Erica Martineau Interest Award - Thank you!

Last year I was lucky enough to receive the Erica Martineau Interest Award to enable me to travel to the CERN Particle Physics Laboratory in Geneva.

I have always had a passion and an interest in physics from attending Farrady lectures aged 7, to applying to Oxford to read the subject at degree level. The fact that my application was refused the first time made me even more determined to discover more about the subject, and, after another year of hard work, I was offered an unconditional place at University College for this September.

The Large Hadron Collider experiment at CERN was widely publicised when it was turned on (and then subsequently broke), but most people do not really know what it is hoping to achieve. When up to full speed, it will be able to accelerate protons to 99.99999% of the speed of light, making it the most powerful accelerator in the world. Among other things, its main aim is to detect the existence of a new particle, the Higgs Boson, to complete theories in the Standard Model of physics, and further our understanding of how the universe operates. It is thought that this particle gives rise to all the mass in the universe.

Many people, when hearing that your interest is quantum theory, will immediately presume they will not understand anything, but it is sometimes the simplest things that are the most fascinating. Take, for instance, the structure of the atom. To put the mass and dimensions into perspective consider this analogy; if an atom were the size of a football stadium, the nucleus would only be the size of a small marble in the centre. However, the mass of that marble would be about 115 million tons. From this you can see that most of the atom is in fact “empty space”, and yet atoms make up all the solid objects around us. To me, this is both fascinating and intriguing, and I long to one day have a fuller understanding of the universe.

Unfortunately, due to a period of ill health and events such as the volcanic ash cloud and BA strikes, I have been unable to visit CERN yet, but I am still planning to do so, and possibly even be able to get a summer post there once I am an undergraduate.

I would like to thank the Old Scholars Association for giving me this opportunity as without your help, visiting CERN would have remained a dream, whereas I can now make it a reality. I would also like to say thank you to Miss Green and all of the staff who have helped me achieve my dream of studying at Oxford. They’ve put up with me asking for help with personal statements, written my references and signed all sorts of forms, without which it would not have been possible. I am forever indebted to Polam and its staff.

After a year away from Polam, I am only just getting used to it! I miss it terribly and await the day when Polam Hall University opens, so I can come back!! But until then I am looking forward to starting out at university, and getting back into learning again. And I think all the old scholars will agree, you might leave Polam, but it never really leaves you.

Thank you.

Lucy Downes