newsletter sv 2015 11-new1...mars was once warm and wet, but has had its atmosphere stripped away by...

IN THIS ISSUE:

Cyprus launches coalition

for digital skills and jobs Page 2

Science Views’ educational

activities Page 3

Professor Stamatios Krimigis:

More than a space explorer Pages 4-5

European Health Forum

Gastein-Field Report Pages 6-7

Let’s talk about nano!

A student video contest Pages 10-11

European Robotics Week

2015 2

NEWSLETTER

11_2015

Play4Guidance

Greek Conference Science View and the National & Kapodistrian University of

Athens (NKUA) organize the Greek Conference of the

Play4Guidance EU funded project on Saturday 12 Decem-

ber, at the premises of NKUA (437 Lecture Hall) at 10.00-

15.00. Play4Guidance introduces a European Business

Game to train and guide students and young unemployed

on entrepreneurial, transversal and mathematical skills. Dur-ing the Conference NKUA and Science View, both P4G

partners, will introduce the game, its principals and peda-

gogical framework. Attendants will also have the opportuni-

ty to test the game for the first time and attempt to create

their own businesses!

Page 8

[Workshop for science

journalists on nano The European Union of Science Journalists’ Associations – EUSJA, in cooperation with Science View, is organizing a 4-hours training workshop for science journalists on “Benefits and Risks of Nanotechnology” under the EU funded project NanoDiode, which is a programme for outreach and dia-logue throughout Europe to support the effective govern-ance of nanotechnologies. The workshop is to be held on 3rd December 2015 in Athens, Greece, at the library of NCSR Demokritos, in cooperation with the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (INN) of NCSR Demokritos. Page 9

On December 12 at NKUA

2

NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER 11_2015

EU news

Science View is a science journalists’

association based in Athens. Science

View attempts to strengthen Science

Journalism in Greece. SV also pro-

motes science communica-

tion activities between the scientific

community and the wider public by

implementing events, video produc-

tions and scientific documentaries,

science communication trainings

and e-learning courses, printed and

electronic publications, newsletters,

online magazines, websites, infor-

mation portals and brochures. Meet

the SV team and check out our pro-

jects and our services.

Science View is a member of the

European Union of Science Journal-

ists’ Associations (EUSJA).

3 Makri str. 117 42 Αthens, GR

Phone: +30 210 9231955

Fax: +30 210 9231956

E-mail: [email protected]

GET IN TOUCH WITH SCIENCE VIEW

ABOUT SIENCE VIEW

Science View’s newsletter is a monthly

news bulleting that

focuses on EU and Greek R&D, poli-

cy, science and innovation news. The

views expressed in this newsletter are

those of the individual writers, and not

necessarily those of Science View.

Unsigned articles come from select-

ed press releases from scientists, re-

search institutions and the EU.

Publisher

Menelaos Sotiriou

[email protected]

Editor

Elias Aggelopoulos

[email protected]

ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER

Cyprus launches national

coalition for digital skills

and jobs

Cyprus has just launched a national coalition for digital skills and jobs in support of the European Commission’s call for action within the Grand Coalition. The coalition is addressing the shortage in digital skills and the future anticipated mismatching of unfilled ICT-related vacan-

cies across Europe.

C yprus’ Digital Champion Dr. Stelios Himonas, with the co-operation of the Department of Electronic Communica-tions launched a National Coalition for Digital Jobs - Grow Digital CY. The National Coalition is a partnership

with public institutions, professional communities, private companies and non-profit organizations. There is a three year action plan aim-ing to promote the diffusion and the improvement of digital skills in order to address the anticipated future mismatch between ICT pro-fessionals and work force vacancies. Stakeholders have proposed actions aiming to ensure the adequate and continuous supply of high quality graduates according to the labour market needs. Pro-posed actions were divided into two implementation phases, short term and long term actions and sorted under the following catego-ries; 1) Education and Training, 2) Certification and 3) Awareness.

The implementation of the actions will be achieved by a Commit-tee responsible for coordination and monitoring. The Committee will operate under the supervision of the Digital Champion and com-prise of members from working groups.


