EXPLODING hydrogen balloons and levitating superconductors will all be part of a free show that promises to bring particle physics to life.

The official launch of Accelerate – a programme of interactive science lectures for Oxford schools and the general public – takes place tomorrow.

The project, which is run by postgraduate students from Oxford University’s physics department, aims to inject fun into the worlds of particle and accelerator physics with 45-minute hands-on demonstrations.

The lectures will be free of charge for any school or group wishing to book one. The performances will initially be based at the Clarendon Laboratory, in Parks Road, Oxford, but it is hoped the project will be travel to schools and events in 2009.

Organiser Suzie Sheehy said: “It is an experience designed to engage and excite high-school students and the public.

“We want to show that physics, and science in general, is not boring.

“It will be completely different from the classroom — there will be things exploding, things flying round the lecture theatre and lots of exciting other things with audience involvement.

“It is also a great opportunity for them to come and experience the university and a lecture-style situation.

“We hope people will go away with an enjoyable association with science and enjoy studying it and perhaps look to it as a possible career.”

Miss Sheehy, who has been performing science demonstrations for five years, said the programme would be beneficial for both its organisers and its audiences.

She said: “People underestimate the benefits it can give to the students who put on these shows. There are about 15 postgraduate students working on this and their fantastic enthusiasm is catching.”

Miss Sheehy, who is studying for a doctorate in the medical applications of particle acceleration, added: “There have been a few outreach programmes about particle physics but none about the machines themselves and how exciting they are. “We have quite a flexible format that can accommodate pupils from 11 years old, which is year seven, up to A Levels.”

Accelerate has secured funding until 2010 from the Science and Technology Facilities Council and is run with the help of Oxford University, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, which operates the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.

Tomorrow’s launch takes place at the Clarendon Laboratory between 6pm and 7.30pm.

For more details visit www.webnix.physics. ox.ac.uk/accelerate tairs@oxfordmail.co.uk