CERN is the European laboratory for particle physics and one of the world’s leading scientific research laboratories. CERN's business is pure research - physicists and engineers use the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments to study Nature's tiniest building blocks, the fundamental particles, to find out how our world and the Universe work.
An early European joint venture, CERN was founded in 1954 by the the European Organization for Nuclear Research (hence the acronym). The Laboratory has become a prime example of international collaboration, with 23 Members States, seven Associate Member States, three Associate Member States in the pre-stage to Membership and a global community of more than 100 nationalities.