Students Explore World's Largest Particle Physics Lab in Switzerland
- Aug 25, 2026
In May 2026, students from The University of Texas at Austin traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to study modern particle and nuclear physics at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, as part of a summer term study abroad opportunity.
CERN operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, which includes the Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile ring buried underground along the Switzerland-France border that accelerates particles close to the speed of light.
Led by nuclear engineering professor Will Flanagan and physics professor Karol Lang, students focused on modern particle detection techniques and visited several labs to witness physics research firsthand.
The course provided undergraduate students with hands-on learning and research opportunities usually reserved for graduate students. Many on the trip are rising sophomores or juniors who may previously have had little or no experience working in particle physics facilities before going on the trip.
“This is the first year that I, as an undergrad, can do something with particle physics,” said Lauren Miller, an incoming physics junior. “It’s kind of a graduate-level class, but it really gets you into the practical side of what the different parts of a particle detector look like. It’s very practical and accessible for undergrads. I can tell people like, ‘Oh, I know what a scintillator is.’ I can get the concepts.”
The students enjoyed the opportunity to visit the Sphinx cosmic ray observatory, which sits on the Jungfraujoch at almost 12,000 feet above sea level in the Swiss Alps. The observatory is open to the public as a popular tourist destination, and the group spent the night pursuing experiments in a room once occupied by Nobel Prize-winning physicists, including Irène Joliot-Curie, who discovered artificial radioactivity.
“The visit to the Jungfraujoch cosmic ray observatory was nothing less than spectacular,” said Andrew Rosen, a rising physics junior. “Being able to spend the night on top of one of the highest points in Europe while taking data was incredible.”
The study abroad trip taught both the how and why of the physics being studied in Jungfraujoch, providing a pathway for Longhorns early in their careers to experience the many research opportunities available to them.
At the conclusion of the program, many students participated in internships related to particle physics, including Rosen, who remained in Europe to work with Flanagan at Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France.
