CERN accelerator school: Introductory course in Poland



For the first time since the CERN Accelerator School (CAS) was set up, the 'Introduction to Accelerator Physics' course was held in Zakopane, Poland. This course was organised together with the National Atomic Energy Agency, Warsaw, and the AGH University of Science and Technology, Cracow, and was held from 1-13 October 2006 at the foot of the Tatra Mountains.

The course was very well attended with 113 participants representing 26 different nationalities. Although most of the participants originated from Europe, some students came from countries as far away as Canada, China, India and North America.

The intensive programme comprised 35 lectures, 3 seminars given by local Polish lecturers, 5 tutorials where the students were split into four groups, a poster session where students could present their own work and 7 hours of guided and private study. The participants appreciated these study periods, which encouraged collaboration and knowledge-sharing in solving problems and gave them the opportunity to get to know each other better and establish useful contacts.

In addition to the academic programme, the students had the opportunity during the traditional one-day excursion to visit the famous Wieliczka salt mines and the old town of Cracow.

Feedback from the students after the course was very positive, praising the high standard of the lectures as well as the interesting and pleasant surroundings and excellent organization.

The next CAS course will be a specialized course on Digital Signal Processing, which will take place in Sigtuna, Sweden, from 1-9 June 2007. Information can be found on the CAS web site:

http://www.cern.ch/schools/CAS