The Italian particle physicist will now oversee the completion of the high-luminosity upgrade to CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, as Michael Banks reports
The Italian particle physicist Fabiola Gianotti is to continue as head of the CERN particle-physics lab near Geneva until 2025. The move marks the first time in CERN’s history that a director-general has been appointed for a full second term. The announcement was made at the end of the 195th session of the CERN council on 6 November. Gianotti will begin her second term on 1 January 2021.
Gianotti, 59, has been at CERN since 1994 and from 2009 to 2013 was leader of the ATLAS collaboration. On 1 January 2016 she became the first woman to lead the lab, taking over from the German physicist Rolf-Dieter Heuer. “During [Gianotti’s] first term, she excelled in leading our diverse and international scientific organization, becoming a role model, especially for women in science,” says Ursula Bassler, president of the CERN Council. “I’m delighted to see Fabiola Gianotti re-appointed for a second term of office. With her at the helm, CERN will continue to benefit from her strong leadership and experience.”
The reappointment means that Gianotti will oversee the completion of the high-luminosity upgrade to the lab’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is set to come online in 2026. This will see the collider’s luminosity boosted by a factor of 10 over the existing machine. “I am deeply grateful to the CERN council for their renewed trust. It is a great privilege and a huge responsibility,” says Gianotti. “The following years will be crucial for laying the foundations of CERN’s future projects.”
Indeed, in May 2020 European particle physicists are set to publish an update to their future strategy, in which it is hoped that a clear direction will be made for which collider could succeed the LHC. Lyn Evans, who masterminded the LHC’s construction, told Physics World that Gianotti has been “very good” at managing the lab as director-general, adding that one of her main roles will now be “laying the foundation for the long-term future of CERN with input from the European strategy group”.