First conference of the RACOBEU ERASMUS+ project

May 13, 2024

From 22 to 26 April this year, Ventspils University University of Applied Sciences together with Ventspils Secondary School No.2 organised a conference for students of the project RACOBEU (Radio Astronomy. Cooperation between European Universities: Developing Scientific and Technological Skills through Astronomy). Partners from Latvia, Spain and Poland participated in the conference in Ventspils. Lectures, seminars, excursions, hands-on activities and creative activities took place throughout the week.


On the first day of the conference, Latvian, Spanish and Polish student teams presented themselves and the educational institutions they represent. Students from Ventspils Secondary School No 2, together with their teachers, had prepared lively activities with Latvian traditions, songs and dances. After visiting Ventspils Secondary School No. 2, the conference participants went to Irbene, where they had the opportunity to see the radio telescope complex, go on a guided tour with Andrejs Dzelme and learn about the ongoing research at the VIRAC of the VUAS, which was presented by Dmitrijs Bezrukovs and Vladislavs Bezrukovs.


The following day, lectures were given by university lecturers and researchers:

  • Silvia Diaz (UPNA) "Presentation of the UPNA and RACOBEU",
  • Pawel Bialoblocki (AMU) "Astronomical Observatories of the Adam Mickiewicz University",
  • Jesus Alberto Cazares Montes (VUAS) "A short journey to the physics",
  • Jesús Palacián and Patricia Yanguas (UPNA) "The role of mathematics in astronomy".


The conference continued with presentations of students' astronomy projects:

  • V2V students presented solar observation methods. "Solar Cycles",
  • Polina Lugantseva. "Geomagnetic Storms",
  • Sofia Bezrukova. "Solar Radioastronomical Observatories",
  • Pavel Tokarev. "The Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)",
  • Max Odintsov. "Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)".
  • The Irubide team (Maria Molina Hernando, Eva Sanchez Hernandez, Javier Muniain Luque, Xabier Aramendia Unzue, Unai Allue Bere, Adrian Martinez Michel) from Spain presented the project "NIMBUS: "Earth from the skies".
  • The Spark team from Poland (Monika Urbaniak, Anna Dziadon, Tytus Golec, Antoni Judek, Oleksii Subota) presented their Graphical Astronomical Project.


At the end of the day, we met at the Ventspils Seaside Camping, where a mind games competition and other creative activities took place.

On 24 April, Endika Aguirre and Wassim Bouzarhoun, students at UPNA, gave a hands-on session on solar mapping data processing. The class was followed by a trip to the VIZIUM Science Centre. The next day was spent listening to lectures (Vladislavs Bezrukovs (VUAS) "Space based observatories and instruments", Jesus Alberto Cazares Montes (VUAS) "Lilliput ruling the world of Titans"), visiting the Ventspils Planetarium and Observatory. Milana Odintsova and Sofia Bezrukova organised a tour of Ventspils Old Town. At the end of the conference, certificates were awarded and expressions of gratitude were made.

 

The RACOBEU project continues to meet next spring for the second Students Conference, where we will be hosted by our Polish colleagues.

 

The RACOBEU project is implemented under the ERASMUS+ "KA220 Cooperation Partnerships in Higher Education" programme. The project partners are Universidad Publica de Navarra (UPNA, Spain), Ventspils University of Applied Sciences (VUAS, Latvia), Uniwersytet IM. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu (AMU, Poland), IES Padre Moret-Irubide (Spain), Spark Academy - Liceum Ogólnokształcące (Poland), Ventspils 2. vidusskola (Latvia).

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