Working Group
Outreach of Application for Society
IPPOG Witnesses Stories
This working group focuses on collecting and making available engaging stories about concrete examples of successful applications for the benefit of society from (particle) physics and related sciences. Out of a wide range of working documents and even more ideas, the stories available so far are listed below :
Unraveling Cosmic Mysteries: The collaboration between International Space Station and CERN - Written by Verania Echaide, with contributions from Katharina Müller and Yiota Foka.
Superconductivity – quantum mechanics at work - Written by Katharina Müller, the IPPOG representative of Switzerland.
Medipix detectors, from colour X-ray imaging to education - Written by Pinelopi Christodoulou, with contributions from Yiota Foka.
Muography - Invisible particles help to reveal invisible structures - Written by Despina Hatzifotiadou, the IPPOG representative of the ALICE experiment.
Searching for hidden cavities inside the Sun pyramid in Mexico - Written by Ruben Alfaro, the IPPOG representative of the HAWC experiment.
Conveners
Working group members
IPPOG forum contributors: Ruben Alfaro (HAWC), Ralf Averbeck (GSI), Beatrice Bressan (core team), Barbora Bruant Gulejova (Switzerland), Yiota Foka (GSI), Despina Hatzifotiadou (ALICE), Marzena Lapka (Poland), Katharina Muller (Switzerland), Thomas Naumann (DESY), Fererico Redi (LHCb).
External contributors: Pinelopi Christodoulou, Verania Echaide, Azra Gazibegovic-Bussuladzic, Carola Pomplun, Christian Graeff, Niklas Wahl, Manuella Cirilli, Manjit Dosanjh, Marina Trimarchi.
Mandate
This working group focuses on collecting and making available engaging stories about concrete examples of successful applications for the benefit of society from (particle) physics and related sciences. These are among the most impactful and effective means to communicate the positive impact of fundamental research to society, when approaching the non-scientifically educated public, including young talents who need to be motivated and inspired to engage in STEM studies. In addition to the quest for knowledge and satisfying natural human curiosity, there is a growing pressure from taxpayers for the justification of fundamental research funding requesting tangible examples of return to economy and society. In particular, the young generation that engage with STEM studies needs to be exposed to perspectives on potential careers and to examples of the impact of fundamental research to applied sciences.
Thus, the aim of the working group is to offer a structured and categorized online collection of short stories with clear messages and explanations of “science at work” in the applications and spin-offs. The ultimate goal is to connect fundamental science to everyday lives of citizens and solutions for global societal challenges. The objectives of the working group is to make such a collection available through the web site page “Talking to the society” .
