CERN

CERN provides particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics research.

CERN is a particle-physics laboratory based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the European organization for nuclear research where physicists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the universe. CERN uses the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments to study the basic constituents of the matter – the fundamental particles. Its main function is to provide the particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics research. The instruments used at CERN are purpose-built particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before the beams are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions. Founded in 1954, the CERN was one of Europe's first joint ventures and now has 21 member states.