Program Overview

Online Workshop MW-Gaia: Bringing the Milky Way to Schools 2021

The COST action CA-18104 workshop on Bringing the Milky Way to schools will take place virtually, hosted by Instituto de AstrofÌsica e CiÍncias do EspaÁo (Porto) and Vilnius University, from 2-4 June 2021.

Workshop Overview

The MW-GAIA main purpose is to provide a better understanding of the Galaxy, its stars and planets, to enhance the potential of the community in its scientific exploitation of the observations of more than a billion stars with the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite, and to enhance the development of the next steps in astrometry and space astrometry missions.

Objectives

• Bring together the research, the teaching, and the science communication communities
• Present the work done on the exploration of the Milky Way
• Turn this knowledge into useful and powerful tools for teaching, astronomy outreach, and communicating science in general
• Create a dynamic and vibrant network of researchers with expertise in the study of the Milky Way and teachers that aim to make their classrooms more engaging by using the Milky Way as a learning tool

Topics Covered

• The Milky Way as a Galaxy: the science and research background
• Dissemination of the GAIA science
• Bringing the research closer to the public
• Teaching the Milky Way in schools
• How to make teaching and science communication more inclusive

Participation and Presentations

• Encouragement to submit a talk or poster presentation on topics of one's expertise
• Encouragement of posters from schools, astronomy clubs, or astronomy enthusiasts to tell the success story of their educational activity
• Two poster prizes will be issued: best poster and best poster from a school

Workshop Format

• The workshop will be run online via ZOOM
• A main channel for plenary sessions and breakout channels for additional focused discussions and meetings will be defined
• Meeting passcodes will be sent to registered participants
• Dedicated meeting URLs will be attached to respective talks and events
• Additional Slack Channels will be set up for dedicated chats