In the past few years, major efforts have been made at Mainz in order to strengthen the knowledge transfer to the general public and especially to schools. As a consequence, Mainz has been selected by BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) as one of three hubs of the KONTAKT Network (also known as Netzwerk Teilchenwelt) for outreach programs in nuclear and hadron physics. The Research Unit will be fully involved in this activity as well as activities offered through the PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence.
Recent highlights in the physics outreach programme are:
- A successful programme of guided tours at the Mainz Microtron (MAMI) that attracts approximately 1,000 visitors per year
- A dedicated physics lecture program on Saturdays (Physik am Samstag) aimed at high school students
- A well-visited annual science fair (Wissenschaftsmarkt) that is held in the city of Mainz and organized by the Mainzer Wissenschaftsallianz
- Around 40 practical training spots (Schülerpraktikum) per year for high school students
- The development of master classes for high school students
- For the most interested and motivated high school students a yearly Particle Physics Academy (Teilchenphysik-Akademie) is offered, in which the students actively perform an experiment at MAMI.
- A public lecture series (Physik im Theater) on topics from the field of hadron and particle physics at the State Theater of Mainz
- On open-house day, high school students can get to know the courses at JGU and visit the Institute for Nuclear Physics.