The AS regularly hosts visits by high school and university students to help ensure that the next generation of Australian scientists can make even greater use of synchrotron techniques now considered essential for international research efforts.
Around Australia, final-year high school students and their teachers are increasing the intensity of their preparations for the important end-of-year exams.
At the AS, education and outreach officer Jonathan de Booy will spend August, September and part of October providing laboratory sessions that address specific areas of the year 12 physics curriculum. Some students and teachers are so keen to attend these sessions that they’ve chosen to give up a day of their school holidays to spend in the synchrotron’s new education laboratory.
The synchrotron also hosts visits, tours and hands-on activities for tertiary students at undergraduate level and years 10 and 11 high school students. The AS is a great vehicle for promoting interdisciplinary science, showing students how disciplines interact. High school students are often completely unaware, for example, that physics can be critically relevant to areas as diverse as biological, medical and environmental science, and the conservation of cultural heritage items and materials.
La Trobe University, for example, regularly brings undergraduate students to the synchrotron as part of its nanotechnology course. The university also makes good use of its remote access facilities to enable students on the Bundoora campus to participate in the synchrotron experience.
For the general public, we throw open the doors at our annual synchrotron open day, which this year will take place on Sunday 14 October. Online bookings open shortly - keep an eye on our website for further information.
On another topic close to all our hearts, and wallets, negotiations are continuing apace on AS funding and structure. In June 2012, the Australian Government officially announced its Special Research Initiative in Synchrotron Science, which will deliver a national program of competitive funding to enable researcher access to the Australian Synchrotron, including health and medical research. The program, led by Ian Smith of Monash University, is a large-scale cooperative initiative between higher education organisations and is a critical component of our ongoing funding strategy.