3

Science Views’

educational activities

S cience View has already realized a training workshop for LSTT on 7 November 2015 at the Faculty of Philosophy at the Department of Education, Faculty of Philosophy, Peda-

gogy and Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of AThens. During the workshop the CREAT-IT pedagogical framework and its educational context were presented to more than 15 teachers, as well as detailed instructions on how to conduct the activity.

LSTT is an activity dur-ing which high school students stage a play and dramatize scien-tific concepts and knowledge from the material being taught in schools. LSTT is based on the peda-gogical framework developed by the EU funded CREAT-IT pro-ject and on the princi-ples of Inquiry Based Science Education methodology. Science View is organizing LSTT for the second time in academic year 2015-2016, in cooperation of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) - Faculty of Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology.

In LSTT 2015-2016 schools across Greece can par-ticipate either by staging their play in one of the three final events that will take place in Athens (2-3 April 2016), Thessaloniki (9-10 April 2016) and Hera-klion, Crete (16-17 April 2016), or by filming their play and sending it.

Greek Student Parliament on Science

Science View realized a teacher training workshop for the Greek Student Parliament on Science (GSPS) activity on Friday, November 20, 2015 at the Edu-

cational Technology Lab, which is cooperating in the activity. During the workshop the activity was presented to more than 20 educators in detail with step-by-step examples.

Greek Student Parliament on Science, which is sup-ported by The John S. Latsis Public Benefit Founda-tion, aims to strengthen dialogue and exchange of ideas and knowledge between students and scien-tists covering various fields of science and re-search, while involving young people in parliamen-

tary processes.

GSPS's 2016 overall topic will be 'The Future of the Human Being' and current issues such as brain re-search, genetically modified food or artifi-cial reproduction will be discussed. Experts from the respective field of research will support the students in their scientific working

groups to identify specific problems and questions. The final Greek event is going to be held on 21-23 March 2016 in Athens.

The “European Student Parliaments on Science” is coordinated by Wissenschaft im Dialog and is co-funded by Robert Bosch Stiftung and Bayer Science & Education Foundation.

More information:

Learning Science Through Theater

http://lstt2.weebly.com/

Greek Student Parliament of Science

http://studentparliament.weebly.com/

European Student Parliaments on Science

http://www.student-parliaments.eu/

Science View is happy to announce that the Learning Science Through Theater activity is now officially under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Education, Research and Religion. In addition, Science View has started the implementation of training work-shops for the two educational activities that is currently organizing: Learning Science

Through Theater (LSTT) and Greek Student Parliament on Science.

LEARNING SCIENCE THROUGH THEATER & GREEK STUDENT PARLIAMENT ON SCIENCE

Photo from the award ceremony of Learning Science

Through Theater 2015


4

Stamatios Krimigis: More than a space explorer

Interview

by Amalia Drosou

Science Communication, CERTH

Mars was once warm and wet, but has had its

atmosphere stripped away by solar winds over

billions of years. It could have been frozen out.

How could it preserve the water on its surface for

such a long time?

There is no doubt that there is liquid water on the surface of Mars, and I’m happy that the instrument that confirmed it (a hyperspectral imager) was built at my laboratory, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. The purpose of this imager was to map the entire surface of Mars and look at its mineralogy. My colleagues found a lot of deposits of salts such as Perchlorate of Sodium and Perchlorate of Mag-nesium. When you mix these salts with water the freezing temperature decreases so you can be 50 degrees below zero and yet the water is still liquid on the surface. It comes from underground reser-voirs that have a lot of water. Therefore one can speculate that there could be biological activity in

underground reservoirs on Mars, but we don’t know anything about that.

The next mission to the Red Planet (ExoMars Rov-

er) is going to be in 2018. How are all these signs

of microbiological life going to be further investi-

gated?

One of the things is to drill about two meters or so, deep into the soil and bring up some material that will be analyzed and evaluated by on board instru-ments. However, the sensitivity of what instruments one can place on a spacecraft is fairly limited. One would be fortunate or lucky if one can make some preliminary determination of current or past biological activity. But ultimately what has to hap-pen is that we have to bring samples of subsoil back to earth so that it can be analyzed in earth-based laboratories with instruments that have much higher sensitivity and then be able to say definitely whether at least on those locations there was or was not biological activity.

