SHiP ($\textit{Search for Hidden Particles}$) is a general purpose experimental facility recently proposed at CERN. It will be operated in beam dump mode at the CERN SPS accelerator with the aim of searching for long-lived particles of Hidden Sector models in the GeV mass range. The SHiP beam dump will be a copious source of hidden particles together with active neutrinos of all flavours. The SHiP Scattering and Neutrino Detector ($\textit{SND}$), based on the Emulsion Cloud Chamber technique, has been specifically designed to perform precision studies of neutrino and anti-neutrino interactions. In five years, the integrated statistics of $2\times10^{20}$ protons on target will provide the first direct observation of tau anti-neutrinos. The $\nu_\tau$ and $\bar{\nu_\tau}$ deep-inelastic scattering cross-sections will be measured with statistics a thousand times larger than currently available, allowing for the extraction of the $F_4$ and $F_5$ structure functions, never measured so far. Charm physics studies will also be performed with improved accuracy with respect to past experiments, thus providing good sensitivity to the strange quark distribution in the nucleon.
In this paper, focus will be given to the physics potential of the SHiP SND, including its sensitivity to light dark matter searches.