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Space Society students win a trip to 'Big Bang Machine'

The Space Society at the University of Kent has won a trip for 15 members to visit the European Organisation for Nuclear Research's headquarters in Geneva, where they will have an opportunity to privately tour and learn about the Large Hadron Collider, often referred to as the 'Big Bang Machine'.

The trip is part of their overall prize for winning the Institute of Physics' Best Overall Student Society Competition 2008.

Affiliated with Kent Union, the Space Society has over 60 members drawn from a broad range of academic subject areas. For the competition, four of the committee had to give a presentation about the achievements of the Society and answer questions to an audience of student members of the Institute of Physics.

Howard Philips, President of the Space Society and a student on the Astrophysics programme at the University's School of Physical Sciences, said: 'We are delighted to have won this great prize, particularly since we were up against some very strong competition from Cambridge University, Imperial College London and Trinity College Dublin. We are all looking forward to our trip to Geneva and, in particular, the opportunity to see and learn more about one of the largest and most complex scientific instruments ever built.'

Professor Paul Strange, Head of the School of Physical Sciences, was among the first to offer congratulations. 'I am pleased that the Institute of Physics has recognised the enthusiasm, knowledge and commitment of the Space Society,' he said. 'Their first-prize visit to the Large Hadron Collider will be a superb opportunity for these students to experience some of the most exciting and advanced science at first hand, and to meet some world leaders in particle physics.'

The £3.6 billion Large Hadron Collider is the highest energy particle accelerator in the world. Located 100m underground and running through both French and Swiss territory, it attracted global media attention when it was activated on 10 September 2008. The purpose of the accelerator is to smash protons moving at 99.999999% of the speed of light into each other and so recreate conditions a fraction of a second after the big bang.

Contact: mediaoffice@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 12:00pm 8 December 2008