Sixth formers at the sharp end of high energy physics

Fifty sixth-formers from Merseyside schools recently spent a day in the Department of Physics learning what it is like to be a high energy physicist.

The sixth formers were given hands-on experience of experiments conducted at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, measuring tracks made by some of the smallest particles of matter.

The high energy physics masterclass was one of a number of master classes organised by the Institute of Physics at some of the major research universities in the UK.

One of the Liverpool organisers, Dr Tim Greenshaw, Lecturer in the Department of Physics, (seen here with some of the visitors) said: 'These young people were able to see evidence of the existence of W particles, which were discovered only in the last year. They were really at the sharp end of investigations into the structure of matter.'