CERN & Society Foundation

Name

CERN & Society Foundation

Legal name

CERN & Society Foundation

Website

https://cernandsocietyfoundation.cern

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Science Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Educational Support Services (61171), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL), Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ)

Keywords

• Science philanthropy
• STEM education outreach
• Research foundation funding
• Particle physics outreach
• Charitable giving programmes

Headquarters

HQ city

Meyrin

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: The foundation receives donations from individuals through its website, offering single gifts and recurring monthly contributions. Donation options include preset amounts (CHF30, CHF70, CHF120 for single; CHF10, CHF40, CHF100 for monthly) or custom amounts. 96.4% of each donation goes directly to funding foundation projects.
2. Corporate and Foundation Partnerships: Partnerships with companies, foundations, and organizations who support specific projects or the foundation's overall mission. The foundation page lists institutional partners via logos, suggesting corporate sponsorship and foundation grants as significant revenue sources.
3. CERN Gift Shop - Data Tapes: Obsolete CERN data tapes containing 1.6 Terabytes of data (including Higgs Boson event samples) are sold at the CERN Gift Shop for 15 CHF. All proceeds support CERN & Society Foundation projects in education, outreach, innovation, and culture.
4. Legacy Giving: Individuals can establish a legacy by bequeathing money, valuables, real estate, or other assets to the foundation. The foundation encourages donors to seek professional advice to ensure wills reflect their wishes and comply with succession laws.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The CERN & Society Foundation is a Swiss charitable foundation that raises philanthropic donations from individuals, corporations, and other foundations to fund education, innovation, knowledge exchange, and culture programmes connected to CERN's scientific research. It operates a portfolio of named initiatives (such as the CERN Festival Programme, Science Gateway, Beamline for Schools, National Teacher Programmes, CERN-MEDICIS, Zenodo, BioDynaMo, and Arts at CERN) and re-grants donor contributions to support these programmes. Additional revenue is generated by selling obsolete CERN data tapes at the CERN Gift Shop, with proceeds earmarked for foundation projects.

Product overview

The CERN & Society Foundation is a philanthropic foundation that channels donor support into three interconnected pillars — Education & Outreach, Innovation & Knowledge Exchange, and Culture & Creativity — to extend CERN's societal impact beyond the laboratory. The product portfolio is structured as a collection of named initiatives rather than a unified software platform: the Education & Outreach pillar includes the CERN Festival Programme (immersive Science Pavilions at music festivals), Science Gateway (the Renzo Piano-designed visitor centre), Globe of Science and Innovation (public event venue), Beamline for Schools (student beamline competition), CERN-Solvay Student Camps (residential camps for high-school students), National Teacher Programmes, and Non-Member State Summer Student and PhD programmes. The Innovation & Knowledge Exchange pillar covers CERN-MEDICIS (radioisotope production for cancer treatment), BioDynaMo (open-source agent-based modelling software), Zenodo (open-access research data repository), and TIMEPIX@school (particle detector kits for schools). The Culture & Creativity pillar encompasses Arts at CERN (artist residency and commission programme), and its sub-exhibition Exploring the Unknown at the Science Gateway. Additionally, the CERN Data Tapes (obsolete magnetic tapes with LHC data sold at the CERN Gift Shop) represent a merchandise product supporting foundation projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Arts at CERN: The Laboratory's distinguished arts programme that facilitates meaningful exchanges between art and science, including Collide, Connect, and Resonance residency programmes.
• Exploring the Unknown
• CERN Festival Programme

