Nr 17 / Cover - MaNEP News - Free Column - Publications p1 / p2 - Calendar
Free Column – page 3
Physiscope The PhysiScope-Geneva will be officially born in autumn
After over two years of preparation and months of testing, the PhysiScope-Geneva will be officially inaugurated next autumn in the presence of several Geneva officials.
By Prof. Christoph Renner & Dr Olivier Gaumer. Editing by Anne Rougemont
The PhysiScope-Geneva is an ambitious project that embodies MaNEP’s vision of innovative communication tools. This unprecedented initiative was developed in partnership with the Physics Section of the University of Geneva. The goal is to contribute in rekindling the interest for science among the youngsters of Geneva and surroundings via an original and hands on discovery of physics.

The first step in this new approach was the collaboration with a team from the Design Dpt of the Swiss TV (Télévision Suisse Romande) who brought their know-how in visually valorizing contents and creating sets. Hence the Physiscope also features state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment, along with a range of custom designed physics experiments. But the visual quality was only one in three key basic requirements of the project.

Playful approach, rigorous contents

The second one implied a daring and humorous staging which turns the visit more into an interactive show. Still the scientific contents presented remain rigorous and precise.

The third point was that the PhysiScope should not only transport the participants into the heart of physics in a different and playful way, but also introduce them to current scientific challenges. The shows are thus designed to establish a connection from simple physics concepts to modern research carried out at MaNEP and the Physics Section in Geneva.

Visitors spend about an one hour at the PhysiScope. On request, they are also given the opportunity to see labs. Shows on selected topics are developed in collaboration with two junior high school and two high school teachers who are partially discharged of their teaching tasks by the Geneva Education Dpt, which support the project.


Discovering physics via a playful 'hands on' approach.

280 students during the testing phase

Target audiences for now are junior high school and high school students from Geneva, the rest of Switterland and abroad. So far, over 280 students (20 classes) enjoyed a show during the testing phase that started in October 2007.

We also had the pleasure to welcome the H. Dudley Wright and E. Boninchi Foundations which – like the Geneva Faculty of Science - support this endeavor financially, as well the director of the Télévision Suisse Romande Mr Gilles Marchand with his Production Dpt team and, most recently, the Academic Society of Geneva. Feedbacks from all these visitors are extremely positive.

The PhysiScope will be inaugurated during the autumn through an official ceremony where its spectacular experiments will be presented.