Simons Science School in Chemistry and Physics 2025

From September 28 to October 5, 2025 in Vienna

STEM education and the training of future scientists, innovators, and high-tech entrepreneurs play a key role in Ukraine's future recovery. The Ukrainian education system excels at identifying gifted youths and at nurturing them in specialised STEM schools and a highly-developed culture of science olympiads and research competitions. This experience should be studied and supported at the highest level, recognizing it as a national asset. Collaborative projects in STEM education between Ukraine and the EU will be to everyone's benefit and promote Ukraine's further integration into the EU.

The Simons Science School in Chemistry and Physics is a one-week program for Ukrainian high school students who have excelled at science competitions. The goal is to foster the students’ interest in science, to introduce them to potential research careers, and to inspire them to apply their talents to shape Ukraine’s future. During their week in Vienna, participants will engage with cutting-edge research groups of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, the University of Vienna, and TU Wien.

This event is made possible by a generous gift of the Simons Foundation, the support of the Erwin Schrödinger Institute, our unbelievable volunteers, and the work of Dmytro Rzhemovskyi and his team from Projekt MmF.

Jim Simons sets an outstanding example to us all.

Simons Science School in Chemistry and Physics 2024

Program

Sunday, September 25

Monday, September 29

Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna.

Research group Nanomagnetism and Magnonics
- Speakers: Andrii Chumak, Khrystyna Levchenko.
Research group Isotope Physics
- Speakers: Martin Martschini, Carlos Vivo Vilches

Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information

14:00 - 14:40 Talk by Markus Aspelmeyer
14:40 - 15:20 Labtours
- Speakers: TBA

Tuesday, September 30

Vienna Biocenter

09:30 – 10:00: Vienna BioCenter Introduction
- Speaker: Benedikt Mandl
10:15 – 11:15: Research group Quantum Microscopy and Biophysics
- Speaker: Thomas Juffmann
11:30 – 12:45: Research groups Chloroplast Biogenesis and Protein Quality Control / Plasticity And Repair After Brain Injury
- Speakers: Silvia Ramundo / Martina Beccari
13:00 – 13:30: Lunch at the Cafeteria of the Vienna Biocenter