CERN Trip

A group of A Level Physicists enjoyed a trip to Geneva to gain some unique insights into nuclear research.

Nineteen Physics students visited the Swiss Plasma Centre, where scientists are working to replicate the nuclear reactions taking place in the core of the Sun – research that will help contribute to the new fusion reactor, ITER, being built in France. The guides were extremely engaging and wowed the students with how plasma can be fused to generate ten times more energy than will be required to run the reactor.

The afternoon was spent learning about the work that has taken place over the past few decades at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research. Students were given the rare opportunity to visit one of CERN’s experimental sites almost 100m underground, where they had the chance to see the 14,000 tonne detector, which is usually closed to visitors while experiments are running. Our guides told us all about how this detector contributed to the discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012 and is now being used in the search for extra dimensions and the particles that make up dark matter.

Whilst in Geneva, the Sixth Formers also had great fun bowling, visiting the History of Science Museum and exploring the old town.