Beamline for Schools

Beamline for Schools (BL4S) is a physics competition for high school students from all around the world organised at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, in Geneva, Switzerland, and DESY, the German Electron Synchrotron, in Hamburg, Germany. Teams of high school students can propose an experiment that they want to perform at a beamline, that is, a part of a particle accelerator. The teams that submit the three best proposals win a trip to CERN or DESY to perform their experiments at a fully-equipped beamline.

What is a beam and a beamline?
In particle physics, the term 'beam' refers to a large number of particles moving in the same direction. These particles can be accelerated to high energies. The term 'beamline' commonly refers to a straight section of a particle accelerator leading the particles to an experimental area.

Beamline for Schools 2024 - Happy 10^th anniversary!
In 2024 two experiments will be performed at a beamline of CERN's Proton Synchrotron and one experiment will be performed at a beamline of the DESY-II synchrotron.
All participants who submited an eligible proposal will receive a participation certificate. Additional prizes will be awarded to the shortlisted teams and the teams with the best video and outreach proposals, in total up to 40 teams. The deadline to submit a proposal for BL4S 2024 was 10 April 2024 at 23:59 CEST. The results will be announced in June 2024. 

Exclusive online events
We heartly invite the teams who submitted a proposal for BL4S 2024 to a series of online events in April, May, and June 2024.

Support this project

We are incredibly grateful to all our sponsors and supporters without whose contributions the Beamline for Schools competition could not take place. 

To support the Beamline for Schools competition and other CERN projects that have an impact on society, donate through the CERN & Society website.