On July 2018, Solar Probe Plus (SPP) will be

launched to explore the Sun’s outer atmosphere.

What are your expectations about this mission?

We observe the Sun remotely with telescopes, with

Through ingenuity, hard work, dedication, and scientific integrity, Prof. Stamatios Krimigis, born on the village of Vrontados, Chios, became one of the most influential scientists in the modern space explora-tions of the USA and the whole world. The man, who gave many of NASA’s missions their finest hour, is today Head Emeritus of the Space Department Applied Physics at Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Maryland, USA and member of the Academy of Ath-ens, Greece, where he holds the Chair of Science of Space. “The beauty of all space missions is that the most important findings end up being the ones that you don’t expect!” says Prof Krimigis among other things in an interesting conversation

with Amalia Drosou.

An interview with the distinguished Professor

Continued on next page

5


admittedly very sensitive instruments but still it is very difficult to connect the remote observations with the actual physics that are taking place in the at-mosphere of the Sun. So we are going to go within 6 million kilometers of the surface of the Sun with the Solar Probe Plus. Sensitive instruments are going to make measurements locally while at the same time we are observing it with instruments remotely from earth. This way we can connect the local measurements with what we observe and then interpret what we have been seeing on the sun in over the past 100 years. So, what do we expect you find? I wish I knew! The beauty of all of these missions is that the most important findings end up being the ones that you don’t expect, as was demonstrated recently with New Horizons at Pluto.

You have travelled to all of the planets of our

solar system. Which one impressed you the most?

Jupiter, the King of our planets is really the most impressive because of the incessant activity in its atmosphere but also because of its moons: Io showed the first volcanoes outside of Earth, (we saw that with Voyager in 1979). Euro-pa showed that it possesses a subsur-face ocean and another candidate for biological activity in an ocean in the outer solar system. Ganymede in fact may well have an ocean but it also has a magnetic field, which is really amazing-a magnetic field with-in a magnetosphere!

Which are your safety nets in order

to minimize the risk of the failure in

a space mission?

Once the spacecraft is off of the surface of Earth you can’t go up and do repairs. So we have vari-ous ways of building-in safety -through redundancy. In just about every spacecraft we build, we have two communication systems, two orientation sys-tems, to point the spacecraft at earth or the Sun as the case might be. All of these systems are on board and are programmed in such a way that once there is something wrong, let’s say in comput-er A, it immediately switches to computer B. Then a message that something happened is being sent to Earth. In severe cases where the spacecraft cannot function, it immediately shuts down most systems and starts looking for Earth. We lock on to the spacecraft, then we send commands, dump the memory and find out exactly what happened and when.

The last time this happened to us was on the 4th of July from New Horizons. We agonized but within about 24 hours we diagnosed exactly what the problem was, sent a new upload of commands, got control on the spacecraft again and were back on the regular track.

Dr. James Van Allen has been your mentor. In

which way did he inspire you?

I grew up with Van Allen as a graduate student. At that time it was only 3 years after the discovery of the Van Allen belts, which he had made with the first American Satellite. He was not only an excep-tional scientist but also a very insightful person. He taught me how to do and to communicate sci-ence. Later on we went on different paths: I left Iowa and went to Johns Hopkins because I wanted to develop new technologies while he was more traditional in the way he wanted to approach things. But certainly I don’t think anybody could have had a better mentor than Van Allen.

How far is Greece from the production of its own

Space Technology?

Greece has a lot of potential in terms of scientific and technical capability, with many people trained outside Greece that could play an important role in

the European Space Program. But what it lacks is a decent manage-ment system-the management of anything from technical issues to insti-tutions, to public affairs is really poor and I think that this is the Achilles heel of the country as a whole. Among the reasons we do not participate much in space is because we never orga-nized a Greek Space Agency and we don’t devote resources to space re-search. The percentage of GDP de-voted to research and innovation as a whole (not just space) 3-4 years ago was about 0,6% while the Euro-pean average was 2,5%. There is a big gap there. I suspect that now in

the past two years it is probably 0,1%. Unfortunately the future is not good.

