Detailed spending records, revamped managerial responsibilities, redeployment of workers, contingencies for unexpected costs, and better communication. That’s the prescription of an external review committee (ERC) set up to investigate the ills at CERN after the Geneva-based laboratory revealed last fall that the Large Hadron Collider, a proton accelerator awaited by particle physicists everywhere, will exceed its budget by 850 million Swiss francs (roughly $574 million).
While placing blame for CERN’s current financial predicament squarely on the lab’s managers, the ERC praised the staff as “competent and dedicated” and underscored its confidence in the technical soundness of the LHC. Curtailing other scientific activities to focus on the LHC, the committee’s report says, “is the price to pay for the future possession of this powerful tool.”
CERN will take the medicine. Indeed, the committee’s recommendations, which were presented in June, are in tune with proposals developed by CERN management and five internal...
