International Researchers’ Meetup – Space
SIC organised the 3rd International Researchers’ Meetup in cooperation with the Astronomical Institute
Another International Researchers’ Meetup took place on the 18th September 2020 attracting more than 25 researchers from different nationalities and who are working in research organisations based in the Central Bohemia Region or Prague such as ELI Beamlines, HiLASE, BIOCEV, the Astronomical Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Technopark Kralupy and the Czech University of Life Sciences. This time, the international research community had the opportunity to explore the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences located in Ondřejov which hosted the event. Physicists, Astronomers, Chemists and Life Scientists from various scientific fields and backgrounds living and working in the region or in the vicinity met again, following all governmental regulations and security measures due to current situation.
“The objectives we want to reach with these meetups are not only to familiarize foreign scientists with the multidisciplinary research environment of the Central Bohemia Region, or for them to visit some of the research infrastructures, but also to enable them to network, share personal experiences in a different country and culture, present interesting topics or even create new friendships within the constantly growing international community of researchers. And we are very happy to see that we have been successfully achieving these objectives, according to very positive feedback we have received from the participants and seeing familiar faces for the 3rd time in a row”, says Martina Vycudilíková, Project Manager for Research and Education from SIC.
The topic for this meetup was Space and the participants listened to a presentation about Life in Universe, more precisely about the mission PLATO, a project that will start searching for Earth-like exoplanets in the near future, given by Petr Kabáth, leader of the exoplanetary research group at the Astronomical Institute. His presentation was followed by Sergii Chertopalov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, who spoke about the project of colonization of Mars. The group had the opportunity to see the Perek 2m telescope, the biggest telescope in the Czech Republic, presented by Brankica Kubátová, Head of the Stellar Physics Department. The main host, Miroslav Bárta, Head of the Solar physics department, gave the participants a commented guided tour through the premises of the Astronomical Institute including the visit of the Old Observatory and a night sky observation.
The second part of the meetup was dedicated to common activities. “We used a similar format as at the second meetup which engaged researchers to mutual communication and cooperation in teams. This time, we prepared few activities, just as one common question related to the main topic of the night, a quiz including scientific questions about the presentations held during the event and a more fun pop-quiz about soundtracks from famous movies. It is really gratifying when we hear they enjoy every aspect of the meetup”, says Athiziri Moreno, International Relations Manager from SIC.
The organisation of a new meetup will be challenging as a result of the Covid19, nevertheless we would like prepare an online event for our target group by the end of this year and continue with physical meetups as soon as the situation allows. Researchers can follow our website or join the FB group to know more about the meetups and how to join them.
Presentations from the meeting:
