Scientific competitions

Posted on 22/01/2017 by ggunaratnam

Khet tournament:
This tournament has not been celebrated yet, however, a Khet tournament in “Nou Café del Carmen”, a popular bar of Castellón, will be celebrated next February. Khet is a chess-like abstract strategy board game using lasers. Players get use to laser reflection and laser split in two beam by means of beam splitters. We will give a Spanish ham for the winner and maybe we will add another prize for the finalist. It is also important to notice that this year we have added the “Nou Café del Carmen” as a place to organize our activities and give diffusion to them.

GOC QUIZ:
15th of December we made a quiz competition in a famous bar of Castellón called “Nou Café del Carmen” with questions related with physics and optics, among many other issues. A set of funny and curious questions were prepared for this event. There were different types of queries, true or false, questions to join between multiple options and many more. Most of the science activities are only focus to students or people normally involved in science. However, with this activity, we want to reach to all age ranges and social status. Moreover we explain the activities in science that occurs in the city and how can they be involved in these activities. The activity reached up to 25 people, and the people from the bar offered us to add a dinner at their place as a prize in the next edition of the GOC-QUIZ. They ask us to organize the quiz more times instead of just once per year, in that sense we do believe that it is important to continue working and improving this kind of activity where not only students but everyone get involved in science in a funny way. And, of course, at the end of the night the winners received the prize they deserved, a Spanish ham bought thanks to the grant received, and that also helps to make people come and be interested in our activities.

Astronomical observations for general public

Posted on 22/01/201722/01/2017 by ggunaratnam

On 9th May of 2016 Castellón YM Section organized an observation of the transit of Mercury. To let people know about this activity we published it on our Facebook page (Group of Optics Castellón). For the event we bought material for the telescope. The day was cloudy and it was difficult to observe the event, however, finally we were able to observe the phenomenon.
Also we could take of advantage of the event to give information about the optics of a telescope, the planetary movement and several curious science facts that entertained the assistants. Besides, the EPS banner and the purpose of the organisation as well as the purpose of the student chapter were explained.

As the telescope was not available the last months we couldn’t offer the star party, however now we can use it and we are going to do the activity shortly. The plan is to go to a village close to our city where the sky is optimum for doing the observation of several celestial bodies. Also, we are trying to find the best date to be able to see the maximum and to make everybody enjoy the night without freezing.

Finally, it should be said that apart from the activities cited here, in other activities like visiting high schools or schools, we explain the basics of a telescope and how it is possible to observe objects that are so far away. In this sense, we tell the students to join us in our chapter activities by coming to the activities described above.

Seminars on membrane technology

Posted on 22/01/2017 by ggunaratnam

In this activity, we have organized seminars on thermoplasmonics and its novel applications, with particular emphasis to seawater desalination and membrane technology.
The technological applications related to the excitation of localized surface plasmon modes have originated the emerging field of plasmonics. Among the various technological capabilities of plasmonics, those related to thermoplasmonics are particularly promising. Thermoplasmonics, i.e. the Joule heating associated to optically resonant plasmonic excitations in metal nanoparticles, is based on the control by means of light source of nanoscale thermal hotspots.
The most important concepts in nanotechnology and nanoscience have been clarified in a first seminar by dr. Marco Alfano, who described the impact of nanomaterials in technology in different fields. The synthesis of nanomaterials and nanoparticles has been also included in the discussion.
In a following seminar, Dr. Antonio Politano has explained the mechanisms of the first prototype of a system for membrane distillation for seawater desalination exploiting thermoplasmonic effects using nanomaterials as nanofillers in membranes. This is the result of a collaboration among physicists, chemists and chemical engineers of our University.
During this talk, it has been demonstrated how thermoplasmonics can be used as a viable and effective tool for improving the efficiency of membrane distillation to produce desalted water at high recovery factor and relatively low energy input.
The problem of the production of desalted water via seawater desalination is becoming remarkable since the number of countries suffering water scarcity problem has increased significantly in the last decades, due to the steadily demographic expansion and the amplified demand for water in industrial activities, in agriculture and for municipal purposes.
Particular attention has been dedicated to the attempt to improve the interaction with other departments. This is beneficial for our EPS-YM section, since we find a lot of interest toward thermoplasmonics from chemical engineers in our university. We find different contact points with young researchers in membrane technology.
In the seminar on thermoplasmonics, the state of the art has been presented, with attention on the various aspects: the characteristics of thermoplasmonics and the use of nanoscale thermal hotspots in various fields.
Seminars have been attended by about 30 students, coming from Physics, Materials Science and Chemical Engineering.
After the seminars, a discussion with students about the prospect of applied research on advanced materials has been done, under the coordination of prof. Chiarello, associate professor of Applied Physics.

