Girls' Day at the IPS
On April 27, 2023, this year's "Girls' Day - Girls' Future Day" took place. The Girls' Day is a nationwide careers orientation day for girls from the 5th grade. The Girls' Day gives schoolgirls the opportunity to gain insights into professional fields that are rarely chosen by women - fields in the natural and technical sciences.
This year the Imaging and the Scattering group of the IPS offered opportunities for girls to participate.
The Imaging group offered a program together with the IMT. In the morning the girls visited the Cleanroom of the IMT where they were introduced to the development of optical components for X-ray imaging, including their visualization with visible microscopes. In the second half of the day they visited the Image beamline of the IPS where they received an introduction to X-ray radiography and tomography methods as well as to their application in materials and life sciences. Finally, they have got a demonstration of application of X-ray imaging in the CT Laboratory, where they guessed the surprise inside a chocolate egg by looking at its X-ray tomography projections → external link (in German).
The Scattering group started with a tour of the KIT Light Source, followed by hands-on experience on vacuum, thin-film technology, and sample characterization. After assembling a vacuum system, the girls found out what happens to a “chocolate kiss” when placed in vacuum. They learned why vacuum is needed in particle accelerators and coating systems, and that crystals do not need to be shiny but can be found with X-ray diffraction → external link (in German).
More information can be found on the on the Girls' Day website (in German)