Researcher — SCIPHER

SCIPHER — Scintillation and Cherenkov-based Identification of Particles and High-entropy Encryption-key Research — was submitted by Team AnuQuest of Oberoi International School to the CERN Beamline for Schools Competition 2026, where it was shortlisted among the Top 50 proposals worldwide.

Objective one — particle identification. The proposal describes a compact multilayer detector combining plastic scintillators with Cherenkov radiators. Signal timing, light yield, and threshold behaviour differ across species, and a machine-learning classifier trained on these signatures distinguishes protons (p), electrons (e⁻), muons (µ⁻), and kaons (K⁺) from a single detector stack.

Objective two — true random number generation. Every particle–matter interaction carries irreducible quantum stochasticity. SCIPHER harvests this entropy from detector response fluctuations to produce cryptographically strong true random numbers, with direct application to encryption-key generation and cyber-security.