For the first time, a high school team from Türkiye has been named among the winners of the global physics competition “Beamline for Schools (BL4S),” organized by CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The “PhysiCAL” team from Cağaloğlu Anatolian High School will travel to CERN in September 2025 to carry out their proposed experiment.
The 2025 edition of BL4S saw a record number of entries: 508 teams from 72 countries submitted experiment proposals. Prof. Dr. Serkant Ali Çetin, Head of the Department of Basic Sciences and Coordinator of Science and Technology Communication at Istinye University, who has served as Türkiye’s National Contact for BL4S since its early years, shared his remarks on the results:
“We are proud of our young talents”
“Our students have achieved something truly remarkable. The PhysiCAL team from Cağaloğlu Anatolian High School became one of five winning teams in this year’s BL4S competition, which received a record-breaking 508 submissions. They will now perform their experiment at CERN. Having also attended our BL4S Information and Training Sessions over the years, I wholeheartedly congratulate the students and teachers of Cağaloğlu Anatolian High School.
This year, 10% of the submitted proposals made it through the initial selection. Among the 50 shortlisted teams were two from Türkiye—and one of them, Cağaloğlu Anatolian High School, emerged as a winner. Additionally, one Turkish team was recognized among the 15 recipients of the Outreach Award, and yet another was among the three global winners of the ‘Best Video’ award.
As in previous years, Türkiye once again showed the highest level of interest in the competition, submitting 73 proposals—about 15% of all entries. Due to the high quality of submissions, the organizers selected five winning teams instead of the usual three.”
“Being selected to run our experiment at CERN is incredible”
Defne Karaoğlu from the PhysiCAL team shared the following on their proposed experiment and the honor of being selected:
“Our experiment focuses on optimizing nuclear spallation by investigating how different target materials and thicknesses affect neutron yield. This research could inform future approaches to reducing radioactive waste and designing sustainable neutron sources. Being selected to run our experiment at CERN is an incredible feeling—beyond our dreams. To be at the heart of scientific discovery not as spectators but as contributors is the most meaningful moment of our lives so far.”
A historic first for Türkiye
Of the five winning teams this year, two will carry out their experiments at CERN in Switzerland, and the other three at the DESY and ELSA facilities in Germany. Prof. Dr. Serkant Ali Çetin from Istinye University, Türkiye’s BL4S national contact, shared further insights:
“Due to the enthusiasm and global impact of BL4S over the years, the competition was honored with the European Physical Society’s Outreach Award in the field of High Energy and Particle Physics. It is highly meaningful that a Turkish team has, for the first time, become one of the winners in the same year. With the passion and determination our students have shown for science, I have no doubt these achievements will grow in the coming years.”
A new milestone in Türkiye’s scientific progress
Experts who will support the winning student teams during their experiments at CERN and ELSA were also selected from Türkiye. Prof. Dr. Serkant Ali Çetin, National Coordinator of the CERN-ATLAS Experiment and head of the High Energy and Particle Physics Research Group at Istinye University, provided details about two Turkish women physicists who will serve as BL4S experts in 2025:
“Thanks to their expertise gained through their work in the ATLAS Experiment, Dr. Saime Gürbüz and PhD student Berare Göktürk have been selected as expert physicists for BL4S. As young women scientists trained in Türkiye, they make us especially proud. This year, with both our high school winners and expert physicists selected for BL4S, our joy has multiplied. This is a clear reflection of Türkiye’s strong scientific potential.”
