The CERN experience

Besides teaching him lifeskills, the world’s largest particle physics lab showed him a good part of Europe, writes NARESH KUMAR.

Naresh Kumar

A physics student by training, I changed my career path towards library science and pursued an M.Phil. in library science from the University of Delhi. I wished to have foreign exposure and came across the CERN internship. This two-month internship called the CERN Summer Student programme at European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Switzerland, was an exciting, practical and memorable experience for me.

CERN, located on the Swiss-French border, is the world’s largest particle physics research laboratory. It is managed by 21 European members, six observer States including India and some non-member States. The laboratory has a unique work culture, full of professionalism, dedication and innovation that inspires not only CERN’s current scientists and staff but also scientists across the globe. CERN is also home to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment which aims to discover the physics of dark matter.

Acceptance

To be a CERN summer student one needs to fill up an online form, and e-mail his/her resume along with a motivation letter to CERN. You need to be an undergraduate or graduate student in physics, computer science, engineering or a student of physics with library science. Successful candidates are offered a place in a couple of months via e-mail.

If you accept, the acceptance letter and contract will be sent to you by post for visa.

I was fortunate to be the first Indian who got selected for internship in library science at the CERN library with a stipend. The CERN library is known for its open access drive of scientific journals and huge repository of scientific data. As part of my internship, in the first half of the day I attended lectures and experiments in physics and in second half worked in the library. I was involved in the cataloguing of the Aleph library management software; matching, merging and verification of various articles of databases such as SPIRES, INSPIRES, and Web of Science. I also worked on the CERN Document Server (CDS) in updating and uploading new records.

I managed to arrange my stay in one of the CERN hostels. Actually, Geneva is one of the most expensive cities in the world. So self-cooking is a good way to save money. I used to cook although I didn’t know it earlier, but I mastered it in two months. Going to parties on weekends ensured a good networking of friends and professionals. Such parties also offer development of dance skills and build up one’s confidence in communicating better in public places.

I took part in poster sessions, workshops and lectures. Out of interest, I carried out a survey of user satisfaction of CERN library. I enjoyed boating in the Geneva lake and roaming around the city streets. Biking all the way from home to the Alps and the hiking was a thrilling experience during weekends. Some visits to experiment sites were made during the internship. Besides the cities in Switzerland, I visited Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Luxemburg and Brussels using Europe rail pass during the weekends.

The author works as Digital Librarian, American Center Library, Embassy of U.S., New Delhi.