Youth and science

International Baikal School: in anniversary format

On 11 - 18 July, the 25th Baikal International Summer School for Particle Physics and Astrophysics was held in the village of Bolshie Koty, on the territory of the biostation of Irkutsk State University (ISU). The organizers of the School are the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and Irkutsk State University, with information support from the Decade of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia and sponsorship for students of Moscow State University from ANPO SMC "TICHIN".

A rich and extensive programme awaited the participants: lectures on neutrino astronomy, gamma astronomy, blazars, multichannel astronomy, jets of active galactic nuclei, particle acceleration mechanisms, dark matter, gravity, black holes, the Standard Model and physics beyond, neutrino physics and its prospects, precision detector technologies for experiments in high energy physics and exciting practical exercises on simulating in the Geant4 environment. The lecturers of the School this year were: Vladimir Ainutdinov (INR RAS), Ruizhi Yang (USTC), Junhui Fan (Guangzhou University), Lily Yang (SYSU), Jianglai Liu (TDLI), Yufeng Li, Liangjian Wen, Weidong Li and Tao Lin (IHEP), Elena Nohrina (LPI), Evgeny Derishev (IAP RAS), Emil Akhmedov (MIPT, ITEP).

As part of the evening lectures, Oleg Samoilov (JINR) held a master class on registering oscillations in the NOvA experiment, Alexander Selyunin and Alexey Chetverikov (JINR) held a workshop on silicon photomultipliers and Alena Yakhnenko (JINR) spoke about biological research in space.

"They say that the 25th Baikal School was enchanting. I don't know, maybe so... I can say one thing for sure: the School was held in one breath, on the courage - powerful lectures, a rich cultural programme, a warm, truly friendly atmosphere. By the close, Nastya Malyshkina prepared a touching film with historical footage - we remembered how young we once were, not knowing where we would come a quarter of a century later. But it can be seen that the essence of the School has not changed over the years: those who love science, friendship, songs and good ironic company still gather here.

The novelty of this year was the School currency - young people enthusiastically joined the game, earning "big and small cats" from lecturers for good questions, reports and ideas. And the lecturers, in turn, generously shared their knowledge - not only at lectures, but also at the fire. Work on scientific projects became a highlight: out of eleven proposals, students chose five and brilliantly defended them on the last day. Some student reports were striking in their maturity.

Every evening, we sang together by the fire, discussed science and talked "for life" until late at night. There were also adventures - we had to change the route of a traditional excursion to Mount Skriper on the go because of the bears. Instead of this walk, we went the other way and there, of course, we swam in Lake Baikal.

For the School to be held without problems and in a fine atmosphere, it took a huge preliminary work of the Organizing Committee from Irkutsk State University and JINR, in particular, of Lena Dubovik and Ira Perevalova, for which I am immensely grateful to them. I also want to thank for the support of JINR Directorate, ISU, DLNP, the service of our organizations and our wonderful cosponsors - the Teach-in team that not only helped financially a couple of dozen children with participation in the School but came to the event, providing professional recording of lectures, photo and video recording of the entire event and contributed to prizes and gifts," DLNP Deputy Director, Chairman of the School Organizing Committee Dmitry Naumov commented.

"It is with great pleasure that on behalf of the organizers I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all School participants for their personal contribution to our event. We are proud to say that the School was successful despite some difficulties and unforeseen circumstances. But all the issues were met without incident thanks to the well-coordinated work of each of the participants.

In general, the best in our School is, of course, people: excellent lecturers and wonderful students, the color of world science and the future of physics. Their knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment to learning creates a unique atmosphere in which everyone can share their experiences and ideas. This involvement in the process and the unique Baikal nature make our School special.

Thank you to all students for their dedication to science and desire to learn. We hope that they took with them not only new knowledge from School, but also invaluable acquaintances that will inspire in the future. I hope to meet next year at the 26th School!" Co-Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the International Baikal School for Elementary Particle Physics and Astrophysics Irina Perevalova said.

Students also shared their impressions of the School.

"I liked everything at the School! The lecturers managed to fit much information into series of only two lectures. Project execution allowed participants to expand their knowledge of the topic, although teamwork was not always easy. I also had a great time. In general, the organizers did an excellent job, especially with the replacement of the hike to Mount Skriper. The volleyball tournament with a team of professors was amazing. The idea with the School currency is brilliant, especially the idea of their design. I did not notice any tangible shortcomings. Although, of course, one week is not enough for such a school," Nikolay Pozdnyakov said (NSU).

"It was a delightful week in July. A variety of topics were discussed at the lectures: astronomy, particle physics, detector technology, others. The complexity of the lectures was determined by the training of the participants but at the same time, everyone could find something interesting and exciting in them. The master classes were surprisingly interesting, I really liked them. Working on projects helped to delve deeper into the topic of research and to improve many skills, for example, the skill of presenting a project in a proper way. But at the same time, the groups, in my opinion, were too large and perhaps it would be better to do more groups with fewer people.

In addition, the School provided an excellent opportunity to meet people of different ages, from different universities and cities, with different interests. I was glad that the communication between the participants was almost informal, especially during the rest in the dining room, on the volleyball court and by the fire on the beach," Daniil Zubchenko (Moscow State University) said.

"I want to state a few points that in my humble opinion, were implemented especially well.

1) The food was excellent: tasty, varied and there was just enough to stay always full.

2) The idea of organizing group work is great. Such work made everyone talk and establish relations and ultimately, make friends in a group. In addition, projects are a fun, interactive and effective way to immerse yourself in a topic. As the saying goes: "Tell me - and I will forget, show me - and I may remember, involve me - and I will understand".

3) The idea with currency is also cool. I especially liked the fact that local money could be earned for performing activities outside of lectures. It was a lot of fun and atmospheric. Many students became interested in it and competed for cats.

4) In general, it seems to me that an ideal balance was maintained between study and social activity.

5) Baikal. I think the comments are superfluous here.

It was a wonderful trip. Thank you again!" Dmitry Ostapovich (Moscow State University) shared his impressions.

DLNP Scientific Communications Group,
photo by Alexandra IVANOVA, Sofia MURZAKOVA