Outreach toward secondary schools

Posted on 22/01/2017 by ggunaratnam

This activity has been divided into two parts:
i) Simple experiments carried out at secondary schools by members of the EPS-YM section, after a brief introduction;
ii) Visits of students at Department of Physics, Laboratory of Surface Physics.
We were motivated by the possibility to inspire the next-generation of physicists by elucidating about possibilities of carriers in Physics and Materials Science. In particular, we have stimulated students to have a positive approach toward Physics.
The collaboration of professors has highly facilitated our activity.
Here, we list some of the experiments with economic materials carried out directly at secondary schools:
1) We have demonstrated how sunlight can be intensified through a magnifying glass, concentrating energy to melt an ice cube.
2) We have demonstrated how string instruments work by building our very own miniature guitar from a matchbox.
3) We have used static electricity to separate a mixture of salt and pepper
4) We have lifted an ice cube from a glass of water using a string.
5) We have carried out experiments on convective motions in hot air.
By using a Wood’s lamp and a laser, we have also explained the properties of electromagnetic radiation.
In order to facilitate the comprehension of the simple experiments, we have explained the most important physical concepts behind the experimental observations with the help of nice and simple presentations in Power Point.
Moreover, we have tried to stimulate the attitude toward experiments by giving them the opportunity to build the various parts required for the experimental apparatus.
The visit to the Department of Physics has been organized thanks to the crucial support of local municipalities, that have kindly shared school buses to transport students to University of Calabria in Arcavacata di Rende (CS).
The visit to University of Calabria has been an occasion to give students the first contact with University and to explain them research at our Department of Physics with simple words.
We have shown them some prototypes of devices developed at our Department, highlighting the importance of applied research and, in particular, the connection between academic and production worlds. Furthermore, we have also organized simple experiments about pressure and its effects, which have been carried out by using the vacuum instrumentation of the Laboratory of Surface Physics at University of Calabria.
Finally, we have discussed with the students about the various possibilities of carriers in Physics.

Researchers Night Budapest 2016

Posted on 22/01/2017 by ggunaratnam

The main goal of this well-known EU project is to raise public awareness to the everyday influence of research in our life. We have taken out our part in the International initiation by organising a physics related event at the Eötvös University on the 30th of September 2016. This is now a traditional program for us every year: it is an open and free event for any curious person, but every year our main focus is on families, teenagers and younger children. There were some easily understandable and entertaining scientific presentation, which were presented by renewed researchers and students alike, with topics from the most novel and interesting research areas and present the tools of science. During the whole afternoon and evening (for seven hours) there were five thematic demonstration stands with over a 100 different experiments (the five themes were: thermodynamics, electromagnetism, modern physics, mechanics and liquids). The participants were be able to try out most of the non-dangerous experiments themselves, many of which can be easily reproduced at home. There were at least two presenters at each table, who were mostly physics students, and there were additional organisers who have taken small sized groups to the digital planetary at the campus. with the help of the staff of our Astronomical Department at the university. This event was another evidence that with the cooperation of the Roland Eötvös Physical Society, the two local universities (Eötvös Loránd University and the Budapest University of Technology and Econimics) and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Research Institutes we can organise a professional and interesting Physics Researchers Night event in Budapest.

