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Outreach

The Section members have showed important work in Physics outreach activities to the public and high-school students. The most important activities are:

European Outreach Programs

The ATLAS/GlueX group at UoA (C. Kourkoumeli, D. Fasouliotis, G. Vasiliadis, S. Vourakis, S. Aggelidakis and N. Tsirintanis) have been participating in a large number of outreach programs at European level since 2008. Those programs aim at introducing innovative teaching methods in schools. Using these methods, a significant number of teaching "scenarios" have been created for the teachers to use in class. Students gain access to large infrastructures, experiments and robotic telescopes without having to move away from their classroom.

Students have been introduced to HIE via a large number of mini-masterclasses carried out by the Section's members, assisted by the high-school teachers, at their schools (Trikala, Lalas, Korinthos, Serres, Argos, Kilkis, Avlonari, Chalkida, Katerini, Kastoria, Komotini, Chios, Samos, and several others in Attica). The group had the coordination of two major european outreach programs (http://portal.discoverthecosmos.eu and http://www.learningwithatlas-portal.eu). Currently, the group participate in: http://www.go-lab-project.eu/online-labs, http://inspiring-science-education.org and most recently http://creations-project.eu/

The same group has co-organized two CERN exhibitions in Greece. The first (mini-expo) in 2011-2012 visited seven cities in Greece, where special training for the teachers took place. The second exhibit ("Accelerating Science") took place in May 2014 at Eugenidion Foundation having over 10'000 students as visitors.

IPPOG group at UoA

The group has active participation in the outreach program designed by the International Particle Physics Outreach Group (IPPOG) in collaboration with other institutions and organizations. In that framework, the UoA IPPOG group organizes a Masterclass series, targeting high-school students offering public lectures, but mainly hands-on training in data analysis from ATLAS. A special software has been developed to allow students hunt the Higgs particle (website HYPATIA and online app).

Physics Curation in Athens Science Festival

Since 2014, a Section member (Asst. Prof. T.J. Mertzimekis) has been responsible for the curation of Physics in the largest festival of science and innovation, the Athens Science Festival. Athens Science Festival attracts over 30'000 visitors every year and is co-organized by the educational organization SciCo, the British Council, the Technopolis of the Municipality of the City of Athens, the Onassis Foundation Scholars League, the General Secretariat of Research and Technology in collaboration with several academic, research and educational institutions.

Student visits and training at the Nuclear Physics Laboratory

The Nuclear Physics Laboratory has a rich record in informing high-school students on radiation and protection issues in a plan to connect the academic environment with the society. The training comprises lectures, video screenings and instrumentation showcases, often accompanied by hands-on training.

High-school and public visits to the Cosmic Ray Station

Parallel to research work, the staff of the Cosmic Ray Station educates high-school students on cosmic radiation, especially its connection to man and society. Students and teachers are provided with information on extraterrestrial radiation reaching humans beings, space weather, solar storms etc.

Public lectures

At times, the academic staff of our Section participate in workshops and events aiming at offering the public contemporary information from the fields of Nuclear and Particle Physics, radiation and radioprotection.

Educational Programs for High-school teachers and students