The NSO welcomed another 15 students for our annual work experience week. The hugely successful program has been running since 2012 and each year some of the most enthusiastic physics students apply to spend the week at the Astrophysics Research Institute, here at Liverpool John Moores University. The week is designed to give students a genuine experience of what studying astrophysics entails, as well to provide them with an insight into what astrophysicists do on a day-today level.

 

This year the students took part in a range of workshops and activities and also undertook some research of their own. Working in small groups, they were challenged to produce both a report and a presentation on various areas of astronomy, ranging from tracking exo-planet transits to using 100 years of sunspot data to determine any patterns.

The week was a huge success and the feedback suggests the students took a great deal away with them. The comments from staff were also extremely positive and it’s clear it wasn’t just the students that had a great week! All that remains to be said is good luck in the future to all those who took part and hopefully we’ll see you all again as undergraduates very soon.