If you want to be involved with WLCG, please do bear in mind that the WLCG project is concerned with coordinating the efforts of large scientific computing centres and large university departments that have significant investments in computing and networking.

However there are ways to contribute to the LHC effort if you are not a large computing centre - read on!

Volunteer computing for the LHC

If you are an individual wishing to contribute home computer resources, you can become involved in LHC@home and help us understand the universe!

You can participate by downloading and running a free program on your computer. This then uses your computer's idle time to run tasks on calibrating searches for particles, fine-tuning the machines and beam dynamics, contributing to building new theories on dark matter, or creating simulations of antimatter and new phenonema never-before seen in the LHC's giant detectors...  

With the help of volunteers like you, we can greatly extend the research that scientists using the LHC can do. By harnessing the power of thousands of desktop and laptop computers, we can tap into massive computing resources which enhance accelerator designs and test theoretical models. It is also a wonderful opportunity for YOU to get directly involved in cutting edge scientific research with CERN.

Since 2011 the use of LHC@home has been greatly expanded, with about 2.7 trillion events being simulated. LHC@home has the production rate now equivalent to that of a WLCG Tier-2 site.

Whether you choose one or several projects to participate in, your contribution will have a very real impact on which will help us make monumental discoveries about the Universe we live in. 

CERN Open Data Portal

CERN has made available online, free, more than 1 petabyte of open data from particle physics!

Visit the CERN Open Data Portal to explore a growing range of data produced through the research performed at CERN. The Portal gives you access to the preserved output from various research activities, including accompanying software and documentation which is needed to understand and analyse the data being shared.

Students and schools

If you wish to work on a project contributing to WLCG, you should contact a local university physics department that has some participation in the LHC physics program and discuss potential projects with them.

If you are based in the USA, there may be a local university that works with the Open Science Grid that can help you.