St Mary's hosts Physics Summer School

The Applied Physics department at St Mary’s University, Twickenham hosted a two-day Physics summer school on 25^th and 26^th June for year 12 pupils. The two-day event allowed pupils to explore more about physics and how it is taught in higher education. The students were able to talk to the Applied Physics staff and students and visit the nearby National Physical Laboratory (NPL). On the first day the pupils were given a tour of the University’s Strawberry Hill campus with Student Ambassadors before taking part in lectures and workshops around Quantum Physics and Astrophysics. The second day began with Laboratory sessions at the NPL before returning to St Mary’s for more physics workshops and a lecture about Medical Physics. Programme Director for Applied Physics at St Mary’s Dr Elisabetta Canetta said, “The primary aim of the Summer School was to inspire Year 12 students to take Physics at the University level. The School was a success and the students’ feedback was highly positive. In particular, we are extremely satisfied with the high level of interest and engagement that the students have shown. They enjoyed to “dip their feet” into the theoretical and experimental aspects of some of the most interesting phenomena in physics, such as the origin of the Universe and magnetic levitation. Because of the success of the school, we are planning to run the Physics Summer School again next year.”