1. The Beamline for Schools (BL4S) Competition
BL4S Supporters event, , Markus Joos
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2. … as well as Ina and Branislav, the BL4S support scientists.
I would like to introduce you to...
...two teams of high school students from Canada and Italy that are performing their experiments in one of CERN’s beamlines….
… as well as Ina and Branislav, the BL4S support scientists.
Markus Joos

3. BL4S - taking part (just a reminder)
BL4S is a competition for high-school students from around the world
CERN offers them the opportunity to live, for a short while, the life of a scientist
The evaluation of the proposals and videos is based on these criteria:
Motivation of the students
Creativity
Feasibility of the proposal
Demonstration of ability to follow the scientific method
Every proposal is read by at least 4 experts
Members of CERN’s SPS and PS Experiment Committee, SPSC make the final selection of the winners
The CERN management fully supports BL4S
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4. Support for BL4S CERN offers:
10 days of beam time at a beam line of the Proton Synchrotron
work force: 1 project leader, 1 administrative support person
Many volunteers
E.g. Physicists from all over the world, mainly via the International Particle Physics Outreach Group (IPPOG), that provide assistance to the students and their teachers
BL4S annual budget is primarily funded by the CERN & Society Foundation with the support of private donors (companies and charitable foundations)
Many thanks to 2017 BL4S supporters:
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5. The prizes
An invitation to CERN for two teams (up to 20 students and 4 coaches) for days to conduct their experiment
Additional prizes for shortlisted and noteworthy* teams
BL4S t-shirts
CosmicPi detectors
Certificates for all participants
The main prize: All participants will have gained new and exciting knowledge of particle physics!
T-shirt
CosmicPi detector
* Teams that made a well-motivated but unfeasible proposal
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6. BL4S – your donation at work
Thanks to your support we were able to build four state of the art Micromegas detectors
These detectors are used to measure the position and cross section of the beam
They extend the range of feasible experiments for the coming editions
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7. BL4S – the Exhibition Two showcases are being set up in building 33
On display
Items used for the experiments
Videos of the winners
Prizes
Pictures
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8. BL4S – Impact 2/3 boys, 1/3 girls 1/3 from Non-Member States
2014
2015
2016
2017
Full proposals
292
119
151
180
Countries 50 28 37 43
2/3 boys, 1/3 girls
1/3 from Non-Member States
In total ~7000 students have participated since 2014
Teams spent on average 30 hours on making their proposal
Short listed teams spent on average hours (effort pays out…)
Two winning teams have written scientific papers about their experiment
“The chance to do our experiment at CERN is a stimulating opportunity to learn physics extensively” - Simone Pierantozzi, winner of 2017
Participating team by nation
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9. BL4S - Impact [2]
Teachers tell us BL4S helps a lot to motivate their students
We often get contacted by the high-school students directly
The questions they ask show how deeply they get involved
We are spreading the word via many platforms (New in 2017: E.g. creations-project.eu, avakaash.com)
Previous winners report that BL4S had a great impact on their choice of studies and universities
Many of them now study STEM subjects, some at renowned universities such as MTI, EPFL, Cambridge
Malaika Elliot Motsoai (winner of 2015) wrote to me:
Winning the competition had an enormous impact to my life and career choice as I am now studying Physics at the UNIVERSITY OF THE WITSWATESRAND, mainly because of my experiences at CERN. The experience made me love science more and be more interested in it.
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10. 2018 and beyond Personnel for 2018 secured
The 5th edition has already been announced
More publicity will be made in autumn
2019 and 2020
CERN’s accelerators will be switched of for maintenance and upgrade
BL4S may be hosted in another institute
We are in contact with DESY, PSI and INFN
We look forward to continue the partnership with our supporters
2021+: BL4S will be possible in the refurbished East Hall
Key to success: Publicity
World wide there are ~470 million students of the right age….
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11. Thank you!
2015
2014
2016
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