Pittsburg State students will travel to Germany to study abroad

From Morning Sun.net: Pittsburg State students will travel to Germany to study abroad
PITTSBURG — A small group of Pittsburg State University students will soon embark on a 10-day tour of Germany’s culture, food and ... astrophysics?

Part of Pitt State’s study abroad program, the group will depart next Sunday for Heidelberg, Germany, where they will take part in programs and lectures about physics and astronomy at the world-renowned Max Planck Institutes for Nuclear Physics and Astronomy and Heidelberg University. The institutes are part of the broader Max Planck Gesellschaft, a network of 80 institutes that, according to its website, “conduct basic research in the service of the general public in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.” It has produced at least 17 Nobel laureates since its establishment in 1948.

“These are the best institutes in Europe,” said physics professor Alex Konopelko, who will lead the group. “Heidelberg is a research city.”

The group includes students from a broad array of academic backgrounds, including communications, biology, English and, of course, physics. Normally, they would have to come up with most of the more than $10,000 tuition, but in this case they only have to cover the price of the plane tickets. That’s because the trip is being paid for mostly by the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, or German Academic Exchange Service. According to its website the DAAD is a “publicly-funded independent organization of higher education institutions in Germany” that each year provides “information and financial support to over 67,000 highly-qualified students and faculty for international research and study.”

Pitt State is picking up a sizable chunk of the change as well. That’s indicative, Konopelko said, of the prestige the program commands. Not surprisingly, competition among universities for one of the coveted spots is strong.

“These are usually kids from Georgia Tech, MIT, the big schools,” Konopelko said. “This is the first time and the only time we will get to go. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these students.”

It also helps that Konopelko was a researcher at the Plank Institute for Nuclear Physics from 1995 to 2003, and that he has connections at the DAAD’s branch office in New York. But his students and faculty at Pitt State are equally impressive and qualified for the honor, he said.

“We worked for three months on the application, and it was very solid,” Konopelko said. “Many people contributed to that. It’s like magic. I’m so happy and amazed that this happened.”

Of course, the students aren’t getting most-experiences-paid trip to Germany just to mingle with professors and tour the sites of Heidelberg. The trip is part of a class, Physics 540, Introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics, and during the trip they will choose a topic from one of their lectures and write a research paper when they return.

“We had to apply for the course before any students signed up,” Konopelko laughed. “We worried that we might not find them, but in the end we did.”

The students signed up for the course for myriad reasons. Allen Fluck, senior in physics, said his brother was born in Germany and that he had spent time there while in the Air Force.

“I really wanted to go back,” Fluck said at a meeting where Konopelko briefed the group on the particulars of traveling abroad. “And this is such a great opportunity.”

David Heins, who also is a senior in physics said he wanted to advance his knowledge of astronomy.

“I also want to experience German culture,” he said.

Kathryn Whitbeck is a senior in communications, but her emphasis is on Earth and space science. She said the trip is an ideal opportunity to get out of the country for a while and still learn.

“It’s a good chance to study abroad, and I get to learn about topics I’m interested in,” Whitbeck said.