Upper Sixth Physics student, Beth Elliott, reflected on the experience,“CERN was really impressive. The facilities there, including the anti-matter factory, the antiproton decelerator and the compact muon solenoid detector were unique. To be in the same laboratory as the world’s leading scientists who are constantly fielding new discoveries was exciting. We saw the first ever server that was made at CERN to trial the World Wide Web as well as other scientific instruments used to store data and explore the basic constituents of matter.”

Students met physicist Arnau Gonzalo, from Warwick University, and enjoyed a guided tour of the CERN laboratory, in addition to time in their excellent, Microcosm and Universe of Particles permanent exhibitions.

It wasn’t all work for the party of twenty as they also had the chance to explore Geneva with a city walk and a boat cruise, albeit in freezing conditions. 

Trip leader, Physics teacher, Mrs Sophie Rose judged the trip to have been a resounding success.  “It was an excellent trip to one of the most fascinating laboratories open to the public in the whole world. CERN hosts 10,000 physicists trying to unlock the secrets of the universe and their work with complex scientific instruments such as the Hadron Collider is revolutionising our understanding of the universe.  It was fascinating and inspirational to hear a physicist speak with passion about the work that goes on at CERN.”