(AGENPARL) - Roma, 28 Giugno 2023 - (AGENPARL) – mer 28 giugno 2023 CERN PRESS RELEASE
Three teams of secondary school pupils from the Netherlands, Pakistan and the USA win the 10th edition of Beamline for Schools
[Beamline for school competition winners 2023 (3).png]
Winners of the CERN Beamline for Schools 2023: « Particular Perspective » from Pakistan on the top left, « Myriad Magnets » from the USA on the bottom left and « Wire Wizards » from the Netherlands on the right (Images: Particular Perspective, Myriad Magnets, Wire Wizards)
BL4S started in 2014 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of CERN. Following the success of the first edition, the competition continued, reaching its 10th edition in 2023. Since 2014, 22 teams have been awarded as winners in BL4S, while more than 16 000 pupils from all over the world have taken part in the competition. The participation rate has been rising consistently for the past few years, and this year, 379 teams from 63 countries submitted an experiment proposal.
“Congratulations to this year’s winners – may they have good beams, collect interesting data and generally have the time of their lives,” says Christoph Rembser, a CERN physicist at the ATLAS experiment and one of the founders of Beamline for Schools. “Every year I am astonished by how many young people submit very creative, interesting proposals. In 2014, we weren’t sure at all whether this competition would work. Ten years and 16 000 participants later, I am proud to say that it is obviously a resounding success.”
“I am amazed that this time a record number of nearly 380 applications from school teams worldwide was received! It is fantastic that so many young people are interested in doing hands-on research at our laboratories,” says Beate Heinemann, DESY Director in charge of particle physics. “DESY is very happy to be part of this endeavour together with CERN, and to offer its test beam this year to a team from the Netherlands.”
Preparing a proposal for a particle physics experiment is a very challenging task for secondary school pupils but, when provided with the right support, the participants design very creative experiments. The “Myriad Magnets” team from the United States plans to build and test a permanent magnet with the Halbach geometry that can be configured to produce a dipole or a quadrupole magnetic field.
“BL4S supported us to directly explore and apply new skills, particularly in the intersection of physics and engineering. It is hard to find challenging and intellectually fruitful opportunities that tackle research in both; BL4S filled this gap, and we look forward to continuing to build on these areas at CERN and in the coming years,” says Isabella Vesely, one of the “Myriad Magnets” pupils.
The Pakistan team “Particular Perspective” will measure in detail the beam composition of the T10 beamline of the CERN Proton Synchrotron accelerator. The experiment set-up they designed will make it possible to differentiate between different particle species and measure their intensity.
“I am grateful to BL4S for having provided me with an opportunity to represent my country, Pakistan, and its budding community of aspiring physicists. This is a chance for us to experience physics at the highest level and will inspire people with interests similar to ours to reach greater heights,” says Muhammad Salman Tarar from the “Particular Perspective” team.
The “Wire Wizards” team’s experiment focuses on detector development. The Dutch students designed and built a multi-wire proportional chamber (MWPC), a gas detector able to measure the position of a particle interacting with it, and they plan to characterise it using the electron beam available at DESY.
“The BL4S competition provides us with a unique educational experience that will be a highlight in our time as students,” says Leon Verreijt from the “Wire Wizards” team.
The winners have been selected by a committee of CERN and DESY scientists from a shortlist of 27 particularly promising experiments. All the teams in the shortlist will be awarded special prizes. In addition, one team will be recognised for the most creative video and 10 teams for the quality of physics outreach activities they are organising in their local communities, taking advantage of the knowledge gained by taking part in BL4S.
Further information:
– Countries represented among the shortlisted teams: Antigua & Barbuda, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Finland, France, India, Italy, Japan, Mauritius, Netherlands, Pakistan, Romania, Spain, Türkiye, United Kingdom, United States.
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