Report – ISS 2003 – Jargil Santos

The 2003 Professor Harry Messel International Science School held in Sydney, Australia had to have been the best of such residential science programmes I have attended, although the one I attended in Auckland at the beginning of this year comes a close second. The lecturers were of international renown, including one Nobel Laureate, and the academic activities around the campus were very interesting and offered a lot of variety. Not only that, but the gathering of high achieving students with similar interests and high levels of motivation helped my social and interpersonal skills, and gave me a similar motivation to pursue my interests.

There were 140 students in all that attended this science school, mostly Australians, but also including international students from Japan, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the UK, and the USA.

As one of the 6 new Zealanders in Australia, i expected a bit of trans-Tasman mockery, but as it turns out, the Australians pick on Tasmanians more than new Zealanders. Still, they made me say 'fish and chips' and the number '6' quite a few times, because apparently there is such a thing as a new Zealand accent.

One of the best things about ISS was the fact that although many different nationalities and cultures were present, we all had similar interests and abilities in the field of science. Bringing people with similar interests and abilities together in one place allowed for an excellent opportunity to make friends across the country, as everyone could relate to one another easily, and it was interesting to learn of the cultures of the international students.

The lifestyle we enjoyed at St John College was great. Id open my door in the morning to 139 other teenagers like myself, and friendships are made very quickly when everyone lives in the same building. I would imagine living at a university hostel is much like this and for this reason, I am eagerly looking forward to University next year.

The theme of this years ISS was ‘From Zero to Infinity’, and it was shown by diverse lectures, from exploring the very small, the fundamental subatomic particles that make up the universe, the quarks, leptons, and bosons, to the dynamics of colliding galaxies and the Universe itself.

We explored volcano and plate tectonics in the Geology lecture, the systems that govern the sea floor in Marine Geo-Informatics, and the complexities of High resolution Computer weather forecasting. We were enlightened on the methods used by astronomers to search for planets around faraway stars, and the ways in which astrobiologists determine the likelihood of life there. The star lectures gave us an insight into the formation and destruction of stars, and the way in which they manufacture the heavy elements that make planets and life possible, while the Cosmic rays talk showed how vulnerable we were to high velocity ions from sources outside our galaxy, and how well the atmosphere protects us from this. Of course, there had to be the touristy lecture on native Australian marsupials, which I guess was geared at the international audience, and who could forget Dr Karl Kruszelnicky. He was quite a character. His lectures ranged from the reasons for bellybutton lint and its colour, to the survival rate of cats suffering multistorey falls, to the reasons why toast always falls buttered side down.

One of the best things about the ISS lecture programme is that a large range of diverse topics were featured, yet each was covered in incredible detail and depth, and all the material was interesting and appealing.

As well as lectures, there were several academic activities organised for us.

One of the activities involved looking at their massive powerful microscopes. One of them filled the entire room, and I was amazed by the fact that this microscope could see the individual atoms that made up the piece of metal we were examining.

On another day, the activity was Geoscience and GPS navigation. Our team proved that it was still possible to get lost, even while possessing high tech navigation devices.

Other organised activities included tours of the Sydney University, the astronomy role-play, and the biology session, involving finding worms, scorpions, spiders, springtails and other little beasts in a tub of leaf litter.

The activities, most of them hands-on, showcased a number of aspects within science, and were an excellent complement to the lecture sessions.

But it wasn’t all academic and learning related. There was ample time allocated for us to socialise, and participate in recreational activities.

In the evenings, there would usually be a few options for social activities. We had rock climbing, IMAX, the local cinemas, ice-skating, visits to the aquarium, bushwalking, and the traditional Australian Bush Dance, all of which helped us to unwind and prepare for the next days lectures and activities.....either that or increase our already high levels of exhaustion to the point where we would drift off to sleep in a second, no matter how cold it was. And it was very cold in Sydney.

In the weekend, we had free time to do whatever we wanted, whether it was catch up on all the sleep we missed from staying up late and socialising every night, or explore Sydney and see the sights. There was also a harbour cruise organised on Saturday night, which was an experience we all thoroughly enjoyed.

Because of attending the 2003 international science school, I have broadened my knowledge and interests in the fields of science and physics and made several valuable friendships with like-minded people from around the world. The knowledge and the fact that I had attended such a prestigious and major international event in science has granted me greater confidence and motivation to pursue other similar opportunities that come up in the future. It was one of the best experiences of my life, one that I will never forget.

My thanks go to New Plymouth Boys’ High School, the Bell Block and Egmont Lions Clubs and the Taranaki Filipino Society for sponsoring me, and the Royal Society of New Zealand for selecting me, that I could attend this prestigious international event.