Girls'Day is a nationwide career and study orientation day for girls, where they can learn about professions or fields of study in which the proportion of women is still less than 40 percent, e.g., in the fields of IT, natural sciences or technology.
This year, 32 schoolgirls between the ages of 10 and 18 took part in a colourful program at MPIK in five different programs.
One group of schoolgirls, for example, got an insight into the interplay between science and the preparatory work done in the engineering design office and the electronic and precision mechanics workshop at MPIK. Under the expert guidance of the trainees working there, the schoolgirls built their own personal flashlight, which helped them to discover the mysteries of light in the afternoon. In addition to very practical tasks such as soldering and screwing, the girls gained an insight into the actual work at the workshops and the career paths leading there.
Other groups dealt with the properties of gases, the detection of cosmic particles or took part in an Escape Room game. Participants from the 10th grade upward had to solve tricky puzzles from the field of particle physics, such as determining the mass of the Higgs boson or finding out the ratio of matter to antimatter in the universe. With the clues found by this, a treasure chest could be opened at the end, which contained not only the medicine to save the world, but also very practical reminders of the puzzles solved.
In the afternoon, the students were able to ask all their questions about physics and the career path of a particle physicist to the supervising scientists. "It was incredibly fun and by far the best Girls Day I've ever had," explained one participant at the end. "The research spirit of the schoolgirls was impressive - they soaked up this completely new topic and asked many exciting questions," adds Aika Tada, one of the supervising PhD students.
All in all, it was a successful day for everyone involved, during which the schoolgirls not only had an exciting day, but above all were able to gain an insight into a physics institute with all the possible job profiles there.
We are looking forward to the next Girls' Day on April 25, 2024, where the MPIK will certainly be represented again!
