Welcome to the Accelerators and Technologies Sector
The ATS oversees the operation of CERN's accelerator complex which includes the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). ATS manages the deployment, operation, and development of all accelerator technologies that underpin current and future operation.
Aligned with the Organization's strategic objectives, the sector guarantees the design, development, and implementation of upgrades to existing facilities. Additionally, it accommodates future accelerator projects, and related research and development.
Core activities
Ensure safe and effective exploitation of the accelerators complex and its experimental facilities.
The aging accelerator complex requires continuous maintenance and consolidation, with significant planned upgrades like the High Luminosity LHC.
Maintain expertise in accelerator technologies and related support facilities. Coordinate R&D programs for future particle accelerators in collaboration with European and international partners.
Explore options for post-HL-LHC operation in the early 2040s, such as the Future Circular Collider (FCC) study, which explores collider possibilities within a 91 km circular tunnel in the local area. List of projects here.
Operate, maintain and develop CERN's extensive Technical Infrastructure (electrical network, cooling and ventilation, handling engineering, access and alarms)
State-of-the-art particle accelerators and detectors cannot be bought off the shelf. They come to life in workshops staffed by teams of highly skilled engineers and technicians
Latest News
Accelerator Report: The LHC is well ahead of schedule
Almost the whole accelerator complex is now in “physics mode”, routinely delivering the various types of beam to the different physics facilities and experiments. Notably, the intensity ramp-up in the LHC is progressing remarkably well
Read moreLarge Hadron Collider reaches its first stable beams in 2024
This marks the beginning of physics for the third year of Run 3 of CERN’s flagship particle accelerator
Read moreAccelerator Report: Protons or Easter eggs? Let’s hope for both
Beam commissioning is progressing well across the entire accelerator complex, but challenges have arisen, in particular in Linac4, highlighting the complexities involved
Read moreObserving accelerator resonances in 4D
For the first time, scientists at CERN, in collaboration with scientists at GSI, have been able to measure a coupled resonance structure that may cause particle loss in accelerators
Read moreAccelerator Report: Beams are circulating in the LHC
On 8 March, three days ahead of schedule, the first proton beam was injected into the LHC, kicking off the 2024 LHC beam commissioning
Read more