How can we see invisible radiation? Secondary school students explore Physics at LIP
"Three participants in the UC Summer University explored how different types of radiation can be detected and identified at LIP."
How can we observe something our eyes cannot see? This was the challenge presented to three secondary school students who joined LIP Coimbra as part of the 2026 edition of the University of Coimbra (UC) Summer University.
Francisca Sousa, Rodrigo Ramos and Miguel Cardoso took part in the project “How can we see invisible radiation?”, developed by LIP’s Gaseous Detectors group (GasDet) and supervised by Alexandre Trindade and Afonso Marques.
The activity gave the students first-hand contact with some of the techniques used in Experimental Physics to detect particles and radiation that cannot be directly observed through our senses.
Using Timepix3 detectors, the participants were able to observe the signals and tracks produced by the interaction of different particles with the detector, explore cobalt-57 and barium-133 radioactive sources, and measure natural background radiation. Their work also involved identifying different types of particles based on the patterns observed.
These detectors have applications ranging from particle identification and track reconstruction to dosimetry and X-ray imaging, and are also used to study cosmic radiation in aircraft, satellites and aboard the International Space Station.
At the end of the experience, the three students presented the work they had carried out and the results of their different observations throughout the project.
“These initiatives are an opportunity to bring students closer to research and show them, in practice, what working in Experimental Physics is like. Who knows, perhaps some of them will become future LIP students and researchers?”, says Afonso Marques, LIP researcher and one of the supervisors of the activity.
The project was part of the Physics programme of the UC Summer University, an initiative that gives secondary school students the opportunity to explore different fields of knowledge and experience the academic and scientific environment of the University of Coimbra.