This week, eight sixth form students had the exciting opportunity to visit the Large Hadron Collider (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. On the first full day of the trip the students travelled from the centre of Geneva up to the border of France, where CERN is located. The tour began with an introduction from a scientist currently working at CERN who provided a background to its beginnings, what it has achieved and where they hope to take their investigations next. Our students asked many fantastic questions and we had great feedback on this. The students then got on a coach to travel to the site of one of the main detectors, which is located across the border in France. They were shown the technology involved to create the perfect conditions for colliding protons, involving speeds close to the speed of light. Next, they went 100m underground to see the engineers currently working on maintaining the detector. After spending a bit of time in the many exhibitions, they made their way back down to Lake Geneva for a boat cruise which outlined the history of Geneva itself.

 

On the final day of the trip, the students spent some time walking around the main sites of Geneva. This included visiting the United Nations Building, the Botanical Gardens, the History of Science Museum, Geneva Old Quarter and the famous Jet d'Eau. All students had a fantastic time, especially as they were completely responsible for navigating from one place to another. It was a great opportunity to engage students in a real world application of science, look at job opportunities in the science industry and see how nations collaborate together to further explore our universe.