WG6 Education, Training & Outreach

The original mission of WG 6 is to “inspire and develop the next generation of scientists, engineers, technicians and technologists through better outreach, education and training and with enhanced mobility boost the availability of skills and expertise across Europe”. This mission continues to be central to the activities developed by the working group, to which Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Discrimination (IDEA) dimensions were included. This merging resulted from the strong overlap between WG 6 members and the LEAPS-IDEA taskforce and led e.g. to a widening of the geographical focus of the group’s activities beyond Europe.

The activities of WG6 may be clustered in the following fields of action:

• Education and Training
• Outreach and Dissemination
• Diversity
• Access and TNA

Some overlap with other LEAPS working groups exists and fosters a stronger network within LEAPS.

Outreach is inherent to the work of all LEAPS facilities. Through WG 6 we exchange ideas, learn from and support each other, as well as combine our efforts whenever possible (e.g. international science fairs, workshops, seminars etc.).

Several key goals were achieved through the LEAPS-IDEA task force, integrated in WG 6 in 2022, namely a statement release, a webpage, a booklet on best practices, among others. For more information visit the LEAPS-IDEA webpage.

An exhaustive collection of education and communication materials at the LEAPS facilities was done, which will soon be made available online.

A proposal for an HORIZON Coordination and Support Action through the call HORIZON-INFRA-2024-DEV-01 (Developing, consolidating and optimising the European research infrastructures landscape, maintaining global leadership (2024)) was submitted in early 2024. If granted, the project DeCoREA, Developing and Consolidating Research collaboration between the EU and Africa, will work towards “bringing together key actors in research and innovation from across Europe and Africa to collaboratively develop skills and research capacities, developed with and to strengthen research infrastructure collaborations”.

Following the online publication of all the available outreach, training, and communication material that has been collected, a short toolkit highlighting the best and most transferrable examples will be put together.

The working group is also currently working towards publishing a LEAPS brochure highlighting the societal impact of light sources. The brochure will showcase the real-life impact of research done at LEAPS facilities, and in this way function as a discourse tool for tangible discussions with the public, policy makers, and funding agencies.

The diversity seminar series, initiated with the LEAPS-IDEA taskforce, will be restarted.

WG6 generally meets each quarter, with more regular meetings scheduled as need arises