ChETEC-INFRA Observational School (ChINOS) Concluded Successfully

The first edition of the ChETEC-INFRA Observational School (ChINOS 2023) was held at the Ondřejov Observatory near Prague in the Czech Republic.

Participants of the school followed a program of lectures, scientific discussions and hands-on activities.

As a special opportunity, the hands-on experience included three nights of remote observations at the Nordic Optical Telescope.

Favorable weather conditions in La Palma allowed for successful observations in all three nights, providing data on different stellar objects for the participants. The workshop concluded with students presenting the results of their own analysis work.

The Organizing Committee of the school thanks all lecturers for their engaging and active lessons and activities for the students. The school was made possible thanks to financial support by ChETEC-INFRA.

The Ondřejov Observatory, the Nordic Optical Telescope, as well as the Rozhen Observatory and the Molėtai Observatory also offer observation time for scientific projects supported through ChETEC-INFRA’s Transnational Access program.

Nuclear Astrophysics Masterclass Aboard the “MS Wissenschaft”

The MS Wissenschaft, an initiative by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research describes itself as “a floating science center with exhibits for testing and participation”. At anchor in Vienna, the ship offered a unique environment for more than 100 high school students to follow the ChETEC-INFRA Masterclass on astrophysics.

Led by Stephanie Adler and Alexander Wieser, two PhD students from the VERA accelerator laboratory at the University of Vienna, the high school students discovered how the chemical elements that surround us are created in the Universe, and how scientists seek a better understanding of these processes with the help of experiments in ion beam accelerator laboratories on Earth.

The masterclass “A Journey through the Elements” is designed for students age 15 and up, and provided free of charge to the hosting schools. Class materials are available in various languages, further information and contact information for booking inquiries can be found on the Masterclass web page.

Carpathian Summer School of Physics 2023 in Sinaia

The Carpathian Summer School of Physics (CSSP), is a traditional scientific event, with wide international participation, organized by the Institute of Nuclear Physics and Engineering for over 50 years. The 2023 edition of the school, held from July 2 to 15, marked the 30th edition of the school in Sinaia, Romania. The subject of the school followed the title “Exotic nuclei and nuclear and particle astrophysics (IX). Physics with small accelerators” for the 9th time since its foundation in 2005, organized by a team of Romanian and American researchers.

CSSP is part of several European networks and projects, including ENNAS (European Network of Nuclear Astrophysics School), ChETEC-INFRA, and EURO-LABs.

The conference participants, researchers, teachers and students from 4 continents, discussed and debated the latest news in scientific fields that seek to understand and explain the entire Universe starting from observations, experiments and theories from terrestrial laboratories: energy sources and the formation of chemical elements in the Universe in past, current and future processes, the structure of radioactive nuclei far from the stability line, the inventory and sources of cosmic radiation, as well as the use of knowledge and nuclear installations in applications. Both methods, experiments, and large nuclear physics installations in the world will be presented.

A total number of 65 participants attended 50 hours of lectures. With a focus on students and young researchers in the addressed fields, a number of early career lecturers were selected, and 12 communications where presented by students.

CSSP23 placed great emphasis on the direct interaction between generations of researchers, and young scientists in their training. A designated as Outreach Day consisted of a session with lessons aimed at a wider audience, and a round table discussion with the theme “Science in times of crisis”. Besides the school participants, MCID officials, politicians, and media, participated.

The current organizers express their hope that the CSSP tradition will last for decades to come

Transnational Access Proposal Collection Date on August 17

ChETEC-INFRA’s Transnational Access Program provides access to 13 infrastructures – telescopes, accelerator laboratories and an HPC cluster – for research in nuclear astrophysics. Access is free of charge to the user and the program is open to proposers from institutions in and outside of Europe.

The next collection date for scientific proposals closes August 17,

Questions on the program? Details on the program and contact information are available here. Assistance is available by e-mail or during the weekly online “office hours” on Zoom – no registration required.

New Part of Course on Galactic Chemical Evolution Available

A new part of the course on Galactic Chemical Evolution is available now. This second part follows up on the use of NuPyCEE and JINAPyCEE for two applications: constraining galaxy models, and identifying trends in chemical evolution to tune model parameters relative to observations. The video presents the interactive Jupyter notebooks, which allow to follow the course hands-on. The feedback form on the course page allows to leave comments and suggestions for the authors of the course

Masterclass on Nuclear Experiments for Astrophysics Available in First 7 Languages

The first ChETEC-INFRA Masterclass on Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics is now available in 7 Languages: Bulgarian, Czech, English, French, German, Italian and Upper Sorbian.

ChETEC-INFRA Masterclass Web Page

Additionally, translations in Romanian, Swedish, Hebrew, Catalan, Hungarian, Lithuanian, and Welsh are foreseen to be available, soon.

Interested in hosting a Masterclass at your school? Participation in the Masterclass with your students is free of charge for you. The target audience are students age 15 and up, with group sizes ideally between 12 and 24 students. The classes are scheduled as one-day activity.

For any questions or booking requests please refer to the contact information on the Masterclass web page.

3rd ChETEC-INFRA General Assembly and Transnational Access User Meeting Held in Debrecen

The ChETEC-INFRA General Assembly and TA User Meeting took place on June 6-7, 2023 at the Institute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) in Debrecen, Hungary.

Participants at the Institute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) in Debrecen.

Of the 80 registered participants, about 50 signed up for on-site participation to this hybrid event, using this networking opportunity between nuclear astrophysics researchers from within and outside of ChETEC-INFRA.

In addition to reports on the activities of the Work Packages within ChETEC-INFRA, the conference program included scientific presentations from members of the consortium as well as other scientists in the field of nuclear astrophysics.

At the Transnational Access (TA) User meeting, presentations of TA users illustrated the scientific variety of user projects supported in TA program. A following round-table discussion allowed for an exchange on the practical aspects of the transnational access program in ChETEC-INFRA.

ChETEC-INFRA supports European students attending the NIC-XVII school, 2023 in Deajeon, Korea

ChETEC-INFRA offers support for 20 European students and early career researchers to participate in the 2023 Nuclei in the Cosmos, NIC-XVII, school. The school is held September 10-15, in Daejeon, Korea.

The support will cover the complete registration fee, including accommodation, lunch coupons, banquet, and coffee breaks. Hence, student’s home affiliations only have to cover their travel (airfare, etc.).

Registration is open until July 7, 2023, on the Indico page for the Nuclei in the Cosmos XVII School. In order to apply for the support, please make sure to tick the check box next to “Yes” below item 6  “My affiliation is based in Europe (or an associated country) and I’m applying for financial support by ChETEC-INFRA.” in the registration form.