Politics British physicist becomes new head of nuclear research center Cern

SDA

6.11.2024 - 12:49

With the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), Cern has the most powerful particle accelerator in the world. (archive picture)
With the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), Cern has the most powerful particle accelerator in the world. (archive picture)
Keystone

Mark Thomson becomes the new Director of the Cern nuclear research center near Geneva. The British particle physicist will begin his five-year term of office on January 1, 2026.

The Cern Council, made up of the member countries, elected the 58-year-old as the new chairman of the research center, as Cern announced on Tuesday. The official appointment will take place at the December meeting of the Council. Thomson succeeds the Italian Fabiola Gianotti, who is the first woman to head Cern since 2016.

Thomson is currently Executive Chairman of the Science and Technology Facilities Council in the UK and holds a Chair in Experimental Particle Physics at the University of Cambridge. He was already involved in research work at Cern in the 1990s.

SDA