HOPE – A new European Academic Network
The academic network Horizons of Physics Education [HOPE] was launched in October 2013. This three-year project is supported by the Life Long Learning Programme [LLP] of the European Union. It is the 6th thematic network in physics education in a series of networks beginning in 1995 with European Physics Education Network [EUPEN].
The 71 full partners are from 31 LLP-eligible countries of the European Union along with Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey; they comprise 65 academic partners and 6 non-academic partners including the European Physical Society. The consortium is further enriched by 10 associated partners including the Institute of Physics, the American Physical Society, IBM Zurich Laboratory, the Groupe International de Recherche sur l’Enseignement de la Physique [GIREP], and various universities in both North and South America.
HOPE will be co-ordinated by Nadine Witkowski (Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France), Marisa Michelini (Udine, Italy) and Ivan Ruddock (Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom). With an overall aim of enhancing the impact of physics within Europe and its visibility in society, the network will research and share good practice within four themes: the factors influencing young people to choose to study physics; physics graduates’ competences that enable them to contribute to the new needs of the European economy and society; the effectiveness and attractiveness of physics teaching in Europe’s university physics departments and their competitiveness in the global student market; strategies for increasing the supply of well-trained physics school teachers and for developing links between university physics departments and the teaching of physics in schools.
More information can be found on the HOPE website.
