Welcome Speech by Juan Antonio Rubio

1.7.2001

In the name of the Education and Technology Transfer Division I wish to welcome you to the 2001 Edition of the very succcessful High School Teachers program.

Science and Technology have always been well perceived by Society - Science as an essential part of human creativity and Technology as a route towards immediate practical progress. Recently, however, concerns arise because our world appears to have been made small and vulnerable by the power wielded by Science and Technology. This is, at least partially the consequence of a lack of general knowledge of both topics.

In order to overcome these concerns, we believe that Science should be publicly perceived as social culture, in the same way as art, music, etc. Scientists and engineers we have the responsibility to engage actively in public debate on our professional work, we should promote the application of scientific knowledge for tangible benefits for Society and Science should also be recognised as an important way of bringing nations together.

CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) was created in 1954 with the objective of promoting research in Particle Physics, to explore and understand the smallest components of matter (its elementary constituents) and on the fundamental forces which act between them. To achieve these goals, CERN designs, builds and operates large accelerators and large facilities (detectors), as well as powerful systems for data acquisition, distribution and analysis. The Organization is financed by 20 European Member States and collaborates with about sixty other countries – it is a European organization with global implications. CERN staff number is about 2500, the Organization has about 6000 users, and the yearly turnover of young physicists and engineers is around 1000.

CERN research is the physics of small dimensions, less than about 10-¹² cm, and the usual technique consists of colliding beams of particles to learn about particle behaviour. Attaining smaller and smaller dimensions requires higher and higher beam energies. Detecting and measuring the result of these collisions requires a major effort. Given the very small dimensions of the colliding particles and their very high energy, these experiments also simulate the physics conditions that existed just after the Universe was created in an initial Big Bang.

The role of CERN as the main Centre of Excellence in Particle Physics requires a high level of communication within its wide community, special attention to educational activities, and an emphasis on converting technological knowledge into social benefit. CERN has been always active in this domain. However its Management has recently decided to boost these activities by naming a Director for Technology Transfer and Scientific Computing, and creating a new Division, the Education and Technology Transfer Division, which began its work in January 2000.

The following non-exhaustive list outlines CERN's activities in the Education and Public Communication as well as Technology Transfer domains.

a) Continuously maintained Web pages, visits to CERN installations (about 50000 visitors per year), including a permanent exhibition (Microcosm), two itinerant exhibitions, on physics ("E=mc²) and on medical applications ("Hadrons for Health"), theatre performances (Oracle de DELPHI), Webcasting and Virtual Reality programmes, publication of brochures and public literature, CD-ROMs, etc., which are usual tools for communicating with Society.

b) Publications such as the prestigious 'CERN Courier' and 'Picked up for You Today' which are of real interest to scientists working in other fields of research.

c) Imaginative programmes such as "Signatures of the Invisible" bringing together artists and scientists and promoting artistic creativity based on Science to demonstrate to the public the close connections between art and science.

d) Press and Media receive special attention. About 500 journalists visit CERN every year.

e) Training of personnel is one of the main vectors of knowledge transfer, since about half of the young people trained at CERN on frontier technologies go to industry.

f) Applications of technologies developed at CERN are also an important way of maximising the social benefit of Particle Physics. There are developments, at a pre-prototype level, aiming to improve medical imaging, cancer therapy, elimination of nuclear wastes and production of medical isotopes, etc. There are also development programmes in information technologies, which are required in other fields such as biomedicine, etc.

g) Last but not least, in the Education domain, annual programmes such as the "High School Teachers" or "Physics on Stage", the last in collaboration with other scientific organizations in Europe.

Let me elaborate a little bit more on the High School teachers program, which you are attending. Young people are the future of our Society and you, the High School Teachers, are key to guarantee this future. Addressing to you is contributing to the development of the Society. Therefore, the H.S.T program has a first priority in the list of activities of the ETT division. The program has been enlarged for the present edition and we are considering opportunities for a further extension in the coming years.

I would like to thank all the people involved in the success of the program for their very valuable contribution. And, very specially, of course, I would like to thank all of you for your essential help in diffusing the modern science. Have a nice and fruitful stage at CERN.


© CERN and High School Teachers Programme at CERN.	Last modified: 28 June 2002