You have lived in your hometown Vrontados, Chi-

os until the age of 18. What memories are im-

printed in your mind from those days?

My years there were difficult. It was right after the war and prosperity was not around the corner. But we had a very strong family life. My father was in the USA and could not come back during the Ger-man occupation, so I didn’t get to know him until I was 16 years old but my mother was a very strong woman. We had good teachers, who insisted on excellence. We studied hard and of course we did a lot of things that young people do. My own was, to get involved with the “rites of passage” to adult-hood, which was to construct rockets that we used to shoot to the other church on Easter night.

Our house was about 100 meters from Panagia Εrythiani, my Enoria, so every Easter we would get together, make these rockets and then shoot them at the other church. That was a vivid memory which of course I cherish-and the custom is going on to-day!


6

European Health Forum Gastein-Field Report

Text & photos by Christina Angeli

T his year’s Forum has adopted the motto “Securing health in Europe. Balancing priori-ties, sharing responsibilities”. According to the President of the International Forum Gastein

(IFG), Prof. Helmut Brand (University of Maastricht), “this year’s motto reflects that in a constantly changing political and social environment for health, current health systems need to safeguard past gains while responding to the new threats”.

The event was held on 30th September to 2nd Oc-tober in Bad Hofgastein and it was organized by the International Forum Gastein. It was a high-level event that brought together more than 600 partici-pants, including delegates from all over Europe and beyond. The key issues of Forum were devoted to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and to the Mediterranean refugee crises.

The further themes of the Conference were:

> Health in all policies at the highest European level

> Dealing with chronic diseases

> Access to and pricing of new medicines in Eu-rope

> Facing multimorbidity

> Are we prepared in the EU to respond to the next public health emergency in light of the recent Ebo-la outbreak in West Africa?

> Health, safety and well-being throughout the working life cycle

> The power of data (How can technology support science in researching health behaviours?)

> New paths to personalised medicine

> Comprehensive primary care (success stories: from model to implementation)

In addition to the main plenary sessions, the confer-ence included various presentations, parallel fo-rums, networking and workshops in order to give the participants the opportunity to gain a deeper un-derstanding of health issues.

Furthermore, two Press Conferences with different agendas were held during the 18th EHFG. The opening press conference, focusing on migration, included speeches by Helmut Brand, President of

Over the last 18 years, the European Health Forum in Gastein -the most important health related event in European Union- was designed to bring together leading policy makers, opinion leaders, international scientists and representatives from the NGO and industry sectors. The main aim of this forum was to establish a fruitful platform of dia-logue and share experiences on how to address current and future trends in European

health policy.

From 30th September to 2nd October in Bad Hofgastein


7


the International Forum Gastein, Menie Nicolai, President of Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF), Martin McKee, Professor London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Karin Kadenbach, Member of the European Parliament, S& D, Austria.

Mr. Helmut Brand warmly welcomed journalists and introduced speakers to the conference theme. Ms. Menie Nicolai, shared her experience from the field and underlined the urgent need to ensuring access to medical care for refugees. Mr. Martin McKee provided a further contribution to the topic of mi-gration by giving a global approach to his state-ments, whereas Ms. Karin Kadenbach addressed the crucial issue of inequalities in health care ac-cess.

The closing press conference was held on Friday October 2 in EHFG press center and dealt with dif-ferent topics for Securing Health in Europe. Among the speakers were Vytenis Andriukaitis, EU Commis-sioner for Health and Food Safety, Lydia Mutsch, Minister of Health and Minister for Equal Opportuni-

ties in Luxembourg and Josep Figueras, Director of European Observatory on Health Systems and Poli-cies.

Mr.Vytenis Andiukalitis presented key strategies for access to healthcare, Ms. Lydia Mutsch described the European directive of cross border healthcare, while Mr. Josep Figueras underlined the im-portance of primary and integrated care.

Finally, following the tradition of European Health Award, this year’s award was given at the MiMi pro-ject (“an intercultural health programme which run by and for citizens with migrants for migrants in Eu-rope”). According to the Head of the MiMi project “the project aims to support people from a migrant background in assuming responsibility for their own health and in taking measures aimed at preventive healthcare”.

