Press Release

"Physics and Life" for Europe's Science Teachers

The EIROforum Contribution to the European Science and Technology Week 2003

2 April 2003

What do you know about modern science? Was your school science teacher inspiring and enthusiastic? Or was physics class a good time to take a nap? Unfortunately, many young Europeans don't have the fondest memories of science in school, and the result is a widespread disinterest and lack of understanding of science among adults. This has become a real problem - especially at a time when science is having a growing impact on our daily lives, and when society needs more scientists than ever! What can be done? Some of Europe's leading research organisations, scientists and teachers have put their heads together and come up with a unique approach called "Physics on Stage" . This will be the third year that these institutes, with substantial support from the European Commission, are running this project - attacking the problem at its roots.

EIROforum and "Physics on Stage 3"

"Physics On Stage 3" is based on the very successful "Physics On Stage" concept that was introduced in 2000. It is directed towards science teachers and students in Europe's secondary schools. It is a part of the year-long build-up to the European Science and Technology Week 2003 (3-9 November), an initiative by the European Commission, and is run by seven of Europe's leading Intergovernmental Research Organizations (the EIROforum) [1].

The project addresses the content and format of science teaching in European schools, seeking to improve the quality of teaching and to find new ways to stimulate pupils to take an interest in science.

Innovative and inspirational science teaching is seen as a key component to attract young people to deal with scientific issues, whether or not they finally choose a career in science. Hence, "Physics On Stage 3" aims to stimulate the interest of young people through the school teachers, who can play a key role in reversing the trend of falling interest in science and current scientific research.

The goals of "Physics On Stage 3"

"Physics on Stage 3" also aims to facilitate the exchange of good practice and innovative ideas among Europe's science teachers and to provide a forum for a broad debate among educators, administrators and policy-makers about the key problems in science education today.

Moreover, it will make available the considerable, combined expertise of the EIROforum organisations to the European scientific teaching community, in order to promote the introduction of "fresh" science into the curricula and thus to convey a more realistic image of modern science to the pupils.

"Physics on Stage 3" is concerned with basic science and also with the cross-over between different science disciplines - a trend becoming more and more important in today's science, which is not normally reflected in school curricula. A key element of the programme is to give teachers an up-to-date "insiders'" view of what is happening in science and to tell them about new, highly-diverse and interesting career opportunities for their pupils.

Theme of the activities

The theme of "Physics on Stage" this year is "Physics and Life", reflecting the decision to broaden the Physics on Stage activities to encompass all the natural sciences. Including other sciences will augment the already successful concept, introducing a mixture of cross-over projects that highlight the multidisciplinary aspects of modern science

Among the many subjects to be presented are radiation, physics and the environment, astrobiology (the search for life beyond earth), complex systems, self-organising systems, sports science, the medical applications of physics, mathematics and epidemiology, etc.

The main elements

 

National activities

"Physics on Stage 3" has already started and National Steering Committees in 22 countries, composed of eminent science teachers, scientists, administrators and others involved in setting school curricula, are now preparing related programs in their countries. Through these national activities, outstanding individuals will be selected to represent their teachers' communities at the final international event, the "Physics on Stage 3" festival. A list of national contact points is attached below.

 

International festival

The high-profile "festival" during the European Science and Technology Week 2003 will stimulate the dissemination of successful education tools and methods, identify the most effective ways to support teachers and motivate novel developments in science education. It will take place at the ESA-ESTEC site in Noordwijk (The Netherlands), from November 8 - 15, 2003. The climax of the event will be the presentation of the European Science Teaching Awards, in recognition of teaching excellence, inspiration and motivation of young people.

Online Resource Archive

An online archive of the best teaching materials and practices in Europe will be established, forming a unique 'resource centre', which will make available all of the interesting materials identified through the programme and provide a forum for exchange which will last well beyond the duration of the activity.

Notes

[1] This Press Release is issued jointly by the seven EIROforum partners: CERN - the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, EFDA - the European Fusion Development Agreement, EMBL - the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, ESA - the European Space Agency, ESO - the European Southern Observatory, ESRF - the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and ILL - Institut Laue-Langevin. Earlier ESO communications about EIROforum activities have been published as eso0121 and eso0230. Associated organisations in the "Physics on Stage 3" programme include the European Physical Society (EPS) and the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) .

