When CERN travels abroad

For the first time the new CERN travelling exhibition has gone abroad. The venue is Torino, in Italy, where it is being shown at the Museum of Natural Science in the framework of the activities of the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF 2010). Soon after the event, the exhibition will fly to Copenhagen.

The new ‘Accelerating Science’ exhibition was inaugurated in 2009 as part of the celebrations to mark the 450th anniversary of the University of Geneva. “CERN’s travelling exhibition is an important tool for outreach in our Member states as it carries the main messages that constitute the backbone of the Laboratory’s education and communication policy”, explains Rolf Landua, head of the Education Group, which manages the exhibition. “The 2010 European Science Open Forum in Torino will gather a lot of experts and visitors from the general public who will be able to experience in an enjoyable way what we do and how we do it”.

Covering more than 400 square metres, the exhibition has been designed to travel through the CERN Member States. It has a modular design based on five main zones. “Each zone carries a specific message: the first zone recounts the history of the Universe; the second zone takes the visitor to the world of elementary particles; the third one allows visitors to listen to some of the favourite mysteries of the Universe that motivate CERN scientists to do their research; the fourth one shows the scientific tools – LHC and the experiments – that we use. The last zone contains a brand-new exhibit featuring the link between fundamental physics and technological advances upon which mankind increasingly depends”, says Landua.

In Torino, CERN’s exhibition is installed in the Regional Museum for Natural Science, next to ‘The Invisible Wonder’ exhibition promoted by the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Research (INFN). Together, the two exhibitions make up the “Explorers of the Universe” exhibition area, which has been open to the public since April 14.

CERN’s exhibition is very popular and many requests are submitted to the Education Group from various institutions that would like to host it for their events. “The requestors are generally Science Museums or other communication stakeholders in the Member States. The selection of the venues is also based on the wish of CERN to be visible in some specific regions”, explains Rolf Landua. After Torino, Accelerating Science will set off to Copenhagen, where it will stay from August to December 2010. Possible venues for 2011 are Austria, France and Portugal.

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For more information about the CERN’s exhibition in Torino, please visit: http://www.esof2010.org/explorers.

 

by CERN Bulletin