IDPASC School
In the scope of the International Doctorate Network in Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology (IDPASC), Laboratory for Astroparticle physics of the University of Nova Gorica hosted the 6th edition of the general IDPASC school at the newly renovated Lanthieri Mansion in Vipava between May 21 - June 1, 2016. The school was made possible with kind support of the Italian Cultural Institute, Ljubljana, Instrumentation Technologies company from Solkan and the Municipality of Ajdovščina.
The school brought together around thirty talented PhD students from Austria, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia (University of Nova Gorica and Jožef Stefan Institute) and Spain. The school program was built on four main courses: Elementary Particle Physics, Cosmology, Astroparticle Physics and Neutrino Physics, which were covered by world-recognized lecturers coming from France (LPTHE and Sorbonne University, Paris), Germany (DESY, Zeuthen), Italy (Astronomical Observatories in Brera and Trieste, and University of Padova) and Slovenia (Institute Jozef Stefan and University of Nova Gorica).
Both the students and the lecturers were impressed by the beauty of Vipava valley and the Lanthieri mansion, excellent food and ice cream (with special thanks to the Podfarovž restaurant and Marjanca bar) and with the hospitality of the people. During the school, participants got a chance to attend the student wine festival, where they tasted wines created by the students of viticulture and enology at the University of Nova Gorica, experiencing one of the main traditions of the valley. Foreign students especially enjoyed the excursion to the coastal town of Piran and to the Škocjan caves, which many of them found very impressive with their breath-taking underground canyon.
High school students from Vipava and Ajdovščina high schools attended IDPASC school as well, joining for a public talk entitled "The Mistery of Dark Matter", given by our lecturer professor Marco Cirelli (LPTHE and Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France).
We are happy to provide the leading edge of science to our students, as well as the opportunities to build their international connections and to fall in love with the Vipava valley and Slovenia at large.
Below is one of the student's comments we have received in an anonymous survey about the school:
"The excursion was great, Vipava is a nice quiet place, lectures were very interesting and the people are in general really nice. I really enjoyed my time here."