If there is no fundamental science then there is no basis for applied science. We have to strike a balance. 23 years ago the World Wide Web was born here. It has changed the world dramatically.

At some point, the time will have passed when individuals are capable of major discoveries.

Good people climb quickly - just like in a company.

If you don't invest in basic research at some stage you start losing the basis of applied research.

People are saying I don't need science, I have everything, but everything is based on science.

Science or research is always under pressure to deliver something which can be used immediately for society.

Whatever basic science resolves, at some stage it is of use to society. The problem is we do not know when or where.

The ability to work together has to be in the blood of particle physicists. They learn very early on that it is impossible to advance on one's own and that constant exchange is necessary.

The short-term vision is: I research on something which I can use tomorrow, and for some politicians it is even better if it's today. But if you do this, you can only do targeted research. If you only do targeted research, you lose the side-routes.

We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature. The discovery of a particle consistent with the Higgs boson opens the way to more detailed studies, requiring larger statistics, which will pin down the new particle's properties, and is likely to shed light on other mysteries of our universe.