Phorsch! - Photonics for schools!

Within the framework of the Phorsch! project, we want to teach pupils photonics as Making key technology of the 21st century detectable through research-based learning. To this end, we use various educational formats that have already been developed and tested and carry them out with students and teachers. For example, the consortium has expertise in know-how transfer of MINT skills for teachers of primary and secondary schools I-II, as well as photonics workshops for students and teachers, in particular the Photonik Explorers and the EU project "Phablabs 4.0". In the "Phablabs 4.0" workshops, students build photonic devices under the expert guidance of the scientific partners and explore their functionality. In the project Phorsch! a new workshop is to be designed and carried out, which will integrate the technologies of the participating company partners into a new photonic demonstration device. The workshops are to be carried out in the three federal states of Styria, Vorarlberg and Vienna by the respective regional project partners and thus become a long-term activity in the institutions there. The participating companies will be given the opportunity to offer young people an insight into high-tech working environments and thus provide an incentive to choose a career in MINT areas. One focus of the project will be on the integration of female pupils and children and young people from different social and geographical backgrounds. The Fablab Graz as innovation driver and interface to the maker scene acts within the consortium as a model for self-initiated work. Since end of 2023 the project "Quantum Explorer" is running under Talente Regional FFG