Ta(l)king Science on Social Media: My internship at the CMS experiment

Hi, I’m Ilaria, a Physics student at La Sapienza University of Rome, also sharing science on social media as @SheScience. For the past six months, I’ve had the extraordinary opportunity to intern at CERN’s CMS Communications Office. Although I thought six months would stretch out before me, I’m now preparing to return my badge on my very last day.

My journey here actually started years ago, when I was in high school. Being deeply passionate about particle physics, my biggest dream was to intern at CERN, and searching online, I found out a handful of students had had this kind of opportunity at a very young age. So I reached out to one of the CMS scientists, Dave, with a super long email explaining who I was and asking for a chance to join CERN, and he became my first supervisor when I was only 16… Years later, I’m grateful to say he’s been my mentor once again.

This time, my work focused on a specific mission: ta(l)king science on social media, working at the outreach of the CMS experiment, one of the largest physics experiments in the world. “How big?” - you might wonder… 21 metres long and 15 metres in diameter, weighing more than the Eiffel Tower and involving over 4,000 contributors from more than 50 countries. The mission? Uncovering the fundamental laws of the universe.

While these goals sound grand and ambitious, you’ll be surprised to know how chill and relaxed the atmosphere actually is among CERN’s corridors and numerous cafeterias. What I love most about this unique place is that everybody is just an email and coffee away: you can reach out to people, at times world experts in their field, and most of the times they’ll be glad to talk and treat you as their peer, often offering invaluable insights (and sometimes even some chocolate!).

As an intern, I had the chance to develop a strategy  plan for CMS’ TikTok account  and create content for their Instagram and TikTok pages. We covered major conferences — Moriond, LHCP, and ICHEP 2024 — and for the first time, I saw the intricate process behind science news and press releases, learning how each word, carefully chosen and crafted, carries weight and meaning. Being part of a larger institution means that words represent not just an individual voice but a collective identity, making it crucial to express things with clarity and precision: being here, I fully realised their impact, and I will forever cherish what I learnt.

@cms_experiment 84% of the mass of the Universe is missing! 🔭 Do you know where it is? #darkmatter#darkenergy#darkuniverse#particlephysics#cern#cmsexperiment#universe#cosmology#astrophysics#astronomy#mystery#physicstok#stemtok#4yp#virale#viral#perte#neiperte ♬ original sound - CMS Experiment

As I prepare to leave, I’m excited to go home, sad to leave this chapter behind, and a somewhat
fearful for what comes next. Tomorrow I’ll be back in Rome, having no idea of what the future
holds for me, but one thing I know for sure is the 16-year-old me would have been so proud of her future self knowing she’d get to work at CERN.

Moving forward, I’m sure Physics and science telling will remain central in my life, while I’ll carry
this invaluable experience with me. Thanks to my time here, I’ve come to understand the power of words — and I promise to use them thoughtfully to share science with the world.
 

A Fresh Perspective on Particle Physics: A designer's journey at CERN

My name is Saskia, I’m 21 years old, and I’ve lived in the Pays de Gex (France) my entire life, 20 minutes away by car from the CMS Experiment. I used to see the famous "big globe" almost every day and even visited it once or twice with my physics class in secondary school—but I never really understood what CERN was all about. Growing up, I always knew that science and I weren’t exactly friends.

Numbers and logic were never my strong suit, but I’ve always had a passion for music and art. After earning my high school diploma, I decided to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Graphic Design in Geneva. Part of completing my degree involved doing a five-month internship, which was challenging to secure. Fortunately, I had the incredible opportunity to join the CMS Communications team at CERN as a graphic designer and photographer.

These past five months have been an unforgettable experience! Despite science being my biggest challenge, working at the world’s largest particle physics lab is an experience I’ll never regret. In fact, my time at CMS pushed me out of my comfort zone—in the best possible way.
It helped me grow both professionally and personally. On one hand, having to communicate about a subject I knew nothing about and speaking in public were big challenges, but I’m proud to say I overcame them. I was incredibly lucky to be part of an amazing team—truly the best! I think being surrounded by such supportive people was one of the main reasons my time at CERN was so rewarding. I had the chance to witness things I never imagined I’d see and visit places most people don’t get access to.

What I found especially meaningful was that, having lived in this area my whole life, local people rarely get the opportunity to work at CERN. It was fascinating to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes and to observe the life and energy that thrive behind the "big globe”.
 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in CMS blogs are personal views of the authors and do not necessarily represent official views of the CMS collaboration.