23 November 2019 | New Scientist | 45beginning, developing the detector and analysis
techniques for the ATLAS experiment and then
being on the forefront at the time the Higgs
boson was discovered. That was clearly a great
satisfaction. I’ve been lucky enough to grow in
this lab, and I am very grateful for what I got,
not only as a physicist but also as a human
being. It has helped me develop as an open and
tolerant person. I think the atmosphere of this
place is very special. There are a few places like
it, but not so many. We should cherish them,
because the world definitely and desperately
needs them. ❚publish, what we develop is open to everybody.
In 1993 we made the web available for everyone
to use and develop royalty-free, and that is still
true today. We develop open-source software
and hardware. We publish our results in open-
access journals available to everyone, for free.
Our data, once they are understood and well-
calibrated, are available to everyone.
The other important component is
education, training available to everybody
and reaching out to countries that aren’t at
the forefront of science and technology. We
have many initiatives, for instance, a summer
programme including students from less
privileged countries. So we try in our little
corner to do something good for the world.What achievement are you most proud of, both
personally and for CERN?
From the point of view of my scientific career,
I had the fortune to be involved in the Large
Hadron Collider project right from theRichard Webb is executive
editor at New ScientistA prototype neutrino detector under
construction at CERNYou mention the power of science to bring people
together, but last year CERN was in the headlines
for the wrong reasons when theorist Alessandro
Strumia made disparaging comments about
women in physics at a CERN seminar. Did that
set your mission back?
That was an opportunity for us to re-emphasise
the importance of diversity in all its facets.
That isn’t just gender diversity, but diversity
in terms of ethnicity, culture and so on.
Diversity means giving everyone the same
opportunities, and unfortunately in our work
this is not true. We still have a gender gap, but
also gaps between developed countries and
developing countries, the rich and the poor. We
live in a world where technology is expanding
at a very fast pace and that brings the risk of
exacerbating differences and inequalities.
What can a place like CERN do about that?
We can continue to promote, support and
expand open science. What we do, what we
CERN