Technical, Doctoral and Administrative Students

​Welcome to CERN!

To begin your onboarding journey, please visit these pages and let yourself be guided. You can also visit the comprehensive FAQ below for further information on:

​CONTRACT​

Students are not employed but Associated Members of Personnel and the validity of the contract of association is subject to remaining a registered student at their university throughout their contract with CERN.​

​VISA 

It is important to bear in mind any administrative delay due to the need to request/renew your passport and the visa formalities, when defining your contract start date with your supervisor.

If you are subject to visa for France and / or Switzerland please contact visa.hr@cern.ch who will set up the necessary invitation letters. Note that the procedure requires that you hold a passport that remains valid for at least the first 6 months of your contract.

We highly recommend that you contact visa.hr@cern.ch to launch the visa process 3 months prior to the agreed start date.

http://admin-eguide.web.cern.ch/en/procedure/visas-entry-and-stays-host-states

​SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCE

The subsistence allowance is intended to cover the living expenses of a single person in the Geneva region. For students who are married or in an officially registered partnership (and/or with at least one dependent child), holding a contract of at least 6 months and where the spouse and /or dependent child joins for a period of at least 6 months the subsistence allowance may increase.

HEALTH INSURANCE 

Membership to the CERN health insurance scheme (CHIS) is compulsory*. CERN pays 7.71% of the monthly basic allowance and the member pays 4.86%. Further information can be found on the CHIS pages or by contacting uniqa.assurances@cern.ch.

Note: the Organization shall not take any measures to safeguard the students against the financial consequences of old-age and disability, and unemployment. Should no cover be provided by the home institute, the students are under strict obligation to obtain it themselves. There is a possibility to purchase such insurance from the CERN Uniqa office.

* Unless the students are subject to compulsory health insurance in Switzerland (Lamal), in which case CERN shall nevertheless insure them against occupational illnesses and accidents. The students concerned should submit their Lamal insurance certificate to the HR programme coordinator through the online registration form (so called REG/Candidate token via EDH).

EXTERNAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT 

Any financial benefits from external sources during your contract must be reported to the Coordinator and you are required to provide proof of the monthly net amount you receive. If this support is directly related to your placement at CERN, it will be deducted from the CERN subsistence.

TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT 

Students who are living more than 70 km away from Geneva (distance by airplane in a straight line) and are not already registered at CERN, will receive a travel allowance on a flat rate basis, calculated on your place of residence only (provided that they take up residence within a radius of 50 km from Geneva). To receive this reimbursement, students should, after having started their contract, email their DAO (Departmental Administrative Officer) to request it. Please note that the payment can only be made once the students have registered their permanent local address & opened a Swiss bank account.

More information (including the lump sum) can be found here : Arrival travel & Departure travel procedures.

STUDENTSHIP AGREEMENT

This type of document is not mandatory on CERN side.

Such a document is often requested by the Universities and to this end, please find below, a link to the relevant CERN studentship agreement. After having completed it with your personal details and those of your university, you can submit it to your future CERN supervisor and finally to the tsc.student@cern.ch for signature from CERN.

Technical Studentship Agreement

Administrative Studentship Agreement

Note: CERN cannot sign external documents. As an international organisation, CERN enjoys immunity from legal process and from execution in the exercise of its official activities, except in the specific cases mentioned in Article 5 of the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities. CERN is not, therefore, subject to national jurisdiction and cannot be summoned before a national court of law without its express consent. As a result, contracts concluded by CERN may not contain jurisdiction clauses making the Organization subject to national jurisdiction.

You will find useful documents and other links below. Please bear in mind that you must notably take into account the CERN Computing Rules and the CERN Code of Conduct.