Products and services

• CERN Festival Programme Science outreach initiative that brings immersive Science Pavilions to music festivals worldwide, reaching audiences not typically drawn to science and inspiring interest in STEM.
• Beamline for Schools A hands-on science competition giving high-school students the opportunity to propose and conduct experiments at CERN's beamline facilities.
• Science Gateway CERN's outreach centre designed by Renzo Piano, featuring exhibitions, experiments, and educational programmes that immerse the public in CERN's science and technologies.
• Globe of Science and Innovation A landmark outreach venue hosting public events including conferences, panel discussions, film screenings, and artistic performances.
• CERN-Solvay Student Camp Week-long residential camps for high-school students aged 16+ offering hands-on experiments at Science Gateway, visits to CERN facilities, lectures with CERN and Solvay scientists, and career exploration.
• ENLIGHT European Network for Light Ion Hadron Therapy: a training and networking programme for research students studying particle therapy, providing multidisciplinary education and connecting young researchers with leading experts in the field.
• National Teacher Programmes Intensive, short (up to one week) on-site programmes for high-school science teachers, offering CERN scientist lectures, hands-on activities, and guidance on integrating modern physics into classroom teaching in 21 languages across 112 countries.
• Non-Member State Summer Student Programme An eight-week summer programme enabling students from non-CERN-Member States to work on advanced technical projects, attend lectures, and visit CERN facilities, fostering international scientific exchange and diplomacy.
• Non-Member State PhD Studentship A doctoral programme providing PhD students from non-Member States the opportunity to participate in LHC experiments and CERN technological projects, spending up to two years at CERN while working toward a thesis.
• Public Events A range of free public events including lectures, film screenings, artistic performances, conferences, and workshops open to the general public, supported by donors to the foundation.
• CERN-MEDICIS Medical Isotopes Collected from ISOLDE: a facility producing radioisotopes with tailored properties to enhance precision in medical imaging and radiotherapy, expanding the range available for cancer research and treatment.
• Zenodo An open-access research repository enabling researchers to deposit datasets, software, workflows, and other digital research artefacts for free, supporting open science with 300,000+ researchers across 7,500 organisations and 1 petabyte of hosted data.
• BioDynaMo An open-source agent-based modelling software for simulating complex systems in biology, epidemiology, economics, and medicine, capable of modelling cancer growth, dengue transmission, and socio-economic inequality scenarios.
• TIMEPIX@school An educational initiative providing particle detector kits (based on the Timepix silicon chip from CERN's Medipix2 Collaboration) to schools, enabling students to visualise ionising radiation and cosmic rays in real time through hands-on classroom experiments.
• Arts at CERN The Laboratory's flagship arts programme with three residency tracks (Collide, Connect, Resonance), art commissions, and exhibitions, fostering dialogue between artists and scientists through particle physics.
• Exploring the Unknown An art-science exhibition at the CERN Science Gateway exploring three themes — Space & Time, the Void (Quantum Vacuum), and the Invisible (Dark Matter) — through commissioned artworks bridging fundamental physics and contemporary art.
• Breakthrough Prize PhD Grant A doctoral grant programme providing PhD students opportunities to work within CERN experiments, originally founded using donations from the Fundamental Physics Special Breakthrough Prize.
• CERN Data Tapes Obsolete CERN magnetic data tapes (containing 1.6 terabytes including Higgs Boson event samples and matter-antimatter asymmetry data) sold at the CERN Gift Shop for 15 CHF per tape, with all proceeds supporting CERN & Society Foundation projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1 million visitors to Science Gateway since 2023 opening
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Rosa Barba (Artist)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023German-Italian artist based in Berlin selected for the 2026 Exploring the Unknown exhibition at Science Gateway, creating installation inspired by themes of the Invisible and Dark Matter.
• Julius von Bismarck and Benjamin Maus, Ryoji Ikeda, Chloé Delarue, Yunchul Kim (Artists)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Four artists commissioned for inaugural Exploring the Unknown exhibition at Science Gateway in 2023, all former residents of Arts at CERN programme.
• Pro Helvetia (Swiss Arts Council)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Swiss Arts Council co-launched the Connect programme in 2021, providing global platform for dialogue between artistic and scientific communities with dual residencies at CERN and partner institutions.
• Foundation for the Globe of Science and InnovationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Partnership with the foundation managing the Globe, an iconic outreach venue at CERN hosting conferences, panel discussions, film screenings, and artistic performances.
• Renzo Piano Building WorkshopcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017World-renowned architectural firm designed the Science Gateway, described as a one-of-a-kind outreach centre. Collaboration with Brodbeck Roulet Architectes Associés.
• Music Festival PartnersminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2016CERN Festival Programme partners with music festivals globally to host Science Pavilions. Expanded from 1 festival in UK (2016) to 4 festivals in 4 countries (2019) to 4 festivals in Czech Republic, Spain, Denmark (2025).
• Peter Jenni, Rolf Heuer, Anne Richards (Founders)coreOthers · 1 January 2014Peter Jenni (ATLAS experiment), Rolf Heuer (former CERN Director-General 2009-2015), and Anne Richards created the foundation in 2014. Heuer and Jenni donated their Fundamental Physics Special Breakthrough Prize to launch the ATLAS PhD Grant Scheme.
• Swiss ConfederationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDonated the Globe of Science and Innovation to CERN in 2004 for its 50th anniversary. The Globe is made of five types of timber acting as a natural carbon sink.
• PRISMAP (EU-funded)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU-funded project contributing to expanded range of radionuclides available for biomedical research through CERN-MEDICIS.
• Republic and Canton of GenevacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners with Arts at CERN on the Resonance programme, inviting Geneva-based artists to engage with CERN scientists, engineers, and staff.
• City of GenevacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of Resonance programme alongside Republic and Canton of Geneva for Arts at CERN.
• Geneva MeyrinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe commune of Meyrin participates in foundation governance through board representation and local engagement activities.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Howard Hughes Medical Institute: A US-based medical research organization and philanthropy funding biomedical research and science education at scale. Comparable as a large science-focused philanthropic enterprise with substantial education programming, but operating at a vastly larger financial scale and focused on biomedical rather than physical sciences.
• Simons Foundation: A major US-based philanthropic foundation funding mathematics, physical sciences, and basic research, including large-scale outreach. Comparable in mission area (basic science philanthropy) and complementary in audience (US/EU science donors), but operates with a much larger endowment and broader scope.
• Wellcome Trust: One of the world's largest charitable foundations funding science, health, and innovation, with a multi-billion GBP endowment. Comparable to CERN & Society Foundation because both channel philanthropic capital into scientific research and public engagement, though Wellcome operates at vastly greater scale and across a broader health-research mandate.
• Kavli Foundation: A US philanthropic foundation funding astrophysics, theoretical physics, nanoscience, and neuroscience, with a strong science communication and public engagement mandate. Directly comparable in supporting fundamental physics research and science outreach, though Kavli also funds a network of research institutes globally.

