“We want to come back here with students”. Physics teachers shared their impressions of internship at JINR

Education, 12 July 2023

From 3 to 7 July, the JINR University Centre held a regular School for Physics Teachers. 20 teachers from 18 regions of Russia and a teacher from Armenia took part in it. The teachers had a rich week in Dubna where they learned about the JINR basic facilities at the exhibition in the Cultural Centre “Mir”, had guided tours to the VBLHEP site, visited the Nanocentre and the Superheavy Element Factory of FLNR, the MLIT Museum and the Govorun Supercomputer. Moreover, they attended lectures on neutrinos, space radiobiology, the synthesis of chemical elements in nature and laboratory. They learned why physicists need computers, got acquainted with virtual research and laboratory workshops for 7-9 grade schoolstudents, the course into nuclear physics for 10-11 grade students, visited Dubna University, V. G. Kadyshevsky Lyceum, the JINR Universal Public Library. The participants discovered the city thanks to a fascinating quest. What are their impressions of the School?

Egor Sidorov (Samara, Aviation Lyceum No. 135): The programme was very rich and interesting. I liked that the School provides lectures by working scientists, gives a chance to visit the Laboratories and exchange experience with colleagues. It is not the first time I take part in such an event. The peculiarity of this one is that it specialises in nuclear physics I am keen on. I have already sent to my colleagues in Samara a link to the Virtual Laboratory on nuclear research that could be used at lessons for 11 grades, since there are no laboratory works on this topic in the curriculum. Moreover, the presentation on neutrinos is of interest for us because programmes at schools do not consider this topic. The Virtual Lab reveals in detail the methods to detect these particles and presents their classification. It was important to learn it, I sent this presentation to my colleagues for further study. No doubt we will share this information with children, not only with 11-grade students.

Yulia Nasedkina (Ulyanovsk State University, Scarlet Sails Development Centre for Support of Talented Children): It is great that the event gives an opportunity to visit the Laboratories where science is made. It is a big luck for us to visit such fundamental laboratories and see the Synchrophasotron with our own eyes. There are impressing photos and surnames of people, whose textbooks we used to study, for example, D. I. Blokhintsev. I am truly happy to be here, especially as a person working in science. I am a theoretical physicist, not connected with experimental physics though. I am a university professor and at the same time I work with school children. We were given a lot of scientific and science popular information although to be honest I expected a little more scientific information. I liked everything about the School, starting from Dubna, a city where it is nice to come and walk around. Everything is perfectly organized at the School, we even had a really fascinating quest around the city that turned out to be very informative for us, we saw a lot. I am already thinking about the trip with children. We will first visit neighboring cities and then I think an application should be submitted in advance to come here with students or school students.

Anatoly Berezovsky (Vladivostok, School No. 82): The School met expectations, the programme was interesting and informative, lectures were fascinating and provided new knowledge in nuclear physics. We had exciting laboratory works with the use of equipment for registration of elementary particles, interesting lessons are ahead in the laboratory of I. A. Lomachenkov. Everything is very interesting and useful for improving the education process, increasing its quality. We have established contacts and will use the JINR educational resources in our activities.

Svetlana Meshchanova (Izhevsk, School No. 74): As you might know, quantum physics is not widely covered in school textbooks, so we want to learn something new, fresh in the field to share up-to-date information about modern science with our students. Children are interested in it and wait for the quantum physics section because they read about quantum jumps, black holes, they are keen on it. I came to understand and share with them fresh information about modern science. We cannot find anything about modern science in textbooks. It is possible to use the Internet but it is more interesting to learn such details in reality. Of course, it would be great to bring children here. Among other things this School is a chance to talk to other teachers. It is fascinating to find out their views, colleagues ask interesting questions at excursions and you find yourself analyzing them, too. There is an experience exchange between teachers from all around Russia. Everything was marvellous.

Argishti Tonoyan (Vanadzor, Armenia): Many thanks to the organizers for this opportunity to plunge into the world of science and get to know closer its modern fields and achievements. I would like to highlight the efficient combination of theory and practice, the professionalism of lecturers who are able to engage in the topic.