The Fík-9 balloon will take experiments of high school students into the stratosphere

At the beginning of December 2023, the staff of the Department of Radiation Dosimetry, NPI, will launch Fík-9, the ninth stratospheric balloon. In conjunction with the flight, DRD has announced the FÍK-BALLOON competition for high school students to conduct scientific experiments. The deadline for applications for the competition is June 30.

Fík stratospheric balloons carrying scientific experiments are launched annually, thanks to support from the Space for Mankind program, which is part of the Czech Academy of Sciences' Strategy AV21. Students from basic and high schools, as well as university students, traditionally participate in these flights. This year, the flight will be accompanied by a scientific competition for high school students, where they will have the opportunity to design and build their own technological or scientific experiment. A part of the balloon's gondola will be allocated for their experiments, and they will fly with it to a height of approximately 35 km. More information in Czech can be found here.

Students can enter the competition with a proposal for a technological or scientific experiment, which will be judged by an expert jury. The jury will assess the overall technical processing of the experiment, the involvement of students, and the significance of the experiment. The winning proposals will receive financial and professional support for implementation.

Given the extensive work involved, ranging from designing the experiment to construction, production, and testing, the jury expects applications from teams rather than individuals. Applications can be sent to e-mail sommer@ujf.cas.cz.