2 April 2026 – The first edition of the KM3NeT Masterclass took place last week over a large network of institutes throughout Europe.
During one full day, high-school students could experience what it takes to work at the frontiers of research. In total, almost 200 students were engaged in Italy (Bari, Bologna, Catania, Genova, Salerno), Georgia (Tbilisi) and Spain (Valencia).
In the selected locations, the students were first introduced to particle physics, neutrino astronomy and the science mission of KM3NeT. Then they were challenged to work on a data analysis exercise. In some sites the activities also included a visit to the local KM3NeT facilities. At the end of the day an international videoconference took place to let the students compare their findings with the outcome of the activities in the other sites.
The data analysis exercise had been designed with the aim to let the students get a good understanding of the detection capabilities of KM3NeT. They began by examining event displays to classify different types of events. Then they were asked to improve the time calibration of some detections units and to study how the quality of the calibration impacts on the detector capabilities in identifying cosmic sources of neutrinos. Finally they had to look for neutrino signals coming from a set of candidate sources in the sky.
This activity represents a new step in the long-term commitment of KM3NeT to bridge the gap between the world of particle physics research and the local communities. The strong engagement across all sites provides clear motivation to expand the Masterclass in the coming years. Many thanks to everyone involved in making this first edition a success.
