International Master classes in Particle Physics

Master classes are a unique opportunity for high-school students, where they can hunt particles at the Large Hadron Collider [LHC] and analyse real data from the experiments. Each year, in spring, research institutes and universities around the world open their doors and invite students for daylong visits. This year’s International Master classes were organized in March, under the auspices of the International Particle Physics Outreach Groups [IPPOG], and attracted more than 10 000 students.
In the Master class, students gained insight into the international organization of modern research in…

Festival of Science 2012 at Bauman Moscow State Technical University

The Festival of Science is the day when the Bauman Moscow State Technical University [BMSTU] opens it doors to numerous curious visitors and welcomes school children, high school graduates, and first-year university students.

BMSTU organised its second Festival of Science at the end of 2012. Every department of the university displayed information describing the research and education in science. Participants could also attend a variety of master classes, lectures, seminars and reports on different scientific topics, presented by senior students, postgraduates and…

“Encounters with… Astrophysics”: a day at the Planetarium

The Messina Young Minds Section [EPSYMs], thanks to the financial support of the European Physical Society [EPS] organized a special visit at the Planetarium Pythagoras in Reggio Calabria, Italy. The Planetarium Pythagoras has one of the most remarkable external geodes in Europe.

Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences and astronomical phenomena have always had a great influence on human life. Unfortunately, observation of constellations is not possible, due for example to light pollution from city lights, or…

Physics in primary schools

Teaching physics in an interactive way, showing concretely what we are talking about, is one of the most important goals of outreach projects promoted by European Physical Society [EPS] Young Minds. With the help of Sara Lombardi, a high school physics teacher who has been involved in outreach projects in primary schools for many years, the Naples YM Section decided to focus on the challenge of teaching physics in primary schools.

They worked with the Italian national project “Lauree Scientifiche per la Fisica”, in particular with Giovanni Chiefari…

Outreach at the Glasgow Science Festival

The Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow Young Minds Section of the Students Community of Optics and Photonics Engineering [SCOPE] organized and ran an outreach event with hands-on experiments for kids and adults alike at the Glasgow science festival.

This annual event runs through the month of June 2012 with a huge variety of activities, from open days to guided tours, and aims to engage the general public with science and the scientific research…

PhysHOME 2012

Physics by Hands-On Minds-on Experiments [PhysHOME] was held at the Department of Physics Education, Charles University, on 20-23 June this year. During the workshop, educators and teachers shared ideas and projects; compared viewpoints; and made steps towards possible future collaborations.

The event was attended by 17 participants from across Europe. The workshop – organised in an informal manner – consisted of 12 individual sessions, each lasting for 90 minutes, with 30 minutes for discussion following…

Editorial – Science communication: our duty

Dear Readers,

We physicists are positive that physics is the most important thing in life. We take for granted the notion that without the achievements of physics, industry, technology and even human life itself would be less productive.

We have to face the fact, however, that we are not alone. It is hard to find physicists amongst the decision makers at government levels, and even scientific policy makers may not consider physics as important as we do…

Physics Education Division releases position paper

A new position paper, developed by the EPS Physics Education Division and approved for distribution by the Executive Committee of the EPS during its June 2012 meeting in Mulhouse, is intended to bring to public attention certain key points affecting the present state and future development of European physics education:

• physics education in schools and universities,
• physics education as a research field…

Crowdsourced exhibit shows humour behind science

A celebration of the humour to be found within science is being held at the Espace des sciences Pierre-Gilles de Gennes from the 3 May to 30 October this year. The exhibition – entitled “La science, une histoire d’humour” – shows how, through humour, science is reflected in the eyes of both society and the scientific community itself.

The exhibits on display have been entirely crowd-sourced – with such contributors as Jean-Marie Lehn, Hervé This and Catherine Vidal – and visitors are encouraged to add the collection with their own additions…

Young Minds: connecting to the next gen

European Physical Society [EPS] Young Minds connects working scientists, divisions and groups with young, proactive scientists from across the globe. In this way, the scientific, outreach and networking activities of EPS members and member societies can be energised and expanded. The EPS Young Minds encourages individuals and organisations to reach out to the next generation and to talk to us – just as the International Association of Physics Students and the junge DPG have already done…

Particle physics outreach database launched by IPPOG

A database of resources and tools for particle physics education and outreach has been published by the International Particle Physics Outreach Group. The collection aims to help and inspire physicists, communicators and teachers with useful and imaginative ways of teaching students and the public about particle physics.

“The idea behind the database was to create a basket of tools where people can go and dip in and use them for their own needs,” says Lisa Mc Carthy, the IPPOG staff member who helped to set up the database.

Submissions to the resource library can be made by anyone – after registering – extending the IPPOG tradition of sharing outreach tools, practices and successes.

The database can be searched by a number of parameters, including the learning topic, nature, intended audience and language. The site also features a rating system – similar to those seen on sites such as amazon and youtube – through which submissions may be reviewed by the community, with popular items earning featured status.

The database is still in its early stages, and the creators are inviting users to provide feedback, and make suggestions as to how it could be improved. Comments should be sent to IPPOG by email ippog [dot] outreach [at] cern [dot] ch.

For more information on IPPOG, please see our article “International Particle Physics Outreach Group meeting”.

International Particle Physics Outreach Group meeting

The European Particle Physics Outreach Group [EPPOG] was established 15 years ago, under the joint auspices of the European Committee for Future Accelerators and the European Physical Society’s High Energy Particle Physics Board. In 2011 it evolved into the International Particle Physics Outreach Group [IPPOG], reflecting the international nature of the group. IPPOG’s principle aim is to maximise the impact of education and outreach efforts relating to particle physics, through information exchange and the sharing of expertise…