Discovery Museum Kerkrade gets education centre about the Einstein Telescope

The ‘Einstein Telescope Education Centre’, or ETEC for short: this is the name of the education centre that the Dutch Discovery Museum Kerkrade will set up in its five-storey Cube building. Schoolchildren can work there on teaching materials based on current research on the Einstein Telescope. In addition, ETEC will provide a stage for at least three years from school year 2024-2025 to get acquainted with engineering and science education.

The (educational) content programmes on topics such as gravity, black holes and other areas of physics will be developed together with Gideon Koekoek, assistant professor of physics at Maastricht University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering. In addition to this educational focus, ETEC will soon be open on a regular basis to anyone interested in the Einstein Telescope. Companies and institutions that want to share their knowledge about techniques for the underground observatory can organise meetings at ETEC.

The Einstein Telescope/Nikhef project office is one of the many partners that make the ETEC possible. Other partners are the Dutch province of Limburg, Maastricht University and the Dutch Black Hole Consortium.

Future

Stan Bentvelsen, scientific director of the Einstein Telescope EMR project office and director of Nikhef is enthusiastic: “The ETEC is a fantastic initiative of the Discovery Museum, to which we as the Einstein Telescope project office in the Euregio are happy to contribute. Firstly, because the Einstein Telescope plays a central role there. Secondly, because the Discovery Museum is a very good museum, to which this fits perfectly. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, because children and young people who grow up here experience how important and fascinating technology and science are. These young people will soon be the people for whom a bright and challenging future awaits in this region at the Einstein Telescope.”