Pictures can be found at: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AnNl0GK68LZFi0Rky5-05C7QkIAS

Náboj Physics in Budapest 2016

Posted on 22/01/2017 by ggunaratnam

Physics Náboj is an international physics competition designed for teams of five high-school students that represent their schools. The problems in Náboj differ considerably from the routine school exercises which usually require only direct application of a given method: the Náboj problems require certain amount of inventiveness and ingenuity. Success in the competition is not depend on the individual abilities of the team members only but also on their efficient cooperation. This year the competition was held on the 4th of November 2016 at the exact same time at different locations, different countries.

The Hungarian part of the Náboj Physics was hosted by the Budapest Young Minds Section in Budapest, and we were able to organize the competition for 70 high school students without a registration fee. Teams were competing in two categories, Juniors and Seniors. The Junior category was open only for teams with all members attending first or second grade of a 4-year high school (or a corresponding grade in 5- or 8-year high school). The Senior category was open to any team consisting of high school students. The competition lasted 120 minutes during which the teams were trying to solve as many given problems as possible.

At the beginning of the competition each team received eight problems. As soon as the team correctly solved any of the problems, it received a new one. The solutions of the problems were mostly numerical. The winner was the team that solved most problems correctly in the given time limit. The difficulty of the problems was appropriate both for students inexperienced in physics competitions and for students who have already succeeded in Physics Olympiad or seminars. This was achieved by arranging the problems in order of their perceived difficulty. This year as the years before the professional quality of the problems were guaranteed by the organizers of Physics Correspondence Seminar part of Trojsten. After the competition and before the announcement of the results Dálya Gergely, a member of the Gravitational research group in the Eötvös University, held an informative lecture about gravitational waves for the students and the accompanying teachers. In the end, the best teams received certificates and prizes, like T-shirts, first-class physics literature (used worldwide for preparation for studying physics), and complimentary ticket to the CSOPA Science Center.
More about the competition: https://physics.naboj.org
Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/us4Q5E2LnbNjQKKs6

Physics for High School Students

Posted on 22/01/201710/12/2018 by ggunaratnam

As a first effort in its existence, the Austrian section of EPS Young Minds (ÖPG Young Minds) has organized a special “Young Minds session” within the setting of the 66th Annual Meeting of the Austrian Physical Society. The aim was to let graduate students present their areas of research in front of an audience of high school students. The subjects included many-body electron systems, black hole physics and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and were presented in an accessible manner. The result was a lively discussion between students and presenters, and many interesting questions were asked. With roughly 250 attendants composed mostly of high school students, teachers and other interested participants, the event was a great success. We definitely plan to repeat it in the coming year, possibly also outside of the annual meeting.

For the purpose of advertising both the event and our ÖPG Young Minds section, we have created a flyer that we distributed in the community of Austrian physicists and sent out to high schools. For this, we made use of the financial support of EPS Young Minds. The flyer (in German) can be downloaded at http://oepg-students.at/uploads/beca8120f1622ea22a292a76dcd3ed07.pdf.

We have also contributed to organizing a session at the same meeting on possible career paths for physicists, aimed both at high school and university students. The subjects ranged from biophysics to software engineering with a focus on physics and again, high school students asked a lot of questions and were actively engaged in discussions.

Our activities have shown that it is easy to build a bridge between graduate students and high school students and to expose the latter to the forefront of research in modern physics. In the future, we want to continue in this spirit.

The physics of imperfect graphene

Posted on 22/01/201722/01/2017 by ggunaratnam

On the 29th of September 2016 the Antwerp Young Mind section invited Professor Doctor Eva Y. Andrei to give a colloquium at the University of Antwerp about her work on imperfect graphene. The target audience were the students and researchers of the University of Antwerp physics department, many of whom attended the lecture.
Professor Eva Andrei is an experimental condensed matter physicist at the Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA. Her research focuses on the electronic properties of graphene and other low dimensional materials and explores the effects of external perturbations on these types of systems. The experimental work done by her and her group led to several important discoveries, including the observation of the fractional quantum Hall effect in suspended graphene and the discovery of Van Hove singularities in twisted graphene layers. The speaker’s extensive experience and knowledge of these topics entitle her as an international authority on the subject of graphene.

