Education, recruitment/training & public outreach ASTRONET Panel E

1. Education, recruitment/training & public outreach ASTRONET Panel E Robert Hill Northern Ireland Space Office Rosa Maria Ros, (Technical University of Catania), Robert Fosbury, (ESA/ST-ECF), Lars Lindberg Christensen (ESA/Hubble), Leonarda Fucili (SSIS, Universities of Lazio), Dirk Lorenzen (German Public Radio), Jose Carlos del Toro Iniesta (ESA), Claus Madsen (ESO), Andy Newsam (Liverpool Telescope/John Moore University), Alan Pickwick (Manchester Grammar School/EAAE Secretary), Veselka Radeva (Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium)

2. What is Astronet? ASTRONET was created by a group of European funding agencies in order to establish a comprehensive long-term planning for the development of European astronomy. The objective of this effort is to consolidate and reinforce the world-leading position that European astronomy has attained at the beginning of the 21st century.

3. Objectives • produce a Science vision for European astronomy • propose an Infrastructure Roadmap of European astronomy, identifying key technologies that are on the critical path to success • propose targeted co-ordinated actions between ASTRONET participants, in particular evaluation procedures and specific research programs

4. Infrastructure Panel groups Panel A:High energy, astro-particle astrophysics and gravitational waves Panel B:UVOIR and radio/mm, including survey instruments Panel C:Solar telescopes, "in situ" (solar system) missions, laboratory studies Panel D:Theory, computing facilities and networks, Virtual Observatory Panel E:Education, recruitment and training, public outreach

5. Panel E: Education, recruitment and training, public outreach Rosa Maria Ros Technical University of Catania Robert Fosbury ESA/ST-ECF Lars Lindberg Christensen ESA/Hubble Leonarda Fucili SSIS, Universities of Lazio Dirk Lorenzen German Public Radio Jose Carlos del Toro Iniesta ESA Claus Madsen ESO Andy Newsam Liverpool Telescope/John Moore University Alan Pickwick Manchester Grammar School/EAAE Secretary Veselka Radeva Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium Robert Hill Northern Ireland Space Office

6. Target audience • Astronet Infrastructure Roadmap Working Group • Funding agencies throughout Europe • Politicians with responsibility for science and education (and possibly technology as well) • University directorates and science faculties • Professional astronomers and organisations and individuals responsible for training school teachers.

7. Terms of reference • Assemble information to enhance school age education and assess their impact • Assemble information on postgraduate recruitment and training in Europe, including numbers of students in different areas • Assemble information on primary sources of publicity for our subject area and assess their impact • Assess where greater co-operation, additional resources (including human resources) and/or better practise would significantly enhance the above areas in Europe • Highlight any areas of Industrial Relevance, particularly in training aspects • Compile a report and any other relevant background information, to be passed to the Working Group.

8. Panel E: Task groups • school education • university education and research • science museums and planetaria • relationships with industry • public communication and outreach.

9. Evidence gathering • TG membership knowledge, experience and expertise • Investigation of existing relevant material and resources • Dissemination of ‘facilities questionnaire’ using existing European networks and structures • Panel E brainstorming sessions • Personal contacts

10. Task Group preliminary findings TG1 Primary and secondary schools lack of specific training given to teachers Under utilisation of astronomy in the school curricula little use of modern or fresh astronomy topics and new resources by educators, relying more on textbooks and current teacher knowledge TG2Training and recruitment 'Fascination in astronomy/space' is a major motivating factor for students, even many who were not taking a directly astronomy or astrophysics related degree (IoP 2001) no obvious shortage of qualified people for the jobs in astronomy currently available Bologna Process may make it easier for students to study part of their degree at a separate institution that offers astronomy

11. Task Group preliminary findings TG3 Science museums & planetaria Science centres providing astronomy content inspire all ages Many facilities offer a diverse range of formal/ non-formal education programs Lack of synergy with space-related agencies Very little evidence that exposure to science centres influence student subject choice TG4Relationships with industry Difficult to overview 'best practice' methodologies Varies widely across regions Lack of mechanism within many astronomical communities to identify industrial relevance/transfer as integral part of R&D activities No central bank or repository easily found or accessible to promote culture

12. Task Group preliminary findings TG5Public communication & outreach Despite having a huge potential for playing a key role for the public awareness of science, astronomy communication suffers from a clear lack of communication culture and -identity. There is a strong need for syndication in/collaboration among/reinforcement of the astronomy communication community There is a strong need for a central mechanism to access astronomy communication resources European community hesitant to invest resources

13. Timeline • Consideration of individual panel reports by the Working Group (WG) • Meeting of the WG and (ASTRONET) agencies • Release of draft Roadmap to the community • Roadmap Symposium • Publication of final version of the Roadmap October/November 2007 January/February 2008 Spring 2008 June 16 – 19 Liverpool, UK End September 2008

14. Call to allEastern European attendees! Panel E requires further input from Eastern European planetaria and science centres for TG3 Please see Robert Hill before end of conference

15. Presented by Robert Hill Northern Ireland Space OfficeOn behalf of AstronetPanel E