Max Planck Institute for Astronomy - Annual Report 2005

I.4 Teaching and Public Outreach
Students are coming from all over the world to the
Institute to carry out the research for their diploma or
doctoral thesis. A majority of these students complete
their studies at the University of Heidelberg. For that
reason, a number of scientists at the MPIA give lectures
there.
Students of earlier semesters also can do some scientific
work at the MPIA. So the Institute offers advanced
practical courses or enables the students to participate in
»mini research projects«. These last about two months
and cover a wide range of problems, including the analysis
of observational data or numerical simulations as
well as work on instrumentation. These practical courses
offer the students an early, practically orientated insight
into astrophysical research, particularly in view of a later
diploma or doctoral thesis.
The International Max Planck Research School
(IMPRS) for Astronomy and Cosmic Physics, which was
established in July, 2004, by the Max Planck Society and
the University of Heidelberg, made a successful start
(Chapter V.4) on 2005. The school offers 40 PhD students
from all over the world a three year education under
excellent conditions in experimental and theoretical
research in the field of astronomy and cosmic physics. It
is sponsored by the five astronomical research institutes
in Heidelberg.
The Institute's mission also includes the educating and
informing of the general public about results of astronomical
research. So members of the Institute give talks at
schools, adult education centers and planetaria. They also
appear at press conferences or on radio and television
programs, in particular on the occasion of astronomical
events which attract major public attention. Numerous
groups of visitors come to the MPIA on the Königstuhl
and the Calar Alto Observatory. In cooperation with the
Landessternwarte, a one-week teacher training course
which is very popular among teachers of physics and
mathematics in Baden-Württemberg is held regularly in
autumn at MPIA.
A special highlight in the year under report has been
the open house (Chapter V.2). On September 25 th , more
than five thousand visitors came to the Institute to inform
themselves about the scientific and technical projects of
MPIA at a total of 34 stations and to learn news from the
field of modern astronomy. In 2005, the MPIA participated
again in the Girls' Day, a nationwide campaign intended
to encourage schoolgirls to inform themselves about
professions that still are mainly male-dominated. At
various stations about 60 schoolgirls got a general idea of
the work of an astronomical institute (Chapter V.9).
Finally, the monthly astronomical journal Sterne und
Weltraum (Stars and Space, SuW), co-founded 1962 by
Hans Elsässer, is published at the MPIA. This journal
is intended for the general public but also offers a lively
forum both for professional astronomers and for the large
community of amateurs in this field.
Great interest was shown in the School project, which
has been initiated the previous year in cooperation with
the Academy of Advanced Training of Teachers of the
Land Baden-Württemberg, Donaueschingen, and with
the support of the Klaus Tschira Foundation. For selected
articles published in SuW, detailed didactic materials are
developed each month and made freely available in the
internet. About four times a year training courses for teachers
based on these materials are held at the Academy.
In their regular physics lessons, teachers and students
will thus be able to deal with current research issues presented
in generally comprehensible terms in SuW.
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