Glossary:European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, abbreviated as CERN (from the French 'Conseil européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire' or European Council for Nuclear Research, as its predecessor was called), is the world's largest particle physics laboratory, situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border. It was established in 1954. For further information please see CERN
CERN's main function is to provide the particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics research. Numerous experiments have been constructed at CERN by international collaborations to make use of them. It is also noted for being the birthplace of the World Wide Web. The main site at Meyrin also has a large computer centre containing very powerful data processing facilities primarily for experimental data analysis, and because of the need to make them available to researchers elsewhere, has historically been (and continues to be) a major wide area networking hub.