call: fp7-infrastructures-2011-2 what do we mean with the term “research infrastructures” ?...

Call: FP7-INFRASTRUCTURES-2011-2

What do we mean with the term “research infrastructures” ?

Within the scope of this EU action, the term 'research infrastructures' refers to facilities, resources and related services that are used by the scientific community to conduct top-level research in their respective fields.

This definition covers: major scientific equipment or set of instruments; knowledge based-resources such as collections, archives or structured scientific information; enabling ICT-based e Infrastructures such as data, computing, software and communication infrastructures; any other entity of a unique nature essential to achieve excellence in research.

Research infrastructures may be 'single-sited' or 'distributed' (a network of resources).

Examples include: radiation sources, data banks in genomics and data banks in social science, observatories for environmental sciences, systems of imaging or clean rooms for the study and development of new materials or nano-electronics.


In general: Call identifier: FP7-INFRASTRUCTURES-2011-2 Indicative budget: EUR 95 million Deadline: 23 November 2010, at 17.00, Brussels local time

Line of action: INFRA-2011-3.4: Coordination actions, conferences and studies supporting policy development, including international cooperation, for e-Infrastructures Project duration: 24 months Indicative budget: EUR 4 million total [EUR 1 million per proposal if they address domains (b) and/or (f) otherwise EUR 0,5 million per proposal]

Domain of support: b) actions involving teachers and pupils in e-Science through the use of e-Infrastructures in order to attract the young to scientific careers; as well as actions to promote the involvement of citizens – including decision makers – in e-Science through the use of e-Infrastructures; f) International cooperation in Research and Education Networking addressing (i) the extension of the European infrastructure to China


Proposal Summary

CERN’s experimental findings are believed to become a gateway to the Universe pushing knowledge further and the anticipation of the data to be recorded in its facilities has attracted the interest of not only scientists but the general public as well. Research at CERN besides creating more “citizen” scientists seeking to acquire a better understanding of the role of science and technology in society promotes scientific culture –through popularization- in schools.

Even though young people show a lack of interest in scientific matters, as documented over the last few years in studies and surveys, when it comes to frontier research related to CERN the situation seems to be reversed. Students are interested in CERN’s technologically advanced facilities and performed research.

Understanding the science behind these experiments with terms familiar to their knowledge and interacting with scientists willing to lower the barrier for them will allow them to gain valuable insight of the scientific process and further lead them (through educational activities) to scientific inquiry.


Proposal Summary

Our proposal aims to introduce pupils to the world of e-Science by introducing to schools various existing online tools specially designed for teaching physics via simulators and promoting science through the use of advanced data display applications of real experimental data.

A web-portal will be launched where all these tools enriched by pedagogically designed learning activities and additional educational / training materials of high added value will be accessible by teachers and students acting as an online-campus for science quest.

Furthermore, teachers and students will be engaged in challenging competitions combining creativity and scientific quest. Our project introduces a pan-European e-Science communication and celebration initiative which will comprise of a series of outreach activities such as CERN@School Poster competition (both artistic and scientific), school virtual tours at real research environments such as laboratories and data control rooms, e-Science School fairs, Summer school, Teachers training events and “Best e-Science@CERN Scenario Demonstration in a Classroom” competition.

In general, our proposal aims to create an e-Science educational environment that will be tailored to the teachers needs in order not only to support them in their teaching physics classroom activities but also to allow them and their students to interact with researchers working in frontier science experiments and use the same infrastructure facilities with them. This way, students will understand not only what scientists are working on but also will have a first class experience on what tools they use and how they perform their daily tasks.

Such an interactive approach changes the student’s thinking about the nature of scientific investigation and adds value of the e-Science activity in a science teacher education program.


Proposal Summary


To raise the European pupils’ interest and awareness on science. Introduce e-Science by utilizing existing research infrastructures of frontier research Institutions enriched with online tools (data analysis tools, simulators & games) and web-interactive educational material.

To enhance cooperation among teachers, vocational educators, pedagogical experts and researchers who develop advanced learning technologies and educational activities for secondary school students on e-Science.

To create-and support virtual learning communities of secondary school students, teachers and educators and involve them in extended episodes of scientific enquiry and understanding of science through web-applications and online interaction.

To develop and collect well pedagogically structured educational scenarios on “Introducing e-Science to schools”, enrich them with metadata and make them available to teachers & students through a web-portal.

Objectives


Consortium

Institute of Accelerating Systems and Applications (IASA), Greece

University of Dresden, Germany

Ellinogermaniki Agogi (EA), Greece

CERN, Switzerland

Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (BMUKK), Austria

University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

University of Stockholm, Sweden

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), USA

Total of 8 partners from 7 countries


Work Packages

WP1: Project Management and Coordination Meet deadlines for deliverables & budget constraints Coordinate a) scientific-pedagogical actions b) organizational-communicational actions Hold internal (consortium only) meetings every 6 months

WP2: Pedagogigal Design Design of Inquiry based teaching template for Use Cases Development of the Use Cases (including lesson plans, tutorials, Masterclasses for teachers and students strongly linked to school curriculum, interactive scenarios for online use –either by a classroom or by individuals-, mobile applications promoting research at CERN etc)

WP3: Educational Communities Support Environment & Portal Further development of the existing portal in order toinclude: a) more languages b)More toolbox applications (expand moCERN, new tools etc) Technical infrastructure for creating a educational communities environment


Work Packages

WP4: Organization - Publicity - Communication Development of Information material, training materials and guides Adaptation of Scientific Content to Teachers’ and students’ needs Detailed planning and organization of events (Events include: Scientists visiting schools or being interviewed by students, Best scenario contest for teachers, Poster competition for students, Summer school, Conferences, Masterclasses etc)

WP5: Implementation and Validation Pilots, Training and Demonstration Activities (including virtual tours in research labs) Masterclasses, Contests, Summer school etc

WP6: Raising Awareness Dissemination activities (Presentations in Science fairs, Conferences, Science café meetings etc) Publications (Journal articles, Local press etc) Participation in School Career fairs Create a network of teachers for the promotion of Science

call: fp7-infrastructures-2011-2 what do we mean with the term “research infrastructures” ?...

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