Boulder Valley physics team wins international research trip
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Team Centauri Stars. Photo: Boulder Valley School District
Ten students from Lafayette's Centaurus High School are headed to one of the world's premier physics labs after winning an international science competition.
Why it matters: The Boulder Valley students are the only U.S. team selected for the prestigious hands-on research opportunity.
Driving the news: Members of the Centaurus Physics Club, who compete as Team Centauri Stars, were one of five winning teams selected for the Beamline for Schools competition based on the scientific merit of their proposals.
- The winners will conduct their experiments alongside international scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) or one of its partner institutes — Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) or Elektronen-Stretcher-Anlage (ELSA).
Zoom in: Team Centauri Stars will be working at DESY. The local students' project will "use silicon photomultipliers to detect internally reflected Cherenkov radiation in a glass bar," according to a news release.
- If that sounds complicated, that's likely because it is.
- The project was selected by a panel of scientists from more than 700 submissions representing 89 countries.
- Team Centauri includes coaches Kimberly Becker and Hasan Elsayed and students Natalie Summers, Vibeke Andersen, Ocean Reamer, Dylan Stevens, Ryan Griffith, Liam Bonnell, Jack Mueller-Scott, Noah Keene, Levi Wicar and Merlina Rojas.
What they're saying: "We are honored to be chosen to conduct scientific research with world-class facilities at DESY alongside leading experts in the field of particle physics," the team wrote in a statement. "We are beyond excited and grateful for this opportunity."
How you can help: The competition covers travel costs, but the team is still raising money for equipment and supplies needed to prepare.