On 13 September, the regional MINT-EC Cluster Bonn/Rhein-Sieg-Ahr was officially founded under the leadership of Achim Kittelmann and Dr Vera Wethkamp. The initiative was supported by the Dr Hans Riegel Foundation. Various partners, including the University of Bonn, the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, the Cologne district government and the head teachers and subject teachers of the participating schools, were also represented.
The University of Bonn's Particle World network had a stand on site and presented itself as part of the STEM Particle Physics Camp, which was offered for the first time in November 2023. Some students who had built cosmic watch detectors at the MINT-EC Camp at the University of Bonn presented their experiences and results from the camp and built small cloud chambers live with dry ice.
In addition, the various particle physics programmes for pupils, teachers and the general public were presented, alongside other regional initiatives in which the University of Bonn is also involved.
Various projects, including workshops and a Bachelor's thesis in which a track detector was developed based on nine Cosmic Watch detectors built by the students, were also presented. At the stand, visitors were able to find out about the planned activities, observe cosmic muons live and follow the tracks of the particles on a screen.
As the detector physics camp was a great success and not only aroused interest in STEM subjects (physics, electrical engineering and engineering sciences) among the schoolgirls, it will take place again this year from 6 to 8 November 2024. This will give the next generation of schoolgirls the chance to build their own small detectors and immerse themselves in the world of detector physics to explore the smallest components of our atmosphere.