Events in 2006

« Second round of the Physics Talent Search »
Registration: www.wyp2005.at/glob2-talent.htm

Final WYP2005 meeting - Europe, 3 - 4 March 2006, Paris, France
The Final WYP2005 meeting, for Europe, took place the 3rd and 4th March 2006, in Paris, France.
Over 42 participants coming from 35 different countries.
All participants confirmed that all events planned for the world year of physics with the objective to promote physics and to show what physics is, were successful.
All around the world different activities were planned, such as:

  • Local and itinerant exhibits on physics and its achievements
  • Local events on physics in every day life - integration to existing cultural events (theatre performances, symphonies…)
  • Actions in schools, universities, national and private research laboratories
    Competitions (poster competition, calendar competition)
  • National Physics Olympiads
    Physics in the street, on the beach: interactive experiments, revisting of historical experiments, campaign of experiments a t the national level (air pollution, natural radioactivity monitoring)
  • Interaction with local industry, technology parks etc…
  • Advertising material for the WYP: articles in newspapers and specialised magazines, posters in public areas and transportation systems (train, buses, airlines), emission of special stamps, postcards etc.
  • Edition, or re-edition of books
  • Special programmes on national and local TV’s and radios
  • Conferences and seminars for a general audience, bar des sciences
  • WYP web sites with updated information and forums

The most successful WYP Activities were:

  • School events (School competitions, hands-on activities, Natural radio-activity measurements, pollution measurements, Eratosthenes’s earth measurement)
  • Interactive “open air” experiments (Street experiments, physics on the beach, in the supermarket, Science bus, science on the city buses, science cafés)
  • Exhibits (Museum exhibits on physics, Einstein, etc., Physics fairs, science shows)
  • International events (Physics talent search, Physics enlightens the world, International Students Olympiads, Young Physicists Tournaments)

Some of the activities will be repeated in the future.
 
Here follow the results coming up after the last meeting:

  • keep the successful outreach activities going on (competitions at schools, exhibits, conferences, science café)
  • Physics teaching at school (continue the reflexion on science teaching and maintin links between researchers and teachers
  • The scientists must continue their involvement in physics outreach (this type of activity should be recognized in career promotion)
  • Internationally-linked activities appear to be essential (future of the YP steering Committee and a physic and Society action Committee at EPS, IUPAP

The impact of the WYP needs some time to be analysed, but some feedback seem positive

Attendance List 

Pdf presentations of all participants:
Albania
Austria
Belarus
Belgium (presentation 1, presentation 2)
Bulgaria (presentation 1, presentation 2, presentation 3, presentation 4)
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
EPS president
EPS
France
Greece
Italy
Lithuania
Macedonia
Moldova (presentation 1, presentation 2)
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Serbia & Montenegro
Slovakia
Slovenia (presentation 1, presentation 2, video)
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
The Netherlands
Turkey
United Kingdom

« Forum on Physics and Society »
will be held in Graz, Austria, from 19-22 April 2006.
The World Year of Physics 2005 has had a tremendous impact. Thousands of events in more than 80 countries have brought physics to the public, with widespread media coverage. However, many of the activities during WYP2005 were targeted at young people and the “person in the street” not overly familiar with the sciences. And in many countries the focus was more on Einstein than about physics. read more