Professor Andrei began her talk with a general introduction on the subject of graphene in order to make those who might not yet be familiar with this system acquainted with the topic. Subsequently, she focused on more specialized phenomena that emerge when the lattice of graphene is disrupted. In particular, she discussed her work on the effects of single atom vacancies on graphene’s electronic and magnetic properties. The colloquium as a whole was a great occasion for students to be introduced to the concepts of two-dimensional systems and graphene, while at the same time it provided the researchers of our department with a more profound overview of the theory and workings of imperfect graphene.

The lecture was followed by a reception, where the audience members and speaker could enjoy a drink and a bite. This also presented our students and researchers the opportunity to speak with professor Andrei in a more informal setting than the lecture itself.

Altogether, the colloquium was a great way for our university’s physics department to kick off the academic year.

When arts meet science

Posted on 15/12/201622/01/2017 by ggunaratnam

When Arts meet Science” was an outreach event realized in synergy with University of Catania and National Council of Research (CNR) in July 2016. It consisted mainly in an “Image Competition” and, as a consequence, an “Image Exhibition” realized firstly in the framework of the 6th International Conference on NANOstructures and nanomaterials SElf-Assembly (NanoSEA 2016; http://www.nanosea2016.imm.cnr.it/ ) held in Giardini Naxos (3-8 July 2016). All the conference attendees were invited to submit a computer-assisted or traditional scientific image designed to remind artistic subjects. The best selected 20 images were decorated with poems, poetry and famous sentences coming from the literary world by a proper committee, in order to pursue the aim to mix Science and Arts. In addition, they were displayed in the Exhibit Hall of the conference venue (ATAHOTEL NAXOS BEACH Conference Center) and were also published in the abstracts book. The printing costs were financed by EPS Young Mind grants of the Catania Section. The competition winner was awarded of a prize consisting in a free of charge double as a single room in the conference venue, while the second place winner image was used as cover for the abstracts book. This event gave a great visibility to the EPS Young Mind Catania Section group among all the conference attendees (about 150, coming from all countries of Europe). Some pictures of the exhibition hall are reported below.
The exhibition was then moved inside the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Catania, whose opening was held on the 28th of July 2016 and was followed by a happy hour offered by EPS Young Mind Catania section. All the Physics students and the permanent staff of Professors and Researchers were invited to participate to the event. Although most of the people were already on holiday, the event was attended by more than 50 people, especially students, permitting us to gain their attention and involve them for future activities. In any case, the exhibition was made permanent, thanks to the Department Director consensus, therefore all the students and people passing by the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Catania will always have the possibility of admiring it.
The costs of the events were supported in part by EPS Young Mind and in part by University of Catania. In particular, the grant (500 euro) financed by EPS Young Mind for this activities was spent to cover the printing cost (200 euro), the award (200 euro), and the happy hour joined to the Permanent Exhibition Opening (100 euro).

Physico-chemical experiments on the core of a comet

Posted on 14/12/201614/12/2016 by ggunaratnam

In the first part of his talk he explained the preceding laboratory experiments on the formation and chemical composition of cosmic dust grains and their ice mantles. Using mass-spectrometry he found different organic molecules like amino acids formed in the laboratory comet by a photochemical reaction with UV-radiation as it is also likely to happen in space. Those molecules are interesting because of their occurrence in all Proteins and genetic information carriers such as DNA and RNA and proof of their existence on real comets might give a new view on the origin of live in our solar system.

The second part of the talk was a summary of the Rosetta mission and some of its difficulties. The Professor showed pictures of the comet taken by the orbiter and described the landing process of Philae, which was quite exciting. Finally he explained the onboard measurement configuration and the results of his experiments on the comet.

Before the talk we had a barbecue. In doing so we aimed to create an active exchange between the students of physics and of chemistry. After the talk we also gave interested guests the opportunity to get in contact with the referee.
All in all we were really glad about having Prof. Meierhenrich here at Jena and about having the possibility to hear about such an impressive project at first hand.

For more pictures you can wisit our webside:

http://www.dpg-physik.de/dpg/gliederung/junge/rg/jena/Veranstaltungen/2016/Vortrag_Meierhenrich/Vortrag.html