Scientific Research

Someone, sometime, somewhere, may succeed in completing these unfinished mysteries, or even rewrite
  the chapters entirely. The book is by no means finished. (http://public.web.cern.ch accessed in
                                               2012)


I.                    Discuss in pairs:

1.       What is the purpose of carrying out scientific research?

2.       Have you ever been involved in any?

3.       Are you thinking of pursuing a career of a scientist?

4.       Which institution would you like to be employed by and why?

5.       What do you think about internationally recognized prizes given for scientific research?


II.                  Try to answer the questions:

1.       What does CERN stand for? What does it deal with?

2.       Where is it located?

3.       When was it set up?

4.       How many member states does it have today?

5.       How many employees does it have?

6.       Does it cooperate with any people/institutions?

7.       What do LHC, LEP and SPS stand for? Describe them briefly.


III.                Read the first 3 paragraphs of the text and complete it with the missing
articles.


IV.                Read the last 3 paragraphs of the article and complete it with the missing
prepositions.


The European Organization for Nuclear Research is ____ international organization whose purpose is
to operate ___ world’s largest particle physics laboratory, in ___ northwest suburbs of Geneva, on
the Franco-Swiss border. The term CERN is also used to refer to ___ laboratory, which employs just
under 2,400 full-time employees, 1500 part-time employees, and hosts some 10,000 visiting
scientists and engineers, representing 608 universities and research facilities and 113
nationalities.

CERN’s main function is to provide ___ 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 ___ birthplace of the world wide web. The main site
at Meyrin also has ___ large computer centre containing very powerful data-processing facilities
primarily for experimental data analysis, and, because of ___ need to make them available to
researchers elsewhere, has historically been ___ major wide area networking hub.

CERN was ratified on 29 September 1954 by 12 countries in the Western Europe. The acronym
originally stood for Conseil Européen la Recherche Nuclaire in French (European Council for Nuclear
Research), which was ___ provisional council for setting up the laboratory. ___ acronym was
retained for ___ new laboratory after ___ provisional council was dissolved, even though ___ name
changed to the current Organisation Européenne… (European Organization for Nuclear Research). Today
___ organization has 20 European member states. ___ Czech Republic became ___ CERN member in July
1993.

The instruments used ____ CERN are particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of
particles ____ high energies before they are made to collide ____ each other or ____ stationary
targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions. CERN operates a network of
six accelerators and a decelerator.

Most of the activities at CERN are currently directed ____ operating the new Large Hadron Collider,
and the experiments for it. The LGC represents a large-scale, worldwide scientific cooperation
project. The LHC tunnel is located 100 metres underground, ____ the region between the Geneva
International Airport and the nearby Jura mountains. It uses the 27 km circumference circular
tunnel previously occupied by Large Electron-Positron Collider, which was closed ____ in November
2000. CERN’s existing Proton-Synchrotron/Super Proton-Synchrotron accelerator complexes will be
used to pre-accelerate protons which will then be injected ____ the LHC.

CERN has established a reputation at the forefront of the research, proven ____ its experiments,
past and present. The laboratory is a vibrant meeting place ____ discussion and debate; around half
of the world’s particle physicists come here for their research. This is reflected ____ the
experiments, which are usually run by international collaborations, bringing together teams of
scientists from different institutes ____ a common goal.


http://public.web.cern.ch accessed in 2012


V.                    Match the types of research methods with their descriptions and limitations
(sources: McCarthy, M. and F. O’Dell; 2008 Academic Vocabulary in Use; CUP)