Research Tours 2017-2018: National Hellenic Research Foundation educational action for high schools

One of the largest research centres of the country, the National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), uses its wealth of research and educational experience to respond to the scientific demands of young people, broadening their scope of scientific pursuits. To facilitate this, it has organised, for the second successive year, the educational action ‘Research Tours’.

The action in question is mainly intended for high school students, who will have the chance to visit the various Institutes of the NHRF (Institute of Historical Research, Institute of Biology, Medicinal Chemistry & Biotechnology, Theoretical & Physical Chemistry Institute) and the National Documentation Centre to meet the researchers, visit the labs and learn about the research being done there. The visits are designed to encourage students to explore fields that cultivate research, become acquainted with the profession, the researcher’s work environment and the tools of their research as well as observe ongoing experiments. An equally important objective of the action is the  fostering of  free critical thinking.

Visits are scheduled for specific weeks during the school year. This year, the NHRF will open its doors to receive students from all schools in the country at three different times (6-10 November 2017, 5-9 February 2018, 23-27 April 2018). During these visits, students will, among other things, learn about the Foundation and the school’s chosen institute, visit labs and the library and take part in discussions.

National Documentation Centre (EKT)

While visiting EKT’s Library of Science, Technology & Culture, students will be able to experience a vital link in the flow of Research: the exploitation of newly generated knowledge. This will be possible as EKT is the national body responsible not only for the collection, organisation, documentation and dissemination of scientific, technological and cultural information for the research and cultural communities but also the study of existing published or non-scientific research.

During their visit, students will learn how to make use of the library services, discover different types of academic communication (scientific journals, monographs etc) and learn about concepts such as ethics in research and the use of academic and research information. In addition to learning about new trends in the process of scientific publications, such as Open Access, ejournals, digital repositories, means of scientific networking, open science and open data, besides having the chance to learn new search and retrieval techniques, they will learn how to use key words, primary material and information resources. One of the most innovative online environments for them to experience is MITIDA, which offers the latest tools and free access to the digital resources provided by EKT. Using MITIDA, participating teachers and students can work together, experiment and create their own interactive digital educational content.

Those who wish to, can visit EKT’s Datacentre, which hosts hundreds of physical and virtual servers and is an e-infrastructure reference point for the country. Last but not least, they can be given guidance on the collection of material relating to the school’s research projects.

Participation Procedure

Register online at (https://goo.gl/forms/VrK0TAYqC9rUdLc23), or download the Application Form (NHRF_Schools_Aitisi.doc) and email to education@eie.gr.

Deadlines for registration are:

• For the week 6-10/11/2017 : Registration by 20/10/2017
• For the week 5-9/02/2018 : Registration by 19/01/2018
• For the week 23-27/04/2018 : Registration by 30/03/2018