Nikhef organises successful International Particle Physics Masterclass 2011
On Friday 18 March 2011, the FOM Institute for Subatomic Physics Nikhef held the annual Particle Physics Masterclass for high school pupils. More than 40 pupils from different schools throughout the country came to Nikhef for the day to follow the programme.
The Masterclass is an international initiative of IPPOG. This means that the same programme is followed by pupils at institutes throughout the world, including Tübingen (Germany), São Paulo (Brazil) and Brookhaven (US).
In the morning, two lectures introduced the world of particle physics. In the afternoon, the pupils set to work on their data. This year the exercises were based for the first time on data from the LHC accelerator. Using special software, the pupils had to register different types of particles.
At the end of the afternoon the results were discussed with the other institutes who had completed the same practical via a video connection with CERN. The day was closed with a quiz about particle physics.
IPPOG is the International Particle Physics Outreach Group EPPOG. Click on the links for further information about FOM Nikhef, IPPOG and the International Masterclasses.