A selection of highlights from events surrounding the official 60th birthday.
The ceremony was attended by official delegations from 35 countries, while other events attracted people from CERN and in the surrounding area to listen to talks, hear music, and see science in the streets. At the same time, webcasts took many of the activities to a much wider “internet” audience, who could also participate in the celebrations via social media.
Celebrations will continue in many different places during the rest of the year. To find out more, visit http://cern60.web.cern.ch/.
The official CERN60 ceremony on 29 September featured the European Union Youth Orchestra, directed by Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy, with 42 musicians covering all of CERN member and observer states.
An address by the president of the CERN Council, Agnieszka Zalewska, marked the culmination of speeches that had been given by official delegates from the UK, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Portugal.
On 29 September, the German federal minister of education and research, Johanna Wanka, was one of the 35 official delegations to sign the guestbook, with Sigurd Lettow, CERN’s director for administration and general infrastructure.
On 19 September, during a week of CERN Council meetings, a symposium celebrated the 60th anniversary of the first Council session, held in October 1954, just one week after the CERN Convention entered into force. Speakers included CERN’s librarian, Jens Vigen, who presented highlights of Council’s history, here with a view of the Council chamber at CERN.
Croatian students of Gymnasium “Fran Galović” Koprivnica were just some of many who sent in images via social media, with the hashtag #MyCERN60, to wish CERN a happy 60th birthday. Through drawings, cakes, parties and more, people around the world contributed in beautiful and heart-warming ways.
On 17 September, a symposium on “60 years of CERN – 60 years of Science for Peace” took place in the Globe of Science and Innovation. It focussed on the human achievements throughout CERN’s history, and the role that the organization has played in promoting international co-operation. Talks included “SESAME: a parallel universe in the Middle East?” by Eliezer Rabinovici, of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
The United Nations Orchestra performed a concert at CERN on 19 September to celebrate the 60th anniversary. Under the baton of conductor and artistic director Antoine Marguier, the orchestra accompanied soloist Matteo Fedeli, who, under the patronage of the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations, performed on a Stradivarius violin.
CERN took part in the annual European Researchers’ Night on 26 September with “Pop Science”, in which CERN researchers showcased their work at multiple venues in Geneva and neighbouring France. The event mixed arts, poetry, theatre, music and science, and included shows with liquid nitrogen, CERNLand games for young people and numerous talks and discussions.
The second TEDxCERN event took place on 24 September, with the theme “Forward: Charting the future with science”. Of the many inspirational talks, Jamie Edwards, now 14, received a standing ovation after he spoke about attempting to achieve nuclear fusion in his school lab by colliding the nuclei of hydrogen atoms via inertial electrostatic confinement.
CERN Courier joined in the celebrations with a 60 made from issues from the past few years, including the one for the anniversary itself.
