School excursion to RI

For many school kids physics remains abstract and often dusty, but some get lucky and can see real research instruments with their own eyes. The physics students of the Albertus Magnus Gymnasium in Bensberg did get lucky. They visited the Beam Test Facility (BTF) RI has built for the LightHouse project and got the chance to see and feel how physics principles like energy conservation, electrostatics, induced voltages, and gamma radiation are used in state-of-the-art research instruments.

It was a pleasure to welcome the 11 students and their teacher at RI and to discuss the physics of a particle accelerator, but also how a career can take enthusiastic people from the school bench to building unique instrumentation required for the research in many of the laboratories around the world. We started the visit with a mechanical model of a particle accelerator (a marble on an inclined slope), and then proceeded to the BTF where the students could see photocathode preparation, the 350kV HV (High Voltage) generator, beam diagnostic and much more.

The discussions drifted between basic physics, the question how relevant school knowledge is for everyday life, and the conditions for scientists working in industry.

We really hope the visit was an inspiration for the students who will soon have to choose their major subjects for their Abitur. And who knows, maybe one of them will pursue a career as a scientist and we will meet again as colleagues or as a customer.