EU Space Awareness: Inspiring a new generation of Space Explorers
The EU Space Awareness Project [EUSPACE-AWE] – funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme – uses the excitement of space to attract young people to science and technology and to stimulate European and global citizenship. The main goal of the project is to increase the number of young people that choose space-related careers.
Passion for Knowledge
A knowledge-based society as fostered by the EU Lisbon Strategy plan actually requires a society-based knowledge, a knowledge with deep roots in the society. Scientific research is traditionally performed in hardly accessible academic institutions or in jealously protected industrial laboratories. There is a growing need for research activity to become a living part of society, to be perceived as a service bringing long-term benefits and a better quality of life.
Photonics4All
Photonics4All is a European outreach project funded by the European Union under one of the calls for Photonics Public Private Partnership (PPP). This outreach project aims to promote photonics and light based technologies to young people, students, entrepreneurs and the general public throughout the EU.
Editorial – Light to Enlighten
In our role as researchers and teachers we work to increase the knowledge, use it and transmit it to new generations of scientists.
At the same time, our global citizenship is often confronted with technical, cultural, ethical and social issues needing scientific knowledge not available to the average citizen. Direct engagement with the public helps us to understand their interest for science and their doubts and concerns.
PiA – Physics in Advent
With “PiA – Physics in advent”, we created a special and unique kind of advent calendar: a physics advent calendar. We introduce young scientists, and everyone who has fun with it, to 24 simple and yet ingenious experiments and physics puzzles. They aim to arouse interest in doing experiments by yourself and ignite excitement within any observer.
From 1st to 24th December 2015, we present a little experiment in a video clip every day. You can do the experiment yourself at home and answer the question on our web page throughout the day before seeing the solution video the next day.
GalileoMobile: sharing astronomy in rural areas
Astronomy is a powerful and inspiring tool that can be used to motivate children to learn more about the world beyond their immediate neighbourhood, to encourage critical thinking, and engage them in different scientific disciplines. Although in our modern world there are many outreach programmes that bring astronomy to the classroom, most of them act in cities and rely heavily on internet connections. Thus, pupils and teachers in rural and remote areas rarely benefit from such efforts, making it difficult to know about modern space missions and world interpretations based on modern astronomy.
Editorial – All artists must go where the people are
Every year many PhD graduates in STEM fields around Europe enter the academic market hoping to pursue a scientific career that finally leads to a secure permanent position. However, most of them will not make it. The reality is that there are not many of those positions and every step of a research career leads to an even narrower bottleneck. During the past years, all around Europe, the employment security of researchers is threatened by cuts in national research budgets as well as an unfair standardised recruitment system based on publications that often favours quantity over quality. The young researchers become casualties of the academic system and I am one of those victims …
International Year of Light News
IYL 2015 activity in United Kingdom
On 25 September 2015, Aston University Institute of Photonics Technology [AIPT], the Library of Birmingham and Community Arts Group, the Flatpack Film Festival, will deliver an afternoon and evening of demonstrations…
SPIE International Year of Light photo contest is open
The SPIE International Year of Light photo contest is open. Submit your work by 30 September 2014 and show how light and light-based technologies play a vital role in our everyday lives. The contest is open to anyone…
International Year of Light News
Year of Light Volunteers needed!
IYL2015 partner CIE announces Global Open Lab Days Initiative
Extreme Light focus in Romania during 2015
Download EPS IYL2015 Poster
Editorial — Outreach for All
One of the most rewarding experiences in preparing for the International Year of Light next year has been to see at firsthand just how many physicists are committed to science outreach. It has been extremely encouraging to learn about the many outreach initiatives throughout Europe. With global concern about public misunderstanding of science and technology, outreach is a hot topic, and ambitious programmes such as the Horizon 2020 “Science with and for Society” aim precisely at developing innovative ways of connecting science with the public.
“Outreach” is of course a very broad term, encompassing many different types of activity. Many research…
Everybody wants to see the sky
A modern person is bonded tightly to the different types of screen, starting from a smartphone to a cinema screen. Especially, young people are affected in this way. Frequently, they search and watch the beauty of the Nature on the laptop while the amazing physical phenomena surround us everywhere. The simplest example is the stellar sky that attracts human sees around the Globe during the centuries. These thoughts and ideas have inspired the EPS Lviv Young Minds section members to let anyone and particularly young and kids get more comprehension about celestial objects by the practical experience in the Astronomical Observatory…
Researchers’ Night in Debrecen, Hungary
The University of Debrecen has been participating in European Researchers’ Night for many years. The Debrecen Young Minds section also participated, offering activities in five different themes.
In the park of the Nuclear Research Centre [Atomki], people could try the water bottle rocket built by a student in electric engineering. Not far from there under the attacks of giant bubbles one could submerge his/her hands into a big bowl of oobleck (a non-newtonian suspension of cornstarch and water). Entering the building a few students and…