Editor’s note: Ms Angeli participated in a study trip

to the European Health Forum in Gastein, orga-

nized by EUSJA, as a Science View member


8

Play4Guidance Greek

Conference

E ntrepreneurship has never been more im-portant than it is now: Entrepreneurs are the driving force of Europe’s economy and a cornerstone to sustainable recovery. Eu-

rope needs to create an entrepreneurial culture that permeates our schools and universities.

Education and training play a crucial role in culti-vating entrepreneurial mind set but need to be adapted and linked more closely to the world of work. Upgrading, adapting and widening the skills portfolio of individuals to create and fill the jobs of tomorrow is one of the greatest challenges that Europe has faced.

Another major challenge is to ensure that people have the right skills. In Europe 2020 vision, educa-tion and training systems propose innovative and fair approaches, such as flexible learning path-ways, and focus on developing essential skills as well as intellectual and job-specific skills.

In order to build skills for the 21st century, efforts are needed to develop entrepreneurial skills which en-

hance the employability of young people.

Education and training –both for job and on the job- today’s challenge is to find new ways of en-gaging people in learning processes.

Business Games (BG) can be the answer to this challenge. Business Games are an innovative learning method that reinforces managerial, entre-preneurial, digital and collaborative competences, and promotes critical thinking, problem solving and leadership. Business Games encourage people to learn and update their skills, beyond simply using ICT.

The Play4Guidance (P4G) project, which is funded under Erasmus+ EU Programme, introduces an innovative Business Game with the aim to train and guide students and young unemployed on entre-preneurial, transversal and mathematical skills.

Information:

http://p4gconference.weebly.com/

http://play4guidance.eu/

Science View and the National & Kapodis-trian University of Athens (NKUA) organize the Greek Conference of the Play4Guid-ance EU funded project on Saturday 12 December, at the premises of NKUA (437 Lecture Hall) at 10.00-15.00. Play4Guid-ance (P4G) introduces a European Busi-ness Game to train and guide students and young unemployed on entrepreneuri-

al, transversal and mathematical skills.

During the Conference NKUA and Science View, both P4G partners, will introduce the game, its principals and pedagogical framework. Attendants will also have the opportunity to test the game for the first time and attempt to create their own busi-

nesses!

SATURDAY 12 DECEMBER

9


Workshop for science

journalists on nano

T he workshop is to be held on 3rd December 2015 in Athens, Greece, at the library of NCSR Demokritos, in cooperation with the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnolo-

gy (INN) of NCSR Demokritos. The aim of the workshop is to bring science journal-ists closer to nano-researchers in the fields of sci-ence, technology and governance. Experts will introduce science journalists to nanotechnologies in order to put them into the position to better fulfill their role as critical moderators between research-ers and their media audience. Experts will show the science behind nanotechnolo-gy. They will explain what can be done with nano particles in products for medicine, electronics, ma-terials, or consumer goods. Of course it will be shown what is already on the market, what is in the pipeline, and what are the challenges for future developments. Time is also reserved for a critical review of nanotechnology governance. Some of the questions to be answered during the workshop are:

> Nanotechnology is a rising topic for science jour-nalists as the public is increasingly aware of ever new “nano” products entering the market. Are they dangerous? Are they safe? What is so interesting about “nano”? > Science journalists need good facts and argu-ments in order to deliver balanced and guiding information for their audiences. Can scientists help to clarify things? What angles are important to cov-er in reporting nanotechnology? In addition the workshop will focus on subjects such as: > How can stakeholders and the general public (and science journalists) be engaged in issues such as emerging technologies, where a full involve-ment of critical social actors is essential? > What is the role of emerging technologies and R&I governing against the background of the seri-ous economic crisis? More information: Elias Aggelopoulos, [email protected]

The European Union of Science Journalists’ Associations – EUSJA, in cooperation with Science View, is organizing a 4-hours train-ing workshop for science journalists on “Benefits and Risks of Nanotechnology” under the EU funded project NanoDiode, which is a programme for outreach and dialogue throughout Europe to support the effective governance of nanotechnolo-gies. EUSJA is a NanoDiode partner; Sci-ence View is EUSJA’s Greek Member Asso-

ciation.

