Neuron supported the FYKOS autumn camp

The camp, held twice a year, is a reward for the best solvers of the physics correspondence seminar. This year's autumn camp, in the 36th year of FYKOS, took place from 24 September to 2 October 2022 at the Zvonice chalet in Kořenov. Forty solvers took part in all and twenty-one organisers were involved in running the event. The Neuron Foundation is the competition's general partner.

The physics correspondence seminar, or FYKOS for short, is a competition for talented secondary school students. It offers them a chance to broaden their understanding of physics in an interesting way and to enter further, as yet unknown areas of the science. The seminar is organised mainly by students of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University and comes under the faculty's Institute of Theoretical Physics.

The specialist programme

At the heart of the specialist programme are lectures prepared by the organisers on a wide range of subjects. These are mainly physics lectures on various topics, covering both theoretical and applied physics. But there are also lectures on mathematics, computer science and other branches of science. At the beginning of the camp there are several blocks of mathematics exercises in which participants refresh and extend the mathematical knowledge they will later use in other lectures. Since each block usually runs 6 lectures simultaneously, they can choose a topic according to their interests and the level of difficulty.

The camp's content is not purely theoretical, though, and participants also try real physics measurements. One day is set aside for this, when they work in small groups on a chosen experiment. In doing so they try out data processing, error estimation and drawing conclusions, which they then present the following day before the other groups and a jury made up of the camp's organisers. That lets them practise thinking on their feet when answering questions and their presentation skills in general.

The leisure programme

The camp is far from being only a specialist programme; alongside it, participants and organisers unwind mentally and physically through a range of games and competitions. This year camel races, experiments with liquid nitrogen, a social evening, night games and the traditional campfire all awaited the participants. The camp thus offers a chance to build contacts with peers who share their interests and with the organisers, which is one of its most valuable long-term benefits.

The legend

By tradition the whole camp is held in the spirit of a "legend" — a story that develops over the week and gives the camp the character of an experience. In the case of this camp the legend was one of the more serious ones. Participants received an invitation to an Around the World in 8 Days trip, which began at the airfield in Kořenov, from where they set off on an imaginary journey to Egypt. After leaving Cairo, however, they unexpectedly found themselves in a state called Fykorea, ruled by a merciless totalitarian regime that recognised nothing but boundless devotion to the Leader. That was illustrated by strict, often absurd rules. Besides creating a powerful experience, the legend also had an educational purpose, since it was inspired by the regime in North Korea, from which it drew some of its elements. At the end there was also a short briefing on the North Korean regime and on the dangers of totalitarian regimes in general.

The project's stated and achieved goals

Among the project's primary goals are inspiring and educating secondary school pupils, above all in physics and possibly mathematics and computer science. In the case of this camp, given the nature of the legend, another goal was to educate students about totalitarian regimes. Not least, the camp's social benefit should be mentioned — it is measurable only over the longer term, but it is evidenced, for instance, by the very positive experiences of former participants who through FYKOS met their future classmates and colleagues or learned about various opportunities and projects that shaped their professional careers.