2030. confirmedas of 2026-06-29

    13. [13]

      In September 2026 CERN published its 2026–2030 strategy, approved by the CERN Council in June, which makes timely completion of the High-Luminosity LHC its number-one priority and aims for CERN to be in a position to seek Council approval for FCC-ee in 2028. confirmedas of 2026-09-16

    14. [14]

      The 2026 European Strategy update keeps completing the High-Luminosity LHC as the highest medium-term priority, with operations extending to 2041. confirmedas of 2026-05-22

    15. [15]

      The CERN Council asked CERN management to develop a financially feasible funding plan for FCC-ee with member states, other countries and the EU, will receive annual progress reports from management, and will decide on the project by 2028. confirmedas of 2026-05-22

    16. [16]

      CERN estimates the cost of building the FCC electron-positron stage, including the tunnel and infrastructure, at 15 billion Swiss francs, spread over about 12 years from the early 2030s. confirmedas of 2025-03-31

    17. [17]

      Physics Today reported in June 2026 that the FCC's 15.3 billion Swiss franc price exceeds what CERN can pay from its budget, requiring several billion francs in additional funding. reportedas of 2026-06-18

    18. [18]

      In May 2024 Germany's research ministry, a major CERN funder, said it could not afford to fund the FCC and called its financing plan "extremely vague". reportedas of 2024-05-28

    19. [19]

      In June 2026 CERN Director-General Mark Thomson said he was "reasonably optimistic" about securing the roughly €16.5 billion needed to build the FCC, whose cost Research Professional News described as controversial. reportedas of 2026-06-10

    20. [20]

      CERN supplied the steel and expertise for DUNE's far-detector cryostats, its first infrastructure investment for an experiment outside Europe. confirmedas of 2026-05-07

    21. [21]

      CERN's Director-General said CERN is providing DUNE's two cryostats, while US national laboratories supply superconducting magnets for the High-Luminosity LHC; the CERN steel was scheduled to be moved underground in summer 2026. confirmedas of 2026-05-07

    22. [22]

      IceCube is a CERN Recognized Experiment, and CERN detects neutrinos produced at the LHC directly with its FASER and SND@LHC experiments. confirmedas of 2026-10-06

    23. [23]

      The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics, announced on 6 October 2026, went to Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin–Madison for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin. confirmedas of 2026-10-06

    Revision history (2)
    1. Page created.
    2. Added the 2026–2030 CERN strategy, Z-boson entanglement evidence, the SPS 50th anniversary, IceCube's Nobel and collider neutrinos, and independent sources on FCC funding (Germany 2024, Thomson 2026).

    Created Oct 10, 2026. Last reviewed by an editor on Oct 10, 2026. Next scheduled review: Jan 10, 2027.

    Cite this page

    "CERN." ContentLora, updated Oct 10, 2026. https://contentlora.com/wiki/cern

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