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CERN is run by 20 European Member States, but many non-European countries are also involved in different ways. Scientists come from around the world to use CERN’s facilities.
The current Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Romania, Israel and Serbia are candidates to become Member States of CERN.
Member States have special duties and privileges. They make a contribution to the capital and operating costs of CERN’s programmes, and are represented in the Council, responsible for all important decisions about the Organization and its activities.
Some states (or international organizations) for which membership is either not possible or not yet feasible are Observers. ‘Observer’ status allows non-Member States to attend Council meetings and to receive Council documents, without taking part in the decision-making procedures of the Organization.
Scientists from some 608 institutes and universities around the world use CERN’s facilities.
Physicists and their funding agencies from both Member and non-Member States are responsible for the financing, construction and operation of the experiments on which they collaborate. CERN spends much of its budget on building new machines (such as the Large Hadron Collider), and it only partially contributes to the cost of the experiments.
Observer States and Organizations currently involved in CERN programmes are: the European Commission, India, Japan, the Russian Federation, Turkey, UNESCO and the USA.
Non-Member States with co-operation agreements with CERN are: Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Georgia, Iceland, Iran, Jordan, Korea, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
CERN also has scientific contacts with: China (Taipei), Cuba, Ghana, Ireland , Latvia, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mozambique, Palestinian Authority, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
For further information about CERN's international relations please refer to: http://cern.ch/international-relations
CERN employs just under 2400 people. The Laboratory’s scientific and technical staff designs and builds the particle accelerators and ensures their smooth operation. They also help prepare, run, analyse and interpret the data from complex scientific experiments.
Some 10,000 visiting scientists, half of the world’s particle physicists, come to CERN for their research. They represent 608 universities and 113 nationalities.
