Today in History – September 29, 1954 – CERN convention
ratified. A small number of scientists first envisioned CERN
vision as an opportunity to bring nations together through
science and build a world-class laboratory for nuclear and
particle physics in Europe. CERN’s founding convention
emphasized that that it should foster international
collaboration, promote contacts between and interchange of
scientists and make its results freely available through
advanced training and publications. “When the 12 founding Member
States ratified the CERN convention on 29 September 1954,”
explains CERN’s Director General Robert Aymar, “they gave the
new organization a mission to provide first class facilities, to
coordinate fundamental research in particle physics, and to help
reunite the countries of Europe after two world wars.“ The
official groundbreaking of the CERN laboratory occurred in
Geneva on May 17, 1954. Today, CERN has achieved its mission and
more, hosting around half the world’s particle physicists, with
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