European Organization for Nuclear Research

European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire), research center for particle physics (the study of subatomic particles), funded by 14 European members and located near Geneva, Switzerland. Established 1954, it has a staff of more than 3,500, and its facilities, including large particle accelerators, are available to researchers from any country. Its members are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Germany.