Founded in 1954, the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) laboratory sits astride the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, and is home to the world's largest an most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), used to study the basic constituents of matter – the fundamental particles. CERN was one of Europe's first joint ventures and now has 21 member states, including Portugal.

In light of the aforementioned protocol, students and recent graduates from IST can now be admitted by CERN to contribute their expertise on behalf of IST to the execution of projects chosen by CERN, as Project Associates (PJAS).

The eligibility conditions for the programme are as follows:

• Candidates should have graduated (or are about to graduate) with a MSc university degree (or greater)
• Basic technical knowledge on the tecnologies required for each project, or having a relevant background which would allow their learning on-the-job
• Good knowledge of the English language

Interested candidates should apply to one or more of the official project announcements below by filling in the corresponding Application Form (see table below), where they should attach a CV (PDF file) which should state their favorite technologies and favorite subjects at the university (including achieved course grades).
NOTE: Since the applications will be processed by CERN, all documents should be written in English.

In this form, they should also clearly indicate the Projects of the positions they wish to apply to (see table below).

Shortlisted candidates will then be contacted for a personal interview with CERN project leaders, to be held in English at the premises of IST, where the candidate's experience and/or relevant fields of study will be discussed, and the project will be presented in more detail.

Engineers admitted under the PJAS programme will be employed by their home institution, Técnico Lisboa, and the appointment conditions are as follows:

• Contract of association from 1 to 3 years
• Monthly subsistence (net of tax):
  • 4173 CHF - single
  • 4678 CHF - married
  • 5184 CHF - married, with child(ren)
• 2.5 days of leave entitlement/month
• Personal accident insurance and social security cover
• Be at the forefront of technology and physics
• Collaborate with multicultural and multidisciplinary teams, without political or religious barriers
• Follow experts in their technical domain
• Be part of a dynamic environment with both on-site and external training opportunities
• Make valuable and long-lasting contacts from all over Europe
• Learn languages: CERN is a bi-lingual organization (English and French)