CERN Summer Student Program
Opportunity Description:
The CERN Summer Student Program offers students pursuing bachelor’s or master’s degrees in physics, computing, engineering and math a unique opportunity to join in the day-to-day work of research teams participating in experiments at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. Beyond the outstanding first-class scientific value of their stay, the selected students will find working in a multidisciplinary and multicultural environment an extremely enriching personal experience. It is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make valuable and long-lasting contacts with other students and scientists from all over the world.
In addition to the work in the experimental teams, Summer Students attend a series of lectures specially prepared for them. Several scientists from around the world share their knowledge about a wide range of topics in the fields of theoretical and experimental particle physics and computing. Visits to the accelerators and experimental areas are also part of the program, as well as discussion sessions, workshops and a poster session. Students are required to prepare a short report on their work at CERN, which should be submitted at the end of their stay. Students come for between eight weeks (minimum stay) and 13 weeks (maximum stay).
Minimum Qualifications and/or Eligibility Requirements:
In order to qualify for a place on the program you will need to meet the following requirements:
- You are a Bachelor or Master student (not PhD) in Physics, Engineering, Computer Science or Mathematics and should have completed, by the European summer, at least three years of full-time studies at university level.
- You will remain registered as a student during your stay at CERN. If you expect to graduate during European summer (as of May), you are also eligible to apply.
- You have not worked at CERN before with any other status (Technical Student, Trainee, User or other status) for more than 3 months and you have not been previously a Summer Student at CERN.
- You have a good knowledge of English; knowledge of French would be an advantage.
Candidates of all nationalities are welcome to apply for this Summer Student Program.
Application Process:
You will need the following documents, clearly labelled (e.g. “CV”, “Motivation letter”, “Academic transcript”, etc.) and in PDF format to complete your application:
- A CV.
- A copy of your most recent academic transcript giving an overview of your marks,
- Two mandatory reference letters (dated less than 12 months), from your lecturers and/or previous internships.
If you are a national of either Canada, Japan or United States, please apply via the following websites:
Please make sure you have all the documents requested to hand when you start your application on our career portal as they cannot be added after its completion (only reference letters can be submitted afterwards). Please note that all the documents you upload will remain attached to your Smartrecruiters profile. You do not need to upload them again for other applications you might submit.
Once your application has been submitted, you will receive a confirmation e-mail which contains a link. If you have not yet uploaded your reference letters when applying, you should forward this link to at least one referee, so that they can upload their recommendation letter. Please note that this must be done before the application deadline.
Application deadline is usually in late January.