With some exceptions - notably neutron-discoverer Sir James Chadwick and Nobel Prize winner in 1935, who in 1908 attended the wrong interview at the University of Manchester and was too shy to explain his mistake - few people become physicists by chance. Whether it was a science-minded parent or friend of the family, an encouraging teacher, a visit to a lab or museum, a public figure, talk, book, film, ... something or someone awakened an innate curiosity.

Finding a crisp narrative that better reflects CERN's research after the discovery of the Higgs boson 11 years ago, which captures the imagination of current and future generations, is difficult. What makes the physics of the infinitesimally small exciting for the public is also what makes it so difficult to communicate. 

So seventeen curious RGS physicists visited the ultimate lab, CERN, and took an immersive tour to find out more about the intricate workings of the Higgs mechanism, to catch a glimpse of how gravitational waves propagate and the profound interconnectedness of many other phenomena.

The Cern Accelerator Complex

The scale of the Circular Collider is huge. It crosses two countries and is 27 km in circumference, equivalent to London Underground's Circle Line. Click on the picture to find out more.