British Science Week ran from the 8th to 17th March this year and as ever many science outreach events were arranged to coincide with this. The Victoria Gallery and Museum, which is part of the University of Liverpool, organised an event on Saturday 16th of March aimed at the visitors who would normally visit at a weekend who are mainly family groups. Researchers from across the university were invited to display an activity about their research at this event.
EuPRAXIA-DN fellow Andrés Levia Genre, during his secondment in Liverpool, attended this outreach event along with University of Liverpool LIV.INNO student Qiyuan Xu to talk to the visitors about the ‘Physics of Particle Accelerators’. They took lots of hands on demonstrations with them including the Surfatron, which shows how sub-atomic particles can be accelerated using electromagnetic waves, and the Gauss rifle which uses magnetic fields to accelerate a particle. Electromagnetic fields are used in real particle accelerators to both accelerate and steer the beam. Within EuPRAXIA-DN, Andrés studies “THz-driven Dielectric Accelerators (DLAs)” and is usually based at the University of Pécs in Hungary.
The event attracted almost 500 people over the course of the day with lots of positive feedback received from those who participated. Andrés and Qiyuan were also both very positive about their experience. Andrés said "It was a challenging yet rewarding experience. It was hard to communicate our goal to the youngsters. On the other hand, the children were very active and curious in their participation. As a scientist, it is heart-touching to see the next generation interested in physics".
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