Youth and Science

Bolshie Koty: from the participant's point of view

If all the water contained in Baikal (23 615 390 km³) is divided among all citizens of Russia (141 927 297 people), then each person will receive about 166.4 thousand cubic meters of water that is about 2773 railway tanks of 60 tons each.

And every summer on the shore of the "Siberian Sea" an amazing event is held: in the village of Bolshie Koty that by the way, can only be reached by water, leading specialists in the field of particle physics from Russia and abroad share their experience with young colleagues as part of the Baikal Summer School that has been organized for more than 20 years by JINR and Irkutsk State University.

In the atmosphere of the Russian hinterland, under the mooing of cows, fundamental problems of quantum field theory, record characteristics of future colliders and even the structure of the human genome are discussed. Focus is on neutrino physics and it is not surprising, for Lake Baikal is also one of the largest neutrino telescopes on Earth!

"This year, the School was held in English, as there was a large delegation of lecturers and students from China, there was a Cuban, although ours, from VBLHEP, from Serbia, Vietnam and Bangladesh, too. On the one hand, it was a test for many, on the other hand, it was also a good training in international communication: you need to explain, to understand, to ask a question, in general, to work in the conditions that have developed. It is great that students can get such experience already at the beginning of their scientific activity. Some presented their results in English for the first time, they were nervous, of course, stumbled, but how could it be otherwise? Everyone goes through it. It was also more fun to work in groups, the organizers specially tried to mix them up and it definitely added a twist.

In their free time, the participants of the School had the opportunity to conquer non-scientific peaks: a walking tour of Mount Skripper was a good test of the physical fitness of students and lecturers and the especially brave even experienced the refreshing coolness of Baikal water: "That's tradition!" the organizers say.

No less important component was also the cultural exchange. Steaming foreigners in a real Russian bathhouse was a special pleasure for the "hosts" of the School. Gatherings around an evening campfire a few meters from the water will leave an unforgettable impression of Russia, Russian people and simply the atmosphere of this event. Songs composed and performed by DLNP Deputy Director D. V. Naumov and by the trill of the polyphonic students from the Physics Department of Irkutsk State University that also performed as choristers, certainly left no one indifferent.

The XXIV Baikal Summer School on Particle Physics and Astrophysics was held on 10-17 July and we hope that it will be held more than once. Don't miss your chance to be on the shores of Lake Baikal next year!

Vladislav SHALAEV,
Junior researcher, VBLHEP