I’m very much looking forward to the second open discussion session between CERN personnel and the Directorate on 19 March. As we promised after the first such session in November 2017, we’ve taken on board the feedback you gave us, and made some refinements to the form the meeting will take.
Next time, you told us, we should be seated – that’s an innovation we’re more than happy to accept! More seriously, however, while you liked the number and diversity of questions addressed in that first meeting, you would have appreciated a little more depth on a few, selected topics. That means that we need to find a format that reconciles openness with the ability to consider subjects in detail. We’ve therefore decided to begin as we did last year by asking you to send questions you’d like to be considered to directorate-questions@cern.ch before 4 February. We’ll then group your questions into themes and ask you to vote on those you’d most like to see discussed. Online voting will open in mid-February and close in early March. Any important subjects that we do not have time to discuss at the meeting on 19 March will inform CERN’s internal communication for the months to follow.
I’m sure you’ll have plenty of things you’d like to discuss, but to get the ball rolling, the top themes that emerged from your submitted questions in 2017 were: priorities for future scientific projects (in the framework of the European Strategy for Particle Physics), energy saving, mobility in and around the CERN sites, diversity, work-life balance, geographical enlargement, and the societal impact of our research.
The whole Directorate looks forward to receiving your questions, and to a fruitful discussion of the things that concern you and CERN on 19 March. If you can’t make it to the Main Auditorium, a webcast will be available as well as the possibility to send questions live by e-mail.
On behalf of the Directorate
Link to last year’s session: https://indico.cern.ch/event/675992/