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School Outreach

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The Erlangen YM Section continued their program to visit local schools and tell them about how fundamental science works. With this, they not only showed how research is performed, but gave a peak into the actual life of a researcher. Starting from developing an idea in the shared kitchen of the group, drawing first experimental sketches on the whiteboard and building a first setup – these are the roots of experimental research that get everything else started. Continuing on the topic, the pupils were taught that every experiment and every theory always undergoes some sort of revision process that usually starts with analyzing some measurement results, goes on with a discussion and commonly ends with an adjustment of the experiment or theory. Finally, research needs communication. Without that, nobody would know today about the great achievements of science and nobody could base their work on the millions of papers already published. The pupils (11th grade) were very intrigued by the honest and insightful picture that was given to them and asked many questions both during and after the lecture.

The presentation was accompanied by an experiment that the section brought along to show that whatever was told in the presentation has some realism to it. The pupils were able to make the connection and continue with their questions in a hands-on manner, while being fascinated that single molecules can be resolved by a portable tabletop experiment.

The pupils were not the only ones who learned something. For the Erlangen YM section, it proves to be a valuable lesson to step out of the research lab for a day and do something completely different. Explaining your research during an outreach event grounds you and lets you reconnect to the value of your findings. Through this event, one member of the section was even able to re-visit his old school and delve into past time memories.

Youth Education

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CastellonG3Optical Workshop:
Each year University Jaume I (UJI) of Castellón celebrates the days of dissemination called “Connecta amb la Ciència” (means “Connect with the Science”). These days have the objective of publicize the courses and degrees offered by the scientific area of the UJI. People (teachers, postdocs, students…) working in several areas from the university go to many places around the region of Castellón and offer workshops about chemistry, videogames, optics and photonics, renewable energies, etc. and many high school students attend these workshops.
Taking advantage of the conference “Connecta amb la Ciència” the GOC members have travelled through different towns of the province to bring science to high school students.
We have prepared several micro workshops to show different physical properties and concepts related to optics (atmospheric scattering, refraction, diffraction on a CD, light absorption, polarization…) and also explain how works the human eye. In this way, students from all region have the opportunity to learn science by having fun.
We showed these workshops in 2014 and 2015 and teachers from different high schools requested our workshops also for this year 2016 because the students enjoyed them. This year we have visited three towns, Teruel (9/11/2016), Villarreal (24/11/2016) and Sagunto (29/11/2016). We have some new material for improve our explanations, as for example fluorescent sheets and UV lasers. This activity reached up to 200 students from several places.

First contact with the university:
The second week of January we offered to students in last high school year several seminars. Firstly, we started the sessions with the presentation of our group GOC and our ongoing and future activities. After we showed them some light properties, they made a practical activity related with diffraction to guess if they have a DVD or a CD.

FIRUJI-CIENCIA:

On May took place an activity developed by UJI called FIRUJICIÈNCIA where students from high school and university had the chance to see science demonstrations in different stands. There we showed them some characteristics of light and its application. We explained polarization by using two polarizers and allowing the students to cross them or to move them freely. We made a photoelasticity demonstration, with two crossed polarizers, we told them to add a transparent medium between both and they could see the effect of the material on light. They could also see refraction and reflection, with a glass of water and a coin we explained them the phenomenon of the total internal reflection and the critical angle. We cloaked the coin while it was under the glass, in air, and show them how depending on the angle of observation you can see it or not. Diffraction demonstration were also developed, we used diffraction gratings and lasers of different wavelength to make clear the dependence of the angle of the diffraction orders with that parameter. We had a model of the human eye and lenses to simulate image formation and to let them see the effect of myopia and hyperopia and how to correct them using lenses.

Scientific competitions

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CastellonG2Khet 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

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CastellonOn 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

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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

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CalabriaThis 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

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IMG_5332The 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

Physics for High School Students

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AustriaAs 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.

When arts meet science

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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).

The Sound of Physics

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The YM Valladolid Section released ‘The Sound of Physics’ on September 30th, 2016 for an audience of 300 people. Performed as the main event of the European Researchers Night 2016 at the Science Museum of Valladolid, its aim was the explanation of mechanical waves, particularly sound, and the characteristics of music. The spectacle was performed once more on November 26th, 2016 at the theater of Renedo de Esgueva (Valladolid) for 200 music students. Children and adults could enjoy and learn what a wave is, its mechanisms of propagation, and its physical properties – wavelength, frequency, amplitude, linear superposition… – together with associated physical phenomena, such as Doppler effect. How do different types of musical instruments produce sound? How can the characteristics of the latter be modified? These are only some of the questions that were answered during this activity. The explanations were accompanied by illustrative experiments, as well as short, but well-known, pieces of music, played by YM Valladolid members.

The first part of the show was mainly devoted to the properties of mechanical waves. To picture them, a variety of resources were used, such as ropes, animations and videos. The public could take part in a simulation of propagation of the sound inside different media, where they were the atoms, and their arms represented the interatomic forces. The audience played with a ball with a buzzer inside, perceiving the Doppler effect. They could also hear a sound produced by a whistle of the London Metropolitan Police, formed as the sum of two tones of frequencies too high for the human ear, and thus living the difference between frequency -physical quantity- and tone -subjective perception. The Rubens tube helped with the introduction of the concepts of stationary wave and resonance.

The second part dealt with the physics of the musical instruments. For percussion, wind, string, electronic and electromechanical instruments the following topics were covered: how the sound is generated, how its qualities can be controlled, and why these qualities are modified in that way. The role of resonance chambers was clarified, using as an example the ‘blasters’ sound production in the Star Wars saga by using a metallic spring and a plastic cup (as it was originally done). The public could agitate balloons with an hexagonal nut inside to understand the sound produced by a membrane instrument, and a Chladni plate helped to visualize it. The instruments used and explained included: glass bottles, ocarina, recorder, transverse flute, ukulele, solid metallic bars, violin, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, theremin and Tesla coil. Timbre was introduced by recording in situ the sound emitted by some of them and by explaining the differences among their waveforms and spectra. The show was enlivened by playing short well-known pieces, like ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’, ‘Concerning Hobbits’, ‘Star Wars Cantina’ and ‘We Will Rock You’, counting the latter with the participation of the audience.

After its great acceptance, further repetitions of the show are expected soon.