A new edition of STAGE, the national project of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), comes to an end today, 26 June. During the month of June, 139 upper secondary school students from across Italy took part in internships organised by the INFN divisions of Pavia and Ferrara and the National Laboratories of Frascati and Legnaro. The initiative offered participants the opportunity to explore some of the main topics in physics research, ranging from theoretical, nuclear and particle physics to applications of physics in fields such as cultural heritage and medicine.
The activities took place during the month of June at different locations: from 9 to 19 June in Pavia, from 15 to 19 June in Ferrara, from 15 to 17 June at the National Laboratories of Frascati, and from 15 to 26 June at the National Laboratories of Legnaro. During the internships, students took part in seminars, educational laboratory activities and visits to research laboratories, gaining first-hand experience of the work carried out by the INFN scientific community.
The Pavia edition, entitled TendaysPhysics4Teenagers, was organised in collaboration with the Department of Physics of the University of Pavia and involved 52 participants in a programme featuring laboratory activities, educational seminars, public engagement sessions and interactive activities. Students also had the opportunity to visit the LENA (Applied Nuclear Energy Laboratory) research nuclear reactor and the Ca’ del Monte Observatory in Cecima, in the upper Oltrepò Pavese area.
In Ferrara, the internship involved 40 students in a five-day programme dedicated to astrophysics and the study of the Universe, with activities covering particle and matter physics, theoretical physics, and the applications of physics to medicine, energy and the environment. The initiative was organised in collaboration with the Department of Physics and Earth Sciences of the University of Ferrara.
At the National Laboratories of Frascati, 20 students took part, with the opportunity to explore, among other topics, aspects related to quantum mechanics.
The National Laboratories of Legnaro hosted 27 upper secondary school students for ten days, involving them in courses and activities dedicated to environmental radioactivity, cosmic rays, vacuum science, particle detectors, computing, nuclear physics and virtual reality. In addition to seminars, participants worked in groups on a range of laboratory activities, presenting the results of their work to the researchers involved in the project at the end of the internship.
The INFN internships are part of the national STAGE project, promoted by INFN through the Third Mission Coordination Committee (CC3M), which supports Public Engagement initiatives proposed by the research community through an internal peer-review process.
