INTRO

High School Project on Astrophysics Research with Cosmics (HiSPARC) is a project in which secondary schools and academic institutions join forces and form a network to measure cosmic rays with extremely high energy. HiSPARC offers students the opportunity to participate in real research, with the purpose of finding out more about these mysterious and rare cosmic particles. Schools purchase HiSPARC detectors and students install these on the roofs of their school. The HiSPARC project started in the Netherlands in 2002. The HiSPARC detectors are connected to a central computer at the scientific institute Nikhef in Amsterdam through the internet, forming a large network. The project is coordinated from Nikhef in Amsterdam. The project spread to the UK in 2012 with first the Universities of Bristol, Bath and Birmingham. The project has recently spread to the Universities of Cardiff and Sussex.