CERN Visit

The site responsible for spearheading international discoveries into particle physics, CERN, holds a certain significance for scientists around the globe. Perhaps the most renowned collider in the world, this 27km ring resting below the bustling lakeside city of Geneva in Switzerland has produced results throughout history that have uncovered some of the plethora of mysteries concerning the early universe. This includes the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, allowing us to explore how some fundamental particles have a mass, or the sustaining of antihydrogen for 15 minutes in 2011, enabling a deeper understanding into the mysterious substance of antimatter. 

This year’s Year 12 Physics students had the privilege of visiting CERN on 17th July. While no visit can fully capture the efforts from multiple countries over tens of years, it offered an engaging and thought-provoking insight into how modern physics is applied in real life, beyond what we learn in the classroom. From the ambitious engineering plans for a new 100km collider at CERN, to the data-processing systems that store and analyse vast amounts of experimental data, the day demonstrated that there was so much more to this project than simply particles colliding. One fact that particularly stood out to me was that the particles complete over 11,000 laps of the 27-kilometre collider every second, which remains almost impossible for me to visualise, highlighting the remarkable collaborative efforts required to make such experiments possible.

Our other two days were spent in Geneva, a picturesque Swiss city situated at the very tip of Lake Geneva, hugging the Alps. Whether we were seeking respite from the intense heat, delving into the history of the Red Cross Foundation, showered by the tallest fountain in Europe, the iconic Jet d’Eau, wandering through the idyllic cobbled pathways in Geneva’s Old Town, or taking our chances at unique local restaurants, it was a trip to remember.

Reflecting, the trip offered not only the opportunity to visit one of the world's leading scientific institutions, but also provided a glimpse into the scale of international collaboration required to answer the most pressing fundamental questions about our Universe, whilst also allowing many of us to explore the culture of a new European city for the first time. Whether through the science of CERN or the atmosphere of Geneva, it was the opportunity of a lifetime and a definite highlight of my time at this school.

Writing: Eshwar (Year 12)

Editing: Luke (Year 12)