For the second consecutive year, the Aquae Foundation chose to make a difference in Spanish science education supporting the CERN & Society Foundation and CERN’s Spanish Teacher Programme. This year, 18 teachers were fully funded thanks to the Aquae Foundation’s grant.

The teachers came to CERN for a 5-day intensive training end of June. Through a series of specially curated lectures by CERN scientists, hands-on activities and dedicated sessions, the teachers had the chance to refresh and enhance their science knowledge with the latest developments in physics and learn new ways of engaging their students with simple and easy to replicate experiments.

The teachers left inspired, feeling more confident as educators and motivated to share their experience and knowledge acquired with their students.

It is a unique experience for a teacher of secondary education. It is a unique way to approach the world of research.

It is a very enriching experience intellectually and personally. It also allows meeting other professionals and exchanging experiences. It helps us leave our little world at times, to see the effectiveness of collaboration between people from different countries and cultures in achieving a common goal.

I have been able to understand some concepts that I could not understand just by reading. The set of conferences, visits and workshops has allowed me an effective and very stimulating learning.

The Spanish Teacher Programme is part of the CERN’s National Teacher Programmes, a series of courses offered on-site at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, in the context of CERN’s overall education efforts to promote the teaching of modern physics and increase knowledge exchange between teachers and scientists. Since the programmes began in 1998, CERN has trained over 11,500 high-school teachers from around the world in modern physics, organising around 30-35 courses annually.