Girls’Day 2022 at GSI and FAIR again on site
29.04.2022 |
The nationwide day of action Girls'Day could take place on site on the campus of GSI and FAIR again this year. Due to the Corona situation, the capacity available was still slightly reduced compared to previous years, but nevertheless a total of 35 girls between the ages of eleven and fifteen took part in the event and informed themselves about the accelerator facilities and experiments, about research and infrastructure, and especially about the career opportunities at GSI and FAIR.
Following a welcome by the organizing Public Relations department and the deputy head of the Human Resources department, Mathias Mauer, the girls first went on an accompanied discovery tour to some stations on campus. They took a look at the experimental storage ring ESR, visited the treatment site for tumor therapy with carbon ions and marveled at the large detector setup HADES. The program also included a walk to the viewing platform of the large construction site for the future FAIR accelerator.
Afterwards, the girls learned more about individual work areas on campus in small groups. These included science activities in materials research, atomic physics and at the ALICE experiment, as well as numerous infrastructure facilities such as the target laboratory, cryogenics, the mechanical workshop and IT. In a special FAIR construction offer, some of the girls were also able to get a glimpse of construction activity on the large-scale site, getting up close and personal with excavators, cranes and lots and lots of concrete.
“We were very glad that the pandemic situation allowed us to conduct the event on site again this year,” explains organizer Carola Pomplun, who is a physicist herself and works in the Public Relations department at GSI and FAIR. “Last year we had a very successful online event on the occasion of Girls'Day, but it is still different for both the supervisors and the participants when you can get into personal contact, see the work ‘live’ and ask and answer questions directly. Many groups built or made something small on campus that could be taken home. The girls took up the offer enthusiastically and our spots were fully booked within a short time.”
“In addition to the possibility of working at GSI/FAIR as part of scientific study, for example for bachelor's, master's or doctoral theses, we also offer apprenticeships in seven professions as well as dual study programs,” says Mathias Mauer. “If the girls liked it here, I’d like to very much encouraged them to apply for those or for an internship as well.”
Girls’Day is a day of action all over Germany. On this day, businesses, universities, and other institutions all over Germany open their doors to schoolgirls from grade 5 and above. The participants learn about courses of study and training in professions in the areas of IT, natural sciences, and technology — areas in which women have rarely been employed in the past. GSI and — since its foundation — also FAIR have been participating in the annual event since the early days of Girls'Day. (CP)
Further information
Website of the nation-wide day of action "Girls'Day" (German)
