• Fabiola Gianotti confirmed at the head of Cern: a second historic mandate

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by Andrea Bettini November 6, 2019 “CERN is a special place where we do fundamental research, develop new technologies, make scientific dissemination. And it is a concrete example of international cooperation ". In the first press conference after the announcement that he will have a second term as general manager of the most famous physics laboratory in the world, Fabiola Gianotti is happy and proud for a reconfirmation never touched by any of his predecessors.

"A great privilege and honor"
"It is a great privilege and honor - says the Italian scientist, at the head of CERN from 1 January 2016 - The results of the last four years are not my personal but are the result of teamwork. There are many examples, from the second run of the Large Hadron Collider, which worked very well and beyond the design parameters, to the Science Gateway project and to the entry of new member states ".

"Still many open questions that are not answered in the Standard Model"
His tenure will last until 2025. Important years, with the ongoing enhancement of the famous LHC particle accelerator. When it comes back up, it will provide scientists with ten times more data. A very important machine for physicists all over the world because even if the Standard Model works very well, Fabiola Gianotti emphasizes, "there are still many open questions that cannot be answered within it".

"Science can provide facts to society"
Research in the foreground of course, but for the CERN general manager it will also be essential to focus on the role of science in our society. "First, science can provide facts to society," says Fabiola Gianotti. "He must attend the table because he can give objective facts. In a divided world he can play a key role in connecting people. Natural laws are the same everywhere. Furthermore, science unites because the desire to know is a common aspiration of all humanity ".