More information

Full information about "Physics on Stage 3" is available at the central website: www.physicsonstage.net

From here there is also direct connection to the national websites and the many related activities all over Europe. Be sure to check the site at regular intervals for new information about the developments!

List of national contact points

Some URL addresses are not yet available. Check the central website at www.physicsonstage.net for the latest information and new links.

Austria

www.teilchen.at/news/2
Christian Gottfried - christian.gottfried[at]cern.ch

Belgium

Jacqueline Hellemans - Jacq.Hellemans[at]fys.kuleuven.ac.be

Bulgaria

www.pos2003.hit.bg
Ivan Lalov - UPB[at]phys.uni-sofia.bg

Czechia

kdf.mff.cuni.cz/pos
Leos Dvorák - Leos.Dvorak[at]mff.cuni.cz

Denmark

www.formidling.dk/index.pl?url=/aktiviteter/pos3.htm
Mikkel Bohm - mb[at]formidling.dk

Finland

www.oph.fi/projektit/pos3
Jari Koivisto - Jari.Koivisto[at]oph.fi

France

Nicolas Witkowski - niwi99[at]aol.com

Germany

opal.physik.uni-bonn.de/~mkobel/pos/welcome.htm
Michael Kobel - kobel[at]physik.uni-bonn.de

Greece

Nicholas Tracas - ntrac[at]central.ntua.gr

Hungary

Adam Kovach - kovach[at]moon.atomki.hu

Ireland

Brendan O'Donaghue - bdono[at]o2.ie

Italy

www.pd.astro.it/eaae/POS3
Carla Romagnino - carlaromagnino[at]tiscali.it

Luxembourg

http://www.restena.lu/restena/fr/
Fernand Wagner - fernand.wagner[at]ci.educ.lu

The Netherlands

Cathalijn Drukker - cmdrukker[at]wanadoo.nl

Norway

www.norskfysikk.no/pos/
Heidi Bruvoll - heidi.bruvoll[at]fys.uio.no

Poland

www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~fizscena/
Wojciech Nawrocik - nawrocik[at]main.amu.edu.pl

Portugal

Ana Noronha - anoronha[at]cienciaviva.pt

Slovak Republic

Dalibor Krupa - fyzikrup[at]savba.sk

Spain

Rosa Maria Ros - ros[at]mat.upc.es

Sweden

www.eaae-astro.org/se/pos/
Erik Johansson - kej[at]physto.se

Switzerland

Davide Vite - Davide.Vite[at]cern.ch

United Kingdom

Kerry Parker - kerry.parker[at]iop.org

Contacts

Richard West
ESO EPR Dept.
Garching, Germany
Tel: +49-89-3200-6276
Email: rwest@eso.org

Connect with ESO on social media

About the Release

Release No.:eso0309
Legacy ID:PR 07/03
Name:Education, Meeting
Type:Unspecified : People
Facility:Other

Images


Send us your comments!
Subscribe to receive news from ESO in your language
Accelerated by CDN77
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Settings and Policy

Our use of Cookies

We use cookies that are essential for accessing our websites and using our services. We also use cookies to analyse, measure and improve our websites’ performance, to enable content sharing via social media and to display media content hosted on third-party platforms.

You can manage your cookie preferences and find out more by visiting 'Cookie Settings and Policy'.

ESO Cookies Policy


The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) is the pre-eminent intergovernmental science and technology organisation in astronomy. It carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities for astronomy.

This Cookies Policy is intended to provide clarity by outlining the cookies used on the ESO public websites, their functions, the options you have for controlling them, and the ways you can contact us for additional details.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small pieces of data stored on your device by websites you visit. They serve various purposes, such as remembering login credentials and preferences and enhance your browsing experience.

Categories of cookies we use

Essential cookies (always active): These cookies are strictly necessary for the proper functioning of our website. Without these cookies, the website cannot operate correctly, and certain services, such as logging in or accessing secure areas, may not be available; because they are essential for the website’s operation, they cannot be disabled.

