Introduction

EuroPhysicsFun (EPF) is a cooperative project between European physics shows, which works towards forming a community of science shows. Currently, EPF represents 27 show physics groups in 14 countries. In total, these groups reach about 250.000 people per year.

Aim

The main goal of EuroPhysicsFun is to establish a European community of show physics groups. Show physics is often an ad-hoc activity done by people from very diverse backgrounds, such as students, university staff, actors, science centers and teachers. Such a diverse community represents a great untapped resource for high-quality science communication.

EPF actively encourages the exchange of best practices between science shows by means of conferences and exchange programs. In this manner, the knowledge which is present in each physics show is made available to the community and the quality of the physics shows can be improved.

Activities

First of all, EPF organizes a yearly conference on show physics, held at the home institute of one of the participating groups. The first of these conferences was held in Aarhus, Denmark, and the most recent one was held in Leiden, the Netherlands in March 2007. The next conference will be held in Tartu, Estonia, from the 8th to 12th of April 2008.

Futhermore, EPF works on creating a website on which all of the physics shows will be able to share material (documentation, papers, pictures, links) which will turn into a searchable database for physics show content.

Contact

The EPF project coordinators (Jelmer Renema, Kees Herbschleb) can be contacted at: mail@europhysicsfun.org