CERN’s Beamline for Schools Wins EPS-HEPP Outreach Prize for Inspiring the Next Generation of Particle Physicists

CERN’s Beamline for Schools Wins EPS-HEPP Outreach Prize for Inspiring the Next Generation of Particle Physicists

(IN BRIEF) CERN’s Beamline for Schools (BL4S) programme has won the 2025 Outreach Prize from the European Physical Society’s High Energy and Particle Physics Division (EPS-HEPP) for its innovative efforts in engaging high school students with particle physics. The award recognizes BL4S for providing students worldwide with the unique opportunity to propose and conduct experiments at CERN and DESY, inspiring the next generation of scientists.

(PRESS RELEASE) GENEVA, 30-Apr-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — Beamline for Schools (BL4S), an educational initiative led by CERN in collaboration with the DESY laboratory in Germany, has been awarded the prestigious 2025 Outreach Prize by the High Energy and Particle Physics Division of the European Physical Society (EPS-HEPP). The prize recognizes BL4S for its exceptional and innovative approach in engaging high school students from around the world with the fascinating field of particle physics.

The EPS-HEPP Outreach Prize was granted “for its outstanding contribution to engaging high-school students worldwide in the field of particle physics. By providing students the unique opportunity to propose and conduct experiments at leading research facilities such as CERN and DESY, BL4S has played a pivotal role in inspiring future scientists and cultivating a global appreciation for fundamental research.”

BL4S was launched by CERN in 2014 to mark the Laboratory’s 60th anniversary and is supported by the CERN & Society Foundation’s generous donors. The programme has seen participation from more than 20,000 pupils across the globe, with 25 winning teams given the rare opportunity to conduct their experiments at accelerator beamlines—facilities that provide beams of subatomic particles for studies in fields ranging from physics to materials science and medicine.

The number of proposals for the annual competition continues to grow each year, with a record 508 submissions from 72 countries for the 2025 edition alone.

Jorge Andres Villa Velez, Project Leader of BL4S at CERN, expressed his gratitude for the recognition, saying, “This is a huge honor for all the individuals who have contributed to the success of BL4S over the years. Our goal is to create an environment for students that mirrors the professional research atmosphere, unlocking their curiosity and fostering creativity, which in turn sparks self-motivated learning.”

The EPS-HEPP awards, which recognize outstanding contributions in the field of high-energy and particle physics, also honored other exceptional individuals this year. The main EPS-HEPP Prize was awarded jointly to Martin Lüscher (CERN), Jürg Gasser, and Heinrich Leutwyler (University of Bern) for their groundbreaking work in the theoretical understanding of the strong interaction that binds quarks within atomic nuclei. Martin Lüscher was particularly acknowledged for his transformative contributions to lattice quantum chromodynamics, which have enhanced its reliability in studying non-perturbative interactions.

Additionally, the EPS-HEPP Young Experimental Physicist Prize was awarded to Thea Klæboe Årrestad (CMS collaboration member and former CERN fellow) and Laura Zani (INFN Rome) for their remarkable contributions to experimental particle physics, particularly in advanced data analysis and detector design.

The awards will be presented during the EPS-HEP Conference, taking place in Marseille from 7 to 11 July 2025.

Find out more in the EPS and DESY articles.

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SOURCE: CERN