From April 19 to 21, the DPG Physics Center in Bad Honnef hosted a workshop on communicating the physics of the smallest particles in English by the University of Bonn in cooperation with Netzwerk Teilchenwelt. The network fosters and organizes various outreach activities in the field of (astro-) particle and hadron physics. It consists of over 30 universities/research institutes coordinated by TU Dresden. It offers a variety of workshops e.g. Masterclasses, experiments and materials for school students and teachers on particle physics and regular trainings for Master- and PhD students, who facilitate these events.
For the workshop, 20 participants from a total of 10 universities/research institutions enthusiastically attended. The training dealt with the characteristics of good science communication, as well as the planning and implementation of master classes, which are events for students who become researchers themselves for a day and learn about particle physics in a playful way. The workshop was led by Evelyn Stahl, an expert in the field of science communication and personal coach. Since 2019, the University of Bonn has been a hub in Netzwerk Teilchenwelt and, in addition to masterclasses and many other events, organizes trainings for students who want to become active in the network and/or further their education in the field of science communication. After the workshop the university of Bonn will organize bilingual masterclasses for high school students, facilitated by the participants of the workshop in order to further extend and evaluate the new concept.
Every year, the Netzwerk Teilchenwelt offers training for new people who want to become active in the network. Besides the workshop in Bad Honnef, other trainings are offered. A similar workshop in German takes place every year in February in Fulda and there are regular onboarding events, which are offered online once a quarter. After the successful workshop this year, the University of Bonn in cooperation with the Netzwerk Teilchenwelt will offer the workshop again next spring in Bad Honnef. If you are interested, please contact us.