How can we understand the science represented by numbers and graphs in real-world applications?

At CNPEM, sciences such as physics, mathematics, chemistry, and biology play a role in many projects. Through mastery of these areas, researchers design solutions to the problems we face. Here waves, graphs, and reactions transform into energy, light, movement, friction, and answers, leaping off the pages of textbooks and making complete sense.

At the Sirius School for High School Teachers (ESPEM), an event promoted by CNPEM in partnership with the Brazilian Society of Physics (SBF) and financed by MCTI with resources from the Science in School program, teachers from municipal, state, federal, and private schools all over the country have the opportunity to become students again for a week, as part of an immersive experience in CNPEM’s cutting-edge research and development atmosphere, in order to bring ideas from modern science into the classroom.

The ESPEM program presents the Sirius synchrotron light source (which also lends its name to this event), including an introduction to particle accelerators, synchrotron light production, the interaction between light and matter and applications in the various areas of science. The teachers also come into contact with the research being carried out at each of CNPEM’s National Laboratories, through visits to these facilities and seminars on current topics related to the different areas in which the Center’s researchers work. The ESPEM program is more than just an initiative to disseminate information about CNPEM’s activities: it brings teachers closer to the context of scientific research. The Sirius School has the potential to be a turning point in the training of teachers who participate, as well as in their practice inside and outside the classroom.

The program of the meetings includes an introduction to particle accelerators, the production of synchrotron light, and the interaction between light and matter and its applications in different areas of science.