Cookie ID/Name
Description/Purpose
Provider (1st party or 3rd party)
Browser session cookie or Stored cookie?
Duration
csrftoken
XSRF protection token. We use this cookie to protect against cross-site request forgery attacks.
1st party
Stored
1 year
user_privacy
Your privacy choices. We use this cookie to save your privacy preferences.
1st party
Stored
6 months
_grecaptcha
We use reCAPTCHA to protect our forms against spam and abuse. reCAPTCHA sets a necessary cookie when executed for the purpose of providing its risk analysis. We use www.recaptcha.net instead of www.google.com in order to avoid unnecessary cookies from Google.
3rd party
Stored
6 months

Functional Cookies: These cookies enhance your browsing experience by enabling additional features and personalization, such as remembering your preferences and settings. While not strictly necessary for the website to function, they improve usability and convenience; these cookies are only placed if you provide your consent.

Cookie ID/Name
Description/Purpose
Provider (1st party or 3rd party)
Browser session cookie or Stored cookie?
Duration
Settings
preferred_language
Language settings. We use this cookie to remember your preferred language settings.
1st party
Stored
1 year
ON | OFF
sessionid
ESO Shop. We use this cookie to store your session information on the ESO Shop. This is just an identifier which is used on the server in order to allow you to purchase items in our shop.
1st party
Stored
2 weeks
ON | OFF

Analytics cookies: These cookies collect information about how visitors interact with our website, such as which pages are visited most often and how users navigate the site. This data helps us improve website performance, optimize content, and enhance the user experience; these cookies are only placed if you provide your consent. We use the following analytics cookies.

Matomo Cookies:

This website uses Matomo (formerly Piwik), an open source software which enables the statistical analysis of website visits. Matomo uses cookies (text files) which are saved on your computer and which allow us to analyze how you use our website. The website user information generated by the cookies will only be saved on the servers of our IT Department. We use this information to analyze www.eso.org visits and to prepare reports on website activities. These data will not be disclosed to third parties.

On behalf of ESO, Matomo will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.

ON | OFF

Matomo cookies settings:

Cookie ID/Name
Description/Purpose
Provider (1st party or 3rd party)
Browser session cookie or Stored cookie?
Duration
Settings
_pk_id
Stores a unique visitor ID.
1st party
Stored
13 months
_pk_ses
Session cookie temporarily stores data for the visit.
1st party
Stored
30 minutes
_pk_ref
Stores attribution information (the referrer that brought the visitor to the website).
1st party
Stored
6 months
_pk_testcookie
Temporary cookie to check if a visitor’s browser supports cookies (set in Internet Explorer only).
1st party
Stored
Temporary cookie that expires almost immediately after being set.

Additional Third-party cookies on ESO websites: some of our pages display content from external providers, e.g. YouTube.

Such third-party services are outside of ESO control and may, at any time, change their terms of service, use of cookies, etc.

YouTube: Some videos on the ESO website are embedded from ESO’s official YouTube channel. We have enabled YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode, meaning that no cookies are set unless the user actively clicks on the video to play it. Additionally, in this mode, YouTube does not store any personally identifiable cookie data for embedded video playbacks. For more details, please refer to YouTube’s embedding videos information page.

Cookies can also be classified based on the following elements.

Regarding the domain, there are:

As for their duration, cookies can be:

How to manage cookies

Cookie settings: You can modify your cookie choices for the ESO webpages at any time by clicking on the link Cookie settings at the bottom of any page.

In your browser: If you wish to delete cookies or instruct your browser to delete or block cookies by default, please visit the help pages of your browser:

Please be aware that if you delete or decline cookies, certain functionalities of our website may be not be available and your browsing experience may be affected.

You can set most browsers to prevent any cookies being placed on your device, but you may then have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site/page. And some services and functionalities may not work properly at all (e.g. profile logging-in, shop check out).

Updates to the ESO Cookies Policy

The ESO Cookies Policy may be subject to future updates, which will be made available on this page.

Additional information

For any queries related to cookies, please contact: pdprATesoDOTorg.

As ESO public webpages are managed by our Department of Communication, your questions will be dealt with the support of the said Department.