The LHC section is responsible for the operation of the LHC Accelerator. This responsibility includes: operations staff on shift and their supervision, as well as the supervision and co-ordination of the production and delivery of all particle beams. During periods of operation the section is responsible for the safety and access in the LHC tunnel installations. Other tasks for the section include participation in machine studies, writing software applications for accelerator control, developing and maintaining some accelerator related hardware, producing and maintaining accelerator operation schedules, preparation of operational procedures and providing beam statistics. Visit the LHC website

The feasibility of on-line production of short-lived radioactive isotopes was demonstrated already in 1951 by O. Kofoed Hansen and K.-O. Nielsen. They performed experiments on short-lived isotopes of noble gas elements that were produced by connecting a target, irradiated by protons, directly to an isotope separator. CERN’s ISOLDE, an acronym for Isotope Separator On Line, went into operation again in 1992, after a major upgrading that has placed the facility in a new building complex fed by a 1 GeV proton beam from the injector synchrotron, called the PS Booster. Hence, ISOLDE is now firmly integrated into the accelerator architecture…

LINAC4 & PSB Operation (PSB) The Booster section is responsible for the operation of LINAC4 and the PS Booster. The linear accelerator LINAC4 has been connected to the PSB in 2020 and is injecting 160 MeV H- ions onto a stripping foil at the PSB entrance that converts them into protons. The PS Booster is a synchrotron composed of four superposed rings. It produces all beams for the LHC proton injector chain as well as for the connected experimental facilities. The ISOLDE facility is directly served by the PSB, mostly with high-intensity beams. Visit the PSB website

The Low Energy Iron Ring is used to provide ions for the North Area fixed target experiments and also LHC ion collosions. LEIR operations fall within the SPS section.

AD & ELENA Operation (AD) The antiproton factory produces low energy antiprotons needed for a range of studies, including the synthesis of antihydrogen atoms – the creation of antimatter. Visit the AD website

The TI section operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year monitoring CERN’s technical infrastructure. It looks after the technical infrastructure of what is known as machine buildings; buildings related to accelerators, experiments and other important users like the computer centre. The technical infrastructure includes systems like: TI also coordinate during and report after major infrastructure disruptions. Visit the TI website

SPS & LEIR Operation (SPS) The SPS section is responsible for the operation of SPS (Super Proton Synchrotron), HiRadMat, AWAKE and North Experimental Area. They are also responsible for the operation of the LEIR accelerator during ion runs. Facts and figures: Visit the SPS website

PS Operation & AD/ELENA Backup Operation (PS) The PS section is responsible for the operation of PS, the beam lines to the experimental zones in the East Area and the nTOF facility. In order to fulfil these tasks the section always provides two persons on shift in the CCC during the period the accelerators run, one shift leader for the PS complex and one operator for the PS. The shift leader on duty is responsible for the operational safety within and the access to the PS complex accelerators and experimental zones. In addition to this the PS operations team takes…