Outreach activities carried out by Research Institutions and Universities play a key role in bringing the public closer to scientific culture, and particularly, when aimed at younger audiences, in encouraging inspirations for STEM careers. In this context, numerous studies have highlighted that the most effective initiatives are those that allow students to immerse in the research setting and...
Data analysis tasks are a key component of the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, a prestigious competition for high school students. Each participating country has its own selection process, open to students with an interest in Astronomy. Exam questions are an excellent way to introduce students to novel topics, provided the required knowledge to solve them is within the...
Since 1983 the Italian groups collaborating with Fermilab (US) have been running a 2-month summer training program for Master students. While in the first year the program involved only 4 physics students, in the following years it was extended to engineering students. Many students have extended their collaboration with Fermilab with their Master Thesis and PhD.
The program has involved...
AggiornaMenti is a national INFN project started in 2017 and devoted to the education of junior high-school science teachers. So far, about 800 science and technology teachers have attended our courses, in which they receive a practical training on how to propose a lecture based on hands-on activities with low-cost materials, which can be easily found at home. This, by the way, conveys the...
Lab2GO is a project to establish a closer contact between school and experimental sciences created by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) and the University of Rome "La Sapienza". The goal is the spread of laboratory practice among students and teachers in high schools. In this contribution two different experiences will be described. In the first case, a museum laboratory present...
The need for constant, high-quality professional development for high school teachers (HST) has been widely recognized as essential to address society’s evolving needs and to motivate and retain teachers. This is particularly critical in STEM fields, where there is a shortage of educators alongside growing job opportunities outside the education system. As highlighted by OECD since 2005...
“Physics on the Infinite Canvas” (“La Fresque des deux infinis” in French) is a fun, collaborative workshop based on collective intelligence, created in 2024 by physicists from CPPM and CPT. This original tool aims to popularize theoretical and experimental physics at both the infinitely small and the infinitely large scales. Its goal is to introduce major physics discoveries across these two...
Art&Science Across Italy is a national project by INFN and CERN aimed at Italian high school students aged 16 to 18. Since its launch in 2016, more than 10,000 students have participated. The initiative is grounded in the idea that creativity and imagination are essential in both science and art. Scientists and artists alike are often called upon to look beyond what is immediately visible, to...
The "Warning" project has reached its fifth edition this year. "Warning!" was born in 2020, when Pisa Foundation and the Pisa unit of the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) launched this initiative with the aim of developing interdisciplinary educational paths, on the topics of major planetary dangers and environmental fragility. This project was conceived as a knowledge...
The future of particle physics is inseparable from the well-being, engagement, and career development of today’s early career researchers (ECRs) — the very scientists who will lead the field forward. Yet, many ECRs face structural challenges including short-term contracts, limited job security, under-recognition, and frequent relocations. These issues create uncertainty and threaten the...
Equity, diversity and inclusion are vital for effective collaboration within an organisation like ATLAS, and the Early Career Scientists Board (ECSB) is an essential part of ATLAS's efforts in this area. The ECSB's mandate includes advising the administrative bodies of the ATLAS collaboration, gathering regular feedback, and proposing specific action items that improve early-career scientists'...
In the increasingly fragmented media landscape where there is an overload of information reaching any one member of the public, it is a human connection that cuts through. In order for our experiments to speak to people, to keep people engaged in the ongoing process of science, we need to humanise it where possible. In this talk we show how CMS outreach tries to platform a diverse set of...
The CMS experiment is one of the largest international scientific collaborations in history, involving more than 6000 particle physicists, engineers, technicians, students and support staff from 250+ institutes in 55+ countries. The physics program and technical achievements of CMS are of great interest to a wide range of stakeholders, ranging from the general public, other scientists,...
The ATLAS Experiment on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is one of the largest most complex scientific instruments ever constructed. It has been built and operated by an international collaboration of over 5900 members of 103 nationalities from 243 institutes around the world. While the scientific goals and results of the experiment are continually reported to colleagues in the field through...
The LHCb experiment aims to address one of the most fundamental questions in particle physics: what distinguishes matter from antimatter? This compelling scientific quest captures the imagination not only of the general public but also of policymakers, funding bodies, and the broader scientific community. In this talk, we present the wide range of outreach activities undertaken by the LHCb...
Outreach and communication with the public is an integral part of our work as researchers. A wide range of activities and platforms allow ALICE members to share, especially with the young generation, the excitement of our field. ALICE Masterclasses for high-school students, both in-person and online, are expanding, reaching a higher number of students every year. Visits to the experiment site,...
Communicating the breadth of research—from fundamental physics to cutting-edge detector upgrades—to non-expert audiences is a key challenge for the 6,000-strong CMS collaboration. Recognizing this, the CMS External Communication team embarked on a comprehensive strategic review - approved by the collaboration last year. Through extensive collaborative sessions, core team members defined key...
Since 2010, ATLAS Virtual Visits have revolutionised HEP outreach by connecting its collaboration members with audiences worldwide. The Virtual Visit model brings inspiring scientific outreach events to visitors who would otherwise not have such an opportunity. Over the years, by offering the visits in a variety of languages and using a variety of online platforms, we have expanded their...
The ATLAS Collaboration has recently, for the first time, released a large volume of data for use in research publications, with its use being now extended via a new education-focused release. The 2015 and 2016 proton collision datasets, along with a large quantity of matching simulated data, in a light format, PHYSLITE, for research purposes, and in a simplified version for educational...
In November 2014, CMS made history by releasing its first batch of open data, comprising approximately 27 terabytes of proton-proton collision data collected in 2010 at a 7 TeV center-of-mass energy. This groundbreaking release marked the beginning of a new era in particle physics at the LHC, where researchers, educators, and enthusiasts worldwide could access and analyse real collider data....
Exographer is a particle-physics inspired video game released on September 26, 2024, on Steam (for PC and Mac), Xbox, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. Developed by a team assembled around a particle physicist from the CMS collaboration at École Polytechnique (France), the game aims to introduce fundamental concepts of particle physics to new and curious audiences.
Players explore a richly...
For many students and members of the public interested in particle physics and astrophysics, direct access to real research is limited due to the need for expensive and large-scale equipment such as accelerators and telescopes. However, recent advances in technology have made it feasible to develop low-cost detectors, and several groups have started creating simple yet functional instruments...
Sharing the amazing achievements of the particle physics world with the general public is at the heart of the Subatomic Heroes. Our activities range from merging art with a public physics lecture to marvelous performances at the local theater, over dedicated events for high-school students, to our Subatomic Heroes channel on instagram where you may also find out when and where our famous...
A new LEGO model of the ATLAS detector has been developed to aid and enhance educational outreach. Comprising over 21,000 LEGO elements and measuring over 1m in length, this accurate 1/50 scale model depicts ATLAS as it will appear in the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) era. Cutaway walls clearly reveal every component of the real detector, from the muon chambers down to the ITk Strip Detector...
