The incoming Director-General of CERN, Mark Thomson, paid a flying visit to Nikhef on Monday, September 15. During a tour of the national institute in Amsterdam, he visited various scientific and technical departments, from theory and data science to ATLAS, gravitational waves and KM3NeT.
In January 2026, Englishman Thomson (1966) will succeed the current Director General of CERN, Fabiola Gianotti, who will then have served two terms. He is a professor of physics at Cambridge and has held numerous organizational positions in the UK and Europe.
Thomson is currently making introductory visits to institutions and countries affiliated with CERN. When he was appointed last year, he emphasized the connecting role of the CERN particle physics laboratory in Geneva and its social responsibility. “CERN brings countries together in a shared commitment to conducting science for the benefit of humanity.”
In a colloquium later on monday, Thomson was positive about the future of particle physics. “The most fundamental questions lie ahead of us, we mustn’t forget that.”
