Science outreach in Lithuania

During my long vacations in Lithuania, I decided to do some science outreach and gave three presentations on my work at CERN.

First, on Saturday, Jan 11th, I visited Additional Training Physics School Fizikos Olimpas during its January session week in Vilnius. In a somewhat cold lecture room (the heating presumably turns off on weekends), there was a warm atmosphere and physics-oriented schoolchildren from around the country listened to my talk and asked pointed questions.

On Monday, Jan 13th, I gave a talk at Vilnius University Institute for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy upon the kind invitation of local scientist Dr. Darius Jurčiukonis. I was a bit nervous about giving my first scientific talk in Lithuanian. The talk drew a sizable audience and interesting questions. I was also complimented on my Lithuanian translations of technical jargon. However, in the future I will probably stick to English to make my talk accessible to non-Lithuanian speakers working at or visiting Vilnius University.

Finally, on Wednesday, Jan 15th I visited my former high school Gabija in Mažeikiai. Here, I was greeted by a large audience of 16-19 old schoolgoers. Although a bit tired of loud talking (>I decided against using a mic), I was happy to answer a variety of questions about CERN and my work as a scientist. Afterward, I was given a tour of the school by the deputy head and my former physics teacher.