Outreach
Tweets by @freyablekmanWhat is Outreach?
One only really understands physics when one can explain it to the barmaid in the local pub
The explanation of the concepts of basic research to non-experts is usually referred to as outreach. Nowadays, with the dwindling number of students choosing scientific subjects is in sharp contrast with the demand of scientists in all different roles of society (so not only to work at universities or research labs like CERN). Science is considered either hard, or boring or both. This is particularly interesting as the jobs that scientists hold are typically not boring at all, these are some of the more wanted jobs society but some way or another this concept is not conveyed to high school students when they choose or plan their future.
Why?
CMS outreach
In the CMS collaboration I've been active in the outreach committee for a while. One of my contributions was the Dutch translation of the CMS brochure. The CMS brochure is aimed at advanced high school students, and explains in two pages what CMS is trying to measure, why this is interesting and also relevant for people who are not directly contributing to basic particle physics research.