Enhanced fellowship opportunities at CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has a long history of supporting international fellowships. The start-up of CERN's Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, was perfect timing for CERN's third EU-funded COFUND project, COFUND-CERN-2011 (Cofunding of the CERN Fellowship Programme 2011). COFUND grants are designed to supply additional financial support to existing regional, national or international research programmes. In this case, it has enabled CERN to extend the fellowship duration from two years to three. CERN is giving fellows the opportunity to spend up to one year at a university, research institute or industrial company while continuing to work on a topic related to the original work at CERN. This is expected to not only enhance the fellows' experiences, but potentially provide opportunities for employment at the end of the fellowship, as has happened in the past. Sixty-one fellows were selected during four committee meetings from 2012 to 2014. They come from the EU, Armenia, China, Cuba, Russia, Switzerland and the United States. Research topics cover areas including experimental and theoretical particle physics, accelerator and detector physics, information technology, data acquisition, electrical engineering and technology transfer. A new opportunity was created for COFUND-CERN-2011, namely a fellowship for a scientist returning after a career break. A highly ranked Armenian theoretical physicist is now returning to her research activities with the grant. CERN is a world-class research organisation with unique facilities not available elsewhere. Combined with its stimulating intellectual environment, it offers fellows the opportunity to pursue their own projects, develop new skills and expertise, and gain international visibility and prestige. The COFUND-CERN-2011 project is supporting CERN's ability to further increase the competitiveness and impact of its Fellowship Programme with benefits for many nations welcoming their scientists back to their home institutions.