Outreach
Students' project week 2021
After a break of two years, the students’ project week took place in person at Ruhr University again. In cooperation with the zdi Netzwerk, students grade 8 and 9 could participate in either “World of Plasmas” and “Physics in Medicine” during the first week of the autumn break. During the project week, students gained an insight into different laboratories and could work on a small research project using different diagnostics and apertures to present their findings in a poster session at the end of the week. Next to the research projects, the students visited the Planetarium Bochum, attended a lecture by Prof. Hildebrandt on the weight of the universe and had a session with alumni to ask questions on possible career paths with a degree in physics. The week ended with a common outdoor pizza lunch. The next project week will take place during the first week of the Easter holiday 2022, offering three workshops to girls in grade 8, 9 and 10.
Insights into the SFB 1316
Virtual public 360° tour of the SFB 1316
Insights into the projects and laboratories, the opportunity to take a look at the various experiments and diagnostics and ask live questions about them - this opportunity is available to everyone on 27.10.2021 at 4 pm during a virtual 360° tour. The tour is aimed at the general public and thus offers not only researchers and students but also interested persons outside of university the opportunity to experience research interactively and get to know the projects better.
- To participate in the virtual tour, registration is requested at
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PUBLIC RELATIONS
Plasmas for all
A great many everyday technologies would not exist without plasmas. The teams of the Collaborative Research Centres want to share knowledge about their relevance with the public.
Driving the plasma van to school
For many years, the plasma researchers at RUB have been committed to introducing plasmas to school students in different year groups. “Physics teachers sometimes conduct experiments that involve plasmas, but the word plasma doesn’t even appear in the curriculum,” explains Science Manager Dr. Marina Prenzel. In order to familiarise secondary school students with the concept of a plasma, the SFB team, in cooperation with Professor Heiko Krabbe and other physics didactics experts, has constructed various plasma experiments that can be stowed away in boxes and handily transported in a minibus. The researchers use them for interesting 90-minute workshops in sixth-form classes, where students can do their own experiments and learn about different applications of plasmas. “This is how we want to create awareness that plasmas are extremely important for many of our current technologies,” says Prenzel.
Students evaluate research projects
Students should not only be given the chance to learn what a plasma actually is and where it is used. Rather, the SFB team is also currently setting up a project in collaboration with the physics didactics department that aims at promoting the evaluation skills of adolescents and young adults. Here, students are to gain insights into various plasma research projects and evaluate which of these projects they would support. Another goal is to convey the significance of plasmas for the challenges of global warming.
More than 20 years of plasma summer school
For more than 20 years, plasma researchers at RUB have been organising an annual international summer school for Master’s students and doctoral candidates. It originally emerged from a European Erasmus project, acquired under the auspices of the Eindhoven University of Technology. When the funding ran out in 2000, the RUB team dedicated itself to continuing it. “The school is practically always overbooked,” says co-organiser Dr. Marc Böke. The 80 to 90 participants each year and the lecturers come from all over the world. The aim of the seven-day school is to give them insights into all the major technically relevant plasmas and, at the same time, to enable them to network with each other and with established researchers in the field. “Some of the former participants are now themselves running plasma labs,” says Böke. The RUB team hopes to resume the successful format soon, despite the coronavirus situation.
adapted from Julia Weiler, RUB
New funding - Ruhr Conference
Plasma research contributes to new Research Center “Future Energy Materials and Systems”
The state NRW will fund four research centers and one research college during the next years in the framework of the funding instrument "Ruhr Konferenz". One research center “Future energy materials and systems” will support the plasma science at RUB in the area of synthetic plasma chemistry. Plasma chemistry is a key subject in the CRC 1316 and will be strengthend by this measure in the upcoming years. (Image (c) hagenvontroja)
Public Relations
Plasma Trial Day - What is plasma and where does it find application in technology & research?
Interested high school students are invited to participate in the Plasma Trial Day on Jan. 28, 2020 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. online. The chairs of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum will introduce themselves.
Technical plasmas find their application in many areas of everyday life and enable many achievements of our engineered world, such as in microelectronics, optics or mechanical engineering. But also in areas like air purification, sterilization and medicine plasmas can be used effectively in innovative concepts.
The fundamentals of technical applications are our field of research. We work interdisciplinary with partners from research and industry to develop innovative concepts and systems. And we would like to explain to you the largely unknown concept of physical plasma and introduce you to how we use and research the "fourth state of matter". Furthermore, we would like to show you how you might become part of a research team in the future!
Please register by email to: