Physics Masterclass for A Level students

WARRINGTON A-Level students will join 6,000 others from 23 countries when they take part in a particle physics master-class at the Science and Technology Facilities Council Daresbury laboratory.
Local students will hear talks and see practical demonstrations and challenges related to particle accelerators, including hands-on experiments.
One experiment will measure energy in ALICE (Accelerators and Lasers in Combined Experiments), a research and development prototype for the next generation of accelerator based light sources.
The events, on March 15 and 16, will also be taking place in other parts of the UK as well as countries all over the world, including the US, South Africa and Brazil.
They are designed to inspire students to go on to take up careers in science and technology.
Dr Lee Jones, an accelerator physicist from Daresbury Laboratory, said “Some of the concepts of physics can be difficult for teachers to deliver and for students to grasp, but it’s also one of the most exciting subjects to teach.
“The master-classes are very rewarding because they give students who already have an interest in physics the chance to get close to a real particle accelerator, and to do an experiment which they would never be able to do in school.
“Hopefully the students we inspire through the master-classes can rise to meet these challenges, and who can tell where that journey might lead them?”
The STFC, which manages Daresbury Laboratory, is also hosting master-classes for students at its Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire. Other UK particle physics master-classes are taking place at University of Bristol, University of Manchester, Queen Mary, University of London and University College London.