In November 2021, CERN hosted the laureates of the 31st EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) – the biggest science fair for young students in the European Union – for a visit of its facilities and experiments. The contest, funded under Horizon 2020, aims to attract young people to a career in science and research.

The 2019 winners, a team of three Polish students based in the Netherlands, designed a drone that could return from the lower layers of the stratosphere with a scientific payload to the launch location and were rewarded with a week-long visit of CERN for their efforts. Unfortunately, due to restrictions related to the pandemic, CERN has had to postpone the visit, initially planned for 2020, to 2021.

Two of the winners, Lukasz and Mateusz, could eventually make it to CERN, where they visited the laboratory’s many facilities and experiments, from CERN’s Synchrocyclotron to ATLAS, and IdeaSquare. As part of their visit, they were invited to print metal objects on the Organization’s metal 3D-printers. Mateusz designed a piece inspired by cave paintings left behind by early humans while Lukasz created a replica of an octupole magnet inspired by their visit to the Antiproton Decelerator.

Lukasz and Mateusz expressed their deep gratitude for an experience which they said strengthened their resolve to continue their academic studies. They voiced interest in applying for student internships at CERN to further explore the many facets of engineering.