“Benefits and Risks of Nanotechnology”


10

Let’s talk about nano! A student video contest

N anotechnology is all around us; it’s al-most everywhere! Nanotechnology is able to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applica-

tions, such as in medicine, electronics, biomaterials energy production, and consumer products.

Do you know whatwhat nano is? Here are some interest-ing videos that give some answers (click to follow the links):

• Do You Know What Nano Means: • Nanotechnology Explained • What is Nanotechnology? • Why Light Won’t Cut It • Why Nanotechnology Is Awesome • What nanotechnology does? NASA explains Here are some more examples of applications and products:

• In medicine, researchers are developing custom-ized nanoparticles the size of molecules that can deliver drugs directly to diseased cells in your body.

• Nanotechnology helps us increase the capabili-ties of electronics devices while we reduce their weight and power consumption. Companies are using nanotechnology to create lighter and long-er lasting fuel cells.

• Companies are also developing nanomaterials that will make a difference not only in the taste of food, but also in food safety, and the health ben-efits that food delivers.

• Nanotechnology could also be used in construc-tions. Nanotubes, when mixed with the old mate-rial, greatly advance strength.

• Clothing is also going nano! When cloth is coat-ed with a nano-scale coating, it repels most liq-uids. Clothing could become entirely water re-pellant!

Would you like to see some examples of applica-tions in video? Here they are click to follow the links):

• Healing Bones with Nanotechnology • What is Nanotechnology • Super Hydrophobic Surface and Magnetic Liquid • Dr James Tour: Nano-technology, Nano-cars & Nano-kids

• Nanotechnology Animation (Cancer treatment

and diagnosis)

• Nanotechnology for Students The future uses of nanotechnology are uncounta-ble. But what kind of nanotechnologies do we

want? People say that if you want to find out the truth and get to the core, then you should ask the children. And while asking “what kind of nanotechnologies do we want?” we believe that the most interesting answers will come from young students. “What kind of nanotechnologies do we want?” is a crucial question for the NanoDiode project and also is the main topic of a video contest for stu-dents (11-18 year olds) around Europe, which is being organised by NanoDiode and EUSJA, a NanoDiode partner. The students can play the role of journalists and produce videos focusing on nanotechnology from

People say that if you want to find out the truth and get to the core, then you should ask the children. And while asking “what kind of nanotechnologies do we want?” we believe that the most interesting an-swers will come from young students. “What kind of nanotechnologies do we want?” is a crucial question for the NanoDi-ode project and also is the main topic of a video contest for students (11-18 year olds) around Europe, which is being organ-

ised by NanoDiode and EUSJA.

A student video contest on nanotechnology


11


their own perspective, seek answers about:

• what nanotechnology is; • which products using nanotechnology they know or use;

• what kind of applications of nanotechnology they want (or do not want) in their future.

What to deliver: A 2-10 minutes video in English language or in the student’s native lan-guage with English subtitles, accompa-nied by a short de-scription, in English, of the video in text. The videos may include narrative, interviews, lectures, animation, comics, drawings, songs, etc. in any combination. All ideas will be welcomed! Who can apply: Any student or group of students (age 11-18) from all secondary schools around Europe can participate. Who can be interviewed: If students choose to do an interview video, they could speak with scientists, nano-products manu-facturers, representatives of Civil Society Organiza-tions (CSOs), friends and relatives, students and teachers. What questions can be asked: If students prefer to do interviews, here are some example questions that can be asked: - Do you know if you use products with nanomateri-als, or products manufactured with the use of nan-otechnology? If yes, name some and explain why you chose them. If not, is there a reason why? • Do you think that products using nanotechnology are safe to use? Do you think that manufacturing such products is safe for workers? • In which applications do you think that nanotech-nology can be of great value for people? • Can you imagine a future where nanotechnolo-gy would be almost everywhere? How to shoot the videos? The student’s videos do not have to be pro! A clev-er use of you smartphone or any kind of camera could work just fine! If participant need more de-tailed instructions, we have prepared detailed guidelines which can be found here. How to deliver the video: By uploading it to a file transfer service (such as dropbox, wetransfer, myairbridge, etc.) or a video hosting service (such as youtube, vimeo, etc.) and by sharing/ sending the link to us.

