Pictures and speeches of the inauguration day will be gradually added on this link. Captions of the pictures are in the metadata.
CERN inaugurates its new flagship centre for education and outreach on 7 October 2023
CERN Science Gateway will be a place to discover particle physics like nowhere else on Earth. At this unique education and outreach centre, visitors from age five and up will be able to discover their inner scientist in hands-on education labs, explore CERN and the Universe through immersive, multimedia exhibition, take part in science shows and public events, and join guided-tours to see the places where the science is done.
Why Science Gateway?
Education is one of the pillars of CERN’s mission. In 2017, CERN’s Director General, Fabiola Gianotti, laid out a vision of a one-of-a-kind outreach centre that would expand CERN’s already extensive range of education and outreach programmes, reaching out to more and younger visitors.
Designed by world-renowned agency Renzo Piano Building Workshop, in collaboration with Brodbeck Roulet Architectes Associés, Science Gateway will welcome between 300 and 500 000 visitors every year, immersing them in the discoveries, the science and the technologies of CERN. With its tubes that appear to be suspended in space to evoke the cutting-edge CERN accelerators, Science Gateway will be both a real and a metaphorical bridge between visitors and science and a beacon to encourage young people to aim for careers in science and technology.
Read the Italian version of this media kit here.
To download the trailer, click here.
Science brings people together and shows what humanity can achieve when we put our differences aside and focus on the common good. Science gives hope and trust in a better future. We want CERN Science Gateway to inspire all those who come to visit with the beauty and the values of science.
Fabiola Gianotti, CERN Director-General
A bridge, forever bridges! A glass bridge, which links the different themes and parts of Science Gateway while also allowing a physical encounter between researchers and children, visitors and physicists, tourists and scientists, all driven by curiosity and the thirst for knowledge.
Renzo Piano, architect of CERN Science Gateway
At Stellantis, we strongly believe in the importance of education, with an emphasis on the fields of science and technology. Supporting STEM education has proven to be the most effective way to keep our societies open and safe.
John Elkann, Chairman of Stellantis
BUILDING
Designed by iconic architect Renzo Piano
Five different spaces to host three exhibitions, two hands-on laboratories, an auditorium, a shop and a restaurant.
A bridge suspended six metres above the ground connects the different spaces.
Total surface area of 8000 m2, including 1400 m2 of exhibitions and 260 m2of labs.
A 900-seat auditorium, with a modular set-up allowing up to three smaller auditoria
Almost 4000 m2 of solar panels providing energy to Science Gateway and other CERN buildings
Over 400 trees and 13 000 shrubs in the surrounding forest.
A net-zero carbon footprint with regards to energy supply.
ARCHITECTURE
Inspired by the fragmentation and curiosity intrinsic to CERN
Multiple elements, embedded in a green forest.
A bridge spanning the main road leading to Geneva
Suspended tubes mirroring the cutting-edge technology of the CERN accelerator complex
Raw forms and exposed concrete celebrating CERN’s industrial character
A building symbolising the inseparable link between science and society
VISITORS
All ages can engage with CERN's science and technologies
300 000 to 500 000 visitors foreseen every year.
Hundreds of CERN Guides, drawn from among the CERN personnel.
Activities for visitors aged five and up.
Free entry for everyone
Open six days a week, from Tuesday to Sunday (closed on Mondays).
Science Gateway will be part of a broader campus including the Globe of Science and Innovation, and IdeaSquare.
Visitors will be able to register for guided tours when they arrive on the campus.
No booking will be needed to visit the building and exhibition; an app will be available to book guided tours, science shows, labs and IdeaSquare activities. Groups (≥ 12) must book their visit well in advance.
EXHIBITIONS
Explore the Universe at CERN
With hands-on experiments, real scientific objects, immersive environments and interactivity, the exhibitions at Science Gateway will bring CERN to life.
Discover CERN: Peek behind the scenes at the Laboratory, to find out how we study particles. On one side of the exhibition, explore CERN's particle accelerators; on the other, discover how giant experiments record particle collisions and how a global network of computers processes the data.
Our Universe: Travel back in time 13.8 billion years to discover the journey particles took to become everything we see around us, and forward into the many mysteries in the Universe that scientists seek to answer, through the language of art.
Quantum World: Become a particle and experience our world at the very smallest of scales. Engage in fun activities, such as quantum tennis and quantum karaoke, and discover how quantum phenomena have consequences on our daily lives.
Temporary exhibitions will also be available in the Globe of Science and Innovation
SHOWS
Science in a theatre-like setting
Science shows are theatre-like performances with exciting experiments and interactive activities.
Areas covered: states of matter, superconductivity, particle detection, engineering, and big data.
Shows cannot be booked in advance. Seats will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Five shows: It's just a Phase, Journey through the Detector, Seize the Data, Magical Physics Party, and Proton Express
WORKSHOPS
Hands-on learning in the lab
Lab workshops are an ideal way to discover what it is like to be a scientist or engineer at CERN.
For schools: lab workshops last between 45 and 90 minutes, are available in different languages and cover a variety of topics, ranging from the basic principles of particle detection to the use of robots in science.
Lab workshop for the general public: at weekends, for 24 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. The sessions last around 45 minutes and are held in French and English.
11 workshops: Cloud Chamber, Slimy Detectors, Programming with Ozobots, Magnet Challenge, Seeing the Invisible, LEGO Robotic Challenge, The Power of Air, Positron Emission Tomography, Superconductivity, Electron Beams and LEGO Detector Challenge.
EVENTS
A modular auditorium
With 900 seats, the modulable auditorium will host public events and CERN events.
Public talks, science shows, films screenings and much more will take place in Science Gateway.
FINANCING AND COST
A project funded through donations
The overall cost of Science Gateway is estimated at 100 million Swiss francs, entirely funded through donations.
The main donation came from Stellantis Foundation. The Fondation Hans Wilsdorf is also a major donor. Other donors are the LEGO foundation, the Loterie Romande, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Rolex, the Carla Fendi Foundation, the Fondation Gelbert, Solvay, the Fondation Meyrinoise du Casino and the town of Meyrin. CERN thanks the République et Canton de Genève and the CERN and Society Foundation for their support.
Resources
Press contact:
CERN Press office
press@cern.ch