International Cosmic Day - Astrophysicists for a day
Approximately 1000 particles per square metre "rain" down from space onto our earth's atmosphere every second: this is known as cosmic radiation. Some of these particles have extremely high energies - in some cases 1 million times more than the particles in the world's most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva.
Where do all these particles come from? How can they reach such high energies? Astrophysicists all over the world are researching these questions with the help of a wide variety of experiments and telescopes. On International Cosmic Days (ICD), students from school can carry out their own measurements of strange radiation at various research centres (e.g. at CERN in Geneva or Fermilab in Chicago). The University of Würzburg also invites you to be an astrophysicist for a day and explore the properties of cosmic rays!
What can you expect on International Cosmic Day?
9:00-10:00: Introductory lecture on astrophysics and cosmic rays
10:00-12:00: Measuring the properties of cosmic rays (experiments)
12:00-12:30: Lunch break
12:30-13:00: What are the Würzburg astrophysicists researching?
13:00-14:30: Evaluation and presentation of the measurement results
14:30-15:00: Video conference with student groups at other universities
Who: All interested students from 9th to 12th grade
When: The next ICD will take place on 13 November 2025.
Where: In the M!ND Centre of the University of Würzburg on the Hubland North Campus
Room 25.01.008 ( directions and map )
How: Registration by mail to wuerzburg@teilchenwelt.de
After registration you will receive a confirmation email with further details about the programme. You (or your teacher) must organise a school exemption for the day, after the event you will receive a certificate of participation. You can find more information about the next International Cosmic Day at http://icd.desy.de.
We will be happy to answer your questions by e-mail!