Deadline: All videos and short descriptions have to be deliv-ered by December 31, 2015. After submitting the videos: Students’ videos will be uploaded on NanoDiode’s Youtube channel and posted on NanoDiode’s Fa-cebook page where the videos will be liked by the

public until December 31, 2015. In January 2016 a jury composed of partners of the NanoDiode project will choose the best videos, taking in account the people’s votes and likes in Youtube and Face-book by 50% (50% jury – 50% public) before announcing the win-ners. The producer/producers of the best video will also be awarded with a visit to

a nano technology laboratory of an industrial NanoDiode partner. Why should students participate: Taking part in NanoDiode’s students video contest will be a great opportunity to discuss about nano-technology in the classroom. Nanotechnology pro-vides connections between and among physical science, chemistry, physics, biology, environmental sciences, and engineering, so it helps students understand the relationships between disciplines. In addition the video production can be a class-room project; in such case it can be a great op-portunity of involving each and every student in the learning process in an exciting way. How students benefit from creating videos: • Students will be engaged in their learning and will retain what they learn, since they will be actively involved. • Video creation helps students better express their deepest understanding of core classroom content and at the same time it promotes creativity. • Students practice “real-life” skills, such as planning & organization, time management, cooperation, problem solving, etc. • Video creation forces students to think at a higher level and to develop problem-solving skills. • It’s fun! Of course, participants may ignore all examples and advice and produce completely new and unique videos, according to their own fresh views! Contact persons Elias Aggelopoulos: [email protected] Teguayco Pinto Cejas: [email protected]

12


EU news

E xploring “Robots and Society” was the focus of the European Robotics Week 2015 (ERW2015). Through over 400 events, Europeans ad-dressed important questions about how ro-

bots will impact the way we work, live, and learn. In just five years, the event has attracted over 200,000 par-ticipants of all ages.

This year’s week, running 23-29 November 2015, came on the heels of the Euroba-rometer survey on Autono-mous Systems (June 2015), which showed that the more people interact with robots, the better their opinion of them.

With this in mind, euRobotics AISBL, the main organiser of the week, has set out to make sure the public has plenty of opportunities to interact with robots and be part of the discussion.

"The European Robotics Week is an opportunity for robotics pioneers from in-dustry and research to radi-ate excitement about ro-botics throughout Europe”, explained Uwe Haass, Act-ing Secretary General of euRobotics.

In many places, robotics researchers and industry are opening their doors to the public. Spain is especially active this year, with more than 100 events.

Robotics challenges and competitions are particular-ly important to inspire the next generation of engi-neers needed to drive the European economy. At the EU-funded RoCKIn Competition in Portugal, 14 teams from 6 countries will showcase their robots for

the home and factory in front of a live audience. The R2T2 robotic space rescue mission will allow over 100 kids in 6 countries to operate a robot in scenarios akin to the movie “The Martian”. And in Germany, kids will compete in a sports-like event as part of the FIRST LEGO League Trash TREK Challenge. Their goal: make a robot that can collect, sort, and reuse trash.

From outreach to start-ups, France and Spain are all about innovation and help-ing new robots reach the market with a start-up week-end and robot night.

And with robots on every-one’s mind, the need to discuss their impact on soci-ety is being explored across the board. While Finland looks at robots to improve

independent living, Poland discusses mining robots, Spain explores the opportunities and dilemmas for AI, and Germany ponders the implications of robots working along-side humans.

More information www.roboticsweek.eu

European Robotics Week 2015

The 5th edition of the European Robotics Week, from 23/11/2015 to 29/11/2015, has been a week full of robot related activities. Thousands of people all around Europe had the opportunity to visit research labs, museums, universities, schools and indus-tries involved in robotics, while lots of activi-ties were open for the general public and

free of charge.

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