European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN)
CERN is an international organisation for particle physics research and is located on both sides of the border between Switzerland and France. CERN has 2600 employees and around 6500 full-time or part-time researchers from 500 universities and research institutes.
When on a student exchange at CERN, you would likely be living in Geneva, Switzerland. Geneva is located by Lake Geneva and has warm summers and cold winters. Switzerland is perfectly placed in the centre of Europe, and a ski trip to the Alps or a visit to a neighbouring country is just a short journey by car or a lovely train ride. At Christmas, the city has a large Christmas market, with mulled wine and Swiss fondue. The rest of the year you can enjoy good Swiss chocolate, and since Switzerland is especially famous for its watches, perhaps you’ll buy a watch or ten as a souvenir.
Languages
The working language at CERN is English and French. Since CERN is located on both sides of the border between France and the French-speaking part of Switzerland, it would be an advantage (but not a necessity) to know some French. .
Fee
There is no tuition fee at CERN. In fact, CERN offers grants to students in technology studies each year. These grants apply to traineeships and work on main projects, master’s theses, etc. at CERN. The amount of the grant is roughly NOK 16,000 per month. Students who do not receive a grant from CERN may be given an Erasmus grant if they are doing a traineeship and writing their thesis there.
In order to receive a grant from CERN, you must stay for 4 to 12 months.
Course approval
In order to apply for a student exchange programme, your application must first be approved by the study programme of your faculty. An approved application means that you have been given an academic pre-approval for the course or traineeship you will be doing abroad. The academic pre-approval specifies what you will be doing while you are on an exchange programme and confirms these activities will be fully approved as part of your education plan at HVL.
What can I study?
Bachelor's programme in Computing
Students studying computer engineering and information technology may apply for a grant to work on programming tasks related to the IT department or physics experiments at CERN. Contact the academic contact person for more information.
Bachelor's programme in Information Technology
Students studying computer engineering and information technology may apply for a grant to work on programming tasks related to the IT department or physics experiments at CERN. Contact the academic contact person for more information.