Graduate students of the Department № 67 at NESPI Aleksander Savchenko and Anastasia Feshchenko ("Radiation of relativistic particles") have taken part in the scientific school "Summer School on Heavy Ion Physics - From Fundamentals to Applications". It was held in the framework of the International Conference "Giersch International Symposium" from 23th to 27th of October in Frankfurt-am-Main. The School was organized with participation of MEPhI specialists from institutions of NESPI and PhysBio.
On October, 23 the Frankfurt Institute for advanced studies (FIAS) opened its doors to the participants of the School – bachelors, undergraduates, postgraduate students and young scientists from Russia, Serbia, Cuba, Indonesia, France, Italy, the UK and Germany. Lectures covered various aspects of radiotherapy: basics of medical physics and physics of particle accelerators, diagnostics of cancer, dosimetry of ionizing radiation, treatment of patients. Received knowledge was consolidated during the practical sessions. Participants got acquainted with the software package FLUKA (CERN/INFN), designed for simulation of interaction processes of particles and radiation with matter.
On the second day of the School there was an excursion in Marburg Ion-Beam Therapy Center, located 80 kilometers North of Frankfurt. The heart of the centre is a small proton synchrotron designed to accelerate protons and ions of carbon-12 to energies of 300 – 400 MeV. The excursion started from the injector part of the accelerator, where beams of protons or carbon ions break out of the plasma furnace and are accelerated and placed in the main ring of the accelerator. Reaching the maximum energy, the particles are retained on the trajectory by the deflecting magnets. Being fully completed with particles, the ring begins to work as a cumulative one, and it makes it possible to reset the beam in one of the four chambers for irradiation of patients. The staff of the center told about how to calculate the required dose using a water phantom, how to make a plan of patients exposure, what are the ways of their fixation and beam positioning to prevent the exposure of healthy tissue. These excursions allow to see the practical side of studying science.
On the third day of the School the lectures on treatment planning and calculation of radiation dose, as well as practical section, was followed by a surprise in the form of a visiting to the quest rooms. Then the organizers held a sightseeing excursion of the city, the culmination was a visit to the observation deck on the skyscraper’s roof. Have to say, such events bring participants together and make communication easier and more productive.
The fourth day was dedicated to the visit to the Giersch Museum, who was the founder of the fund, which fully sponsors the School.
On the last day the participants were lectured on the use of radiation for the analysis of art’s objects and unlock the mysteries of ancient civilizations. Also, participants had an opportunity to independently use suggested software to perform fluorescence spectrum of several paintings.
