Two years ago, CERN and Solvay, a Belgian science company, launched the CERN-Solvay Education Programme, a three-year partnership to inspire high-school students from around the world to get involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and aspire to related careers.
The programme combines remote and onsite learning. It begins by sparking the curiosity of students on social media with a collection of short videos linking homemade experiments to CERN physics and technologies. Interested participants can then dive deeper by enrolling in an online course to understand CERN physics and technologies. Lastly, the students who pass the online course can apply to the CERN-Solvay student camps held at CERN. For an entire week, 30 high-school students from all over the world have the opportunity to do hands-on experiments, visit research facilities at CERN, attend lectures and Q&A sessions, explore STEM careers and take part in social activities. The first camp took place in October 2023, the second one in May 2024 and the latest one has just concluded.
“Seeing how engaged these students were was inspiring,” wrote Solvay CEO Philippe Kehren, who spent a day with the students at the latest camp. “They asked interesting questions about the effects of science on society and the environment. This exchange of ideas shows how we help future innovators. We provide them with the insights they need to tackle important global issues.”
“Last week's camp was truly a highlight of the CERN-Solvay Education Programme,” said Guillaume Durey, the programme manager at CERN. “Years of hard work culminated in an event that surpassed the high standards set by the previous two camps. It was incredibly rewarding to witness how deeply moved the participants were by everything they experienced at CERN. We’re looking forward to guiding many more students towards bright futures in physics and beyond.”
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The CERN-Solvay Education Programme is part of the education portfolio of Science Gateway, CERN’s flagship centre for education and outreach. Since opening on 7 October 2023, CERN Science Gateway has welcomed almost 390 000 visitors from 171 different countries to discover CERN’s scientific goals, research and discoveries, as well as its technologies, becoming one of the most visited places in Switzerland. Members of the CERN community can find out more about what Science Gateway can offer them in this article.