More than 20 IceCube institutions hosted 200 students in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, and the United States for the thirteenth edition of the IceCube Masterclass. Held between the months of March and May this year, the host institutions provided a day full of hands-on activities, webcasts, and lectures to local high school students. Since 2014, the program has exposed students to research careers in astrophysics, particularly IceCube science.
This year, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz held three masterclasses that were open to local high school students. Participants took part in a cloud chamber activity and an event classification and selection exercise, and, for participants in the international masterclass, a virtual call with winterovers at the South Pole.
Elsewhere in Germany, RWTH Aachen University hosted four participants from a neighboring city. They learned about IceCube and astrophysics, built their own cloud chambers, and classified the visible track-like IceCube events from the surrounding and radioactive probes.
At Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), a total of 24 students participated in the one-day event. The students listened to insights from an IceCube scientist at DESY and worked with an event display that was available on the IceCube Masterclass website. At the end of the day, all participants received certificates.
In the US, Mercer University and Georgia Tech University once again cohosted a masterclass at Mercer’s campus for 20 local high school students. The students enjoyed the day learning about IceCube science and reconstructing cosmic rays. Participants at Michigan State University built their own cloud chambers and learned about IceCube hardware. The University of Utah also held another successful masterclass this year.
Elsewhere in the US, the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology hosted 48 high school students and four teachers for a one-day masterclass. IceCube researchers gave science lectures and hands-on training and practice, including a machine learning exercise on IceCube neutrino event recognition and cosmic ray spectrum analyses. One highlight this year was a virtual call with IceCube winterovers, which gave the students a chance to learn how scientists work and live at the South Pole. After the masterclass, the feedback received from the students was very positive.
In collaboration with a pre-college STEM program, Stony Brook University held a one-day masterclass for 13 preselected local high school students. Following IceCube presentations, the students connected virtually with IceCube winterovers at the South Pole and engaged in hands-on lab activities, such as testing activity levels of radioactive sources with Gaiger-Mueller counters.
The Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC) also hosted seven local high school students this year. The students heard from a WIPAC graduate student, connected with researchers at the South Pole, and worked through example analyses to end the day.
“Introducing masterclass participants to science careers and to IceCube science is a highlight for collaboration-wide outreach each year,” says Ellen Bechtol, outreach program manager at WIPAC who helps organize the IceCube Masterclass every year. “Many thanks to everyone at all the participating institutions who helped make the thirteenth IceCube Masterclass a success.”
