CEAC Spotlight Series Two: Alumni & Student Engagement-Accelerators Of Engagement: Energising Alumni Networks Digitally

Video Transcription

Video Summary

Richard Nicoll introduces a session in the CEAC Spotlight Series, linked to CERN’s alumni engagement, and passes over to Rachel, former Head of CERN Alumni Relations, now leading Global Outreach. Rachel explains CERN as Europe’s premier particle physics research lab, funded by 25 member states, with world-class facilities advancing fundamental physics, training scientists, and innovating technologies like proton therapy.<br /><br />The CERN alumni network, launched in 2017, counts nearly 12,000 members worldwide from diverse professions linked by their CERN experience. Its goals include demonstrating societal impact to funders, maintaining connections between current and former personnel, cultivating alumni as ambassadors, and supporting career transitions outside academia.<br /><br />CERN uses a digital platform powered by Hivebrite to foster engagement, introducing a gamified badge system inspired by physics particles to recognize alumni contributions across volunteering, communications, and experiential engagement. This system replaced an earlier, hierarchical ladder of engagement after advisory feedback, ensuring all badges held equal value to avoid competitiveness or offense.<br /><br />Implementation included strategic communication, a treasure hunt to raise platform awareness, and monthly “Can-Doers of the Month” spotlights with physical and digital rewards, encouraging ongoing active participation. Results show doubled volunteer hours and strong platform engagement. Rachel emphasizes continual community understanding, leveraging CERN branding, thoughtful testing, clear communications, and sincere gratitude as keys to their successful alumni program, encouraging others to share their initiatives at upcoming CASE conferences.

Keywords

CERN

alumni network

particle physics

global outreach

Hivebrite platform

gamification

volunteer engagement

career transition

scientific community