Our Activities

KMO Researchers 2024 – Georgia and Mazovia

Between March and June 2024, a dozen Young Explorer Clubs from Georgia will conduct research projects on corrosion. The implementation of these activities will be coordinated and supported by Ilia State University and the Copernicus Science Centre. Through this initiative, KMO mentors will develop the ability to organise and conduct research projects in the clubs, and male and female club members will develop research attitudes and skills.

Several clubs from the Mazovian Voivodeship may also join the project. If you want to train yourself in research projects, are interested in the topic of research and want to make first contacts with Georgian KMO mentors and tutors, join the “Big Chew”!

KMO researchers – Georgian-Polish edition 2024

Caregivers interested in participating, please contact sylwia.jedra@kopernik.org.pl by 17 March. Please note: the first online meeting for carers will take place on 19 March from 5pm to 8pm.

KMO Researchers 2022-23 – Mazovia

Can you hear? In spite of your attentive ears and your rapt attention, do you not recognise the sounds of crunching, gulping, biting? And yet, all around us a huge feast is taking place, a continuous BIG FOOD! We can’t hear, we can’t see, and all the time, fragments of our surroundings are being lost. What is being devoured? Everything – and steel bridges, and plastic bottles, and concrete airport surfaces. And who is consuming all this in the process of constant consumption? The great glutton is the oxygen we need to live, it is aided by water, and this absorption is facilitated by ‘spices’ – salts dissolved in water. Are there any set times for these meals? Unfortunately, no. Foraging goes on all the time, regardless of the time of day or night. There is a different ‘menu’ in a warm and humid climate, another in a sunny desert, another in the nooks and crannies of cities or rocky cliffs.

Corrosion, as it is referred to, is not just a latent, noiseless physical and chemical phenomenon. It is an unrepayable loss that takes away from us an important part of the works of our hands and machines. Approximate estimates for Poland put it at 6-10% of GDP, a figure of around $60 billion a year – more than double the science budget.

The fight against corrosion is a constant battle in which both new methods of defence and new threats are constantly emerging. Which ones? This is where the field of action is for researchers – to recognise, investigate and protect. Get to work!

About the project

We are launching the next edition of the KMO Explorers. 20 Young Explorer Clubs will plan and carry out research projects to learn more about the phenomenon of corrosion and how external factors affect the strength of materials. The results of the projects will be presented by the clubs at a meeting at the Copernicus Science Centre. As in previous editions of the project, we will create a space for the tutors to cooperate and exchange experiences, and we will provide materials for project implementation and support.

Project addressees

We invite clubs to which primary school pupils belong, operating in the Mazovia region.

We particularly encourage clubs to participate:

• led by tutors with little experience in carrying out research projects with pupils/club members,
• operating outside Warsaw,
• involving Ukrainian pupils/students in their activities.

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