Euregio keen on the Einstein Telescope Education Centre
The Einstein Telescope Education Centre (ETEC) in Kerkrade, the Netherlands, is keen to open its doors to schools from the Euregio. There is great demand from neighbouring countries for foreign schoolchildren also to be immersed in the world of STEM, gravitational waves, and the Einstein Telescope. From 1 June 2025, the ETEC will also open its doors to the general public one Sunday a month.
The ETEC is part of Discovery Museum, a science museum in Kerkrade. Director Hans Gubbels himself came up with the idea of establishing the ETEC here more than two years ago. “We know that society needs young people who choose to study engineering or science in the STEM fields. Physics, maths, etc. And we know that an Einstein Telescope will soon require additional staff in that field. If you want to be relevant as a science museum, and we do, you have to get young people interested.” This was how the ETEC was created, initially aimed at secondary school students from years 4-5 of senior general secondary education (HAVO) and years 4-6 of pre-university education (VWO), with strong support from Maastricht University, the Province of Limburg, the Einstein Telescope/Nikhef project office, and a range of other parties.
Source of inspiration
Since the Centre’s opening midway through the school year, more than 400 young people have ‘immersed’ themselves together with their classmates in the world of relativity theory, black holes, and the measuring of gravitational waves. The Centre can receive a thousand students per year. They attend an interactive demonstration lecture, watch the film Spacetime, engage in hands-on activities during workshops, and end the day with their own ‘report’ in the form of, for example, a film they produce themselves in the ETEC studio or a podcast, while for some, the day is a source of inspiration for a poem.
Although the number of schools that have now visited is reasonably on track, it was the strong interest from other quarters in particular that surprised Hans Gubbels. To date, teacher training colleges, museums, institutions, universities, administrators, and politicians from both North and South Limburg, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, and Flanders and Wallonia in Belgium have visited. “We have actually been a bit overwhelmed by the success, but of course you can only be pleased with that,” Hans Gubbels observes.
Interest from the Euregio
The interest from abroad in particular, with strong demand for schoolchildren from the surrounding Euregio to be welcomed to the Centre, calls for a further step. “We have found that our programme aligns well with education in neighbouring countries. Basically, you just need to translate the material into German and French, and find people who can guide groups in those languages. For example, we’re considering reserving Tuesdays entirely for schools from the Euregio, but another day is of course possible.”
To meet demand from the Euregio, Hans Gubbels, together with interested parties and stakeholders, will seek financial or practical support: “We have the inspiring environment of the museum and all the exhibits and materials. Judging from the enthusiasm, it should be possible to have this funded from those countries. It would be a positive and in fact a logical step: after all, the Einstein Telescope is also a Euregio-wide project.”
Sunday opening
From 1 June, the ETEC will also open one Sunday a month to visitors other than school students. Hans Gubbels explains: “We are currently set up for schools as regards guides and budget. But we want to open the ETEC’s doors once a month to other interested parties. We’re still figuring out exactly how to organise it, as visitors will have to register to participate. The price of an ETEC ticket has not yet been determined, but future ETEC visitors will not also have to buy a separate ticket for the Discovery Museum. But you can of course do so if you also want to visit our museum. Like the ETEC, it is absolutely worth a visit…!”