Direct peers

• Royal Institution of Great Britain: A UK-based charity running a historic public science venue with public lectures, schools programming, and science communication. Comparable as a non-profit foundation combining science education, public engagement, and heritage programming under a recognised science brand, though focused on UK audiences.
• Pro Helvetia (Swiss Arts Council): Swiss federal arts council funding Swiss arts globally and co-launching the Arts at CERN Connect programme with the foundation. Directly comparable as a Swiss public-interest foundation funding arts and cultural exchange, with an established partnership relationship to the CERN & Society Foundation.
• European Science Foundation: Pan-European, non-profit foundation coordinating scientific research collaboration and funding across member organisations, headquartered in Strasbourg. Directly comparable in serving as a Europe-based charitable funding vehicle for basic science with similar international reach and CERN-adjacent institutional networks.
• Science Museum Group: UK charity operating five major science museums reaching millions of visitors annually, with strong schools and public engagement programming. Comparable as a science-focused charitable foundation delivering large-scale physical-venue public engagement and STEM education, anchored by a recognised national science brand.

Emerging players

• European Research Council: EU funding body providing grants to investigator-driven frontier research across Europe, including significant physics programmes. Comparable in funding fundamental research including physics at the European level, but ERC is a public funder with multi-billion EUR budgets rather than a donor-funded charitable foundation.

Others

• Myriad USA: US-based 501(c)(3) public charity serving as fiscal sponsor for international non-profits seeking US tax-deductible donations, including the CERN & Society Foundation US Fund. Comparable as a critical enabler of the foundation's US fundraising infrastructure rather than a direct programmatic peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CERNandSocietyFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cern-society-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about CERN & Society Foundation