Our Prague section of EPS Young Minds was founded in 2015 and since then we have organised many activities, which were in person, mostly focused around the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague. Last year brought many challenges and we had to adapt as everyone else.   

We contemplated what sort of online events would our audience find interesting. One such inspiration came in the form of “Physics in Advent”, an event organised by the Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen. It was decided that to create our own physics advent calendar focused on our mostly Czech audience. Thus, the “Fyzikální advent 2020” was born.

Each day we published a video on our social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube), as well as our website, usually in a concise, 3 minute format (although we featured a short, half an hour talk too). The videos feature a speaker familiarising us with a topic they are passionate about, often with visual aid (such as illustrations, diagrams or videos of practical demonstrations).

The topics were broad: some presenters explained interesting scientific phenomena, such as angular momentum or quark-gluon plasma; others let us know more about famous scientists, for example Wolfgang Pauli or Ernst Mach. One guest even had a lecture about the Chang’e 5 lunar exploration mission and how Czech scientists were one of the key players in the analysis of the samples obtained by the Apollo and Luna missions.

The Advent also included some practical topics. The audience learned more about non-newtonian fluids and ferrofluids, as well as Cherenkov radiation. The videos showed practical demonstrations, as well as featured instructions on how to build a cloud chamber at home. Though, one of our features was a little bit harder to reproduce: we got to see a fusion reaction in a Tokamak chamber.

It included a variety of presenters: the leadership and members of our section, both former and current; prominent experts on scientific topics, such as experimental physics, nuclear fusion, space exploration or machine learning; people representing scientific institutions of the Czech Republic (such as the dean of the FNSPE CTU or the president of the Czech Physical Society).

We were most happy with the results of the Advent, as was (hopefully) the audience. We saw that if we are enthusiastic and take the time, even online events can be engaging and enjoyable for everyone.

Authors: Daryna Pesina, Mattia Ostinato, Carmen Martín-Valderrama

On 28 October, EPS Young Minds hosted a webinar with Dr. Gregory Quarles, a renowned physicist with 25 years of experience driving cutting-edge laser, optics and photonics technology development. Currently Dr. Quarles is CEO and a member of the Board Tucson-based Applied Energetics, Inc., previously he served as the Chief Scientific Officer for the Optical Society and worked, among other institutions, at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Having been employed in academia, at a government research laboratory, at a not-for-profit society, and more recently in industry, in his talk “Beyond the Scientific Method for Career Success” Dr. Quarles brought a unique perspective to opportunities that present themselves to young researchers as their career progresses. Gregory shared practical, real-world advice detailing opportunities, challenges and decisions that can enhance the growth of a student’s career and described the benefits of leadership opportunities through volunteerism in global societies.

On 11 November, the webinar by Dr. Marina Corradini took place. As a Science Communication Officer at the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre and former member of the Naples YM Section, she presented the seminar titled “Demolishing Barriers to Science”, addressing the topics of gender inequality and underrepresentation of women and minorities in Academia and STEM-related fields. More than 40 people attended the seminar, where Marina illustrated three key points to significantly weaken the gender barrier in science:  awareness of the situation, actions to be undertaken and resources to use and share.  First, she presented the social issues and those internal to academia, which were followed by a discussion on the different ways each of us can take action in order to make the STEM environment a place without gender discrimination. The talk was accompanied by resources, links to groups addressing any mentioned issue and references to many initiatives. Participants also shared other resources and interacted intensively with the speaker, showing a great enthusiasm, and proposing a good amount of questions. With such an attendance and participation, the seminar has been a huge success thanks to the incredible work of Marina.

Both webinars were streamed online on the Facebook page of EPS Young Minds Programme. You can always watch them here:

• https://fb.watch/2b3-fIPbQ3/
• https://fb.watch/2bapyi4ckk/