The Prague IEEE NPSS EduCom International Summer School  (PEISS) was held at the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics (IEAP), Czech Technical University in Prague, Czechia, from June 30 to July 12, 2025. It was organized jointly by the NPSS Educational Committee (EduCom) and IEAP. Stanislav Pospíšil, Director Emeritus of IEAP, and his team did an excellent job in setting up the auditorium for the lectures, classrooms for the exercises and preparing all the related logistics. We were able to use the historical building of IEAP in the beautiful old town of Prague.

From over 100 applications, 31 participants were selected. Most of them were Master and Ph.D students. The gender ratio was well balanced with 17 male and 14 female students. As special guests we invited 6 Czech high school students that were winners in the national Mathematics and Physics Olympiad. The school may well be the “most international” one that we have organized so far. Even if all participants live and study in Europe, the list of countries is impressive: Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Finland, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Mongolia, Pakistan, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Taiwan, UK, Ukraine, and USA. The school has thus become a real bridge connecting scientifically focused early-stage researchers of different nationalities in full accordance with the NPSS strategic goal to “encourage the growth of an international cooperation of diverse and inclusive community of volunteers”, which is particularly important in these difficult times.

The school program ran for 2 weeks of intensive learning, covering key topics related to nuclear radiation instrumentation, measurements, data analysis, statistics, artificial intelligence (AI), and their applications in fundamental subatomic physics, nuclear medical sciences, future nuclear reactor concepts and space applications. Lectures were held every morning. About half the faculty consisted of members from the NPSS community (mostly RISC, NMISC and CANPS technical committees), and the other half of local researchers from Prague. The lecture program is available here: https://indico.global/event/6815/timetable/?view=standard

In the afternoons students divided into small groups of 2 to 4 persons for the exercises. Being at a physics institute allowed us to offer a range of in total nine different exercises based on quite advanced nuclear instrumentation dedicated to different applications. See the detailed description of the exercises here: https://indico.global/event/6815/page/4221-exercises. During the school the students rotated through the exercises so that each group could do each of them. The students also had the opportunity to perform their own measurements on a high-resolution X-ray tomograph.

We are very proud of some of the comments in the students’ survey, for example:

“What I liked most was the diversity and richness of the scientific content. From proton therapy to FLASH radiotherapy, and data acquisition systems (DAQ), each module brought valuable insights. Additionally, the practical workshops — especially those involving CzechRad measurements and GPS mapping — allowed me to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world scenarios. And of course, meeting brilliant students and researchers from all over the world created an inspiring and motivating environment.”

More student sentiments are included in this article.

The program included two excursions: During the first week we visited the Nuclear Physics Institute (NPI) Czech Academy of Sciences in Řež near Prague. Founded in 1955 and originally dedicated to research on nuclear power, it is now much more widely positioned with subatomic research, development and innovation in general. We could attend tours of several laboratories. One was the Tandetron designed for surface analysis of material and biological samples using microbeams of energetic ions and an AMS laboratory designed for dating samples using the carbon method. Very impressive was the U-120 cyclotron (manufactured in former USSR and installed in the 1960s), later upgraded to U-120M cyclotron (designed and manufactured in the 1970s in cooperation with JINR Dubna). It is still in operation today as an intensive fast neutron source for radiation hardness studies!

A second excursion was more of a touristic nature: we took a hike in the beautiful nature of Český ráj (Bohemian Paradise) about 100 km north east of Prague. The hike took us several hours over some hills, with beautiful viewpoints, the historic Valdštejn castle, interesting reliefs cut into rocks in the forest, and finally another castle, Hrubá Skála.

The school also included a very stimulating Women In Engineering (WIE) event, please see the separate article in this Newsletter.

During and after the school our participants posted their impressions on Social Media, in particular on LinkedIn. This gave increased visibility of the school to a broader audience and made some very nice publicity for IEEE and NPSS:

“I really appreciated how present and accessible the professors were. We could ask them questions at any time—whether about the exercises or their personal experiences. I also really enjoyed the cultural day we had together, especially the trip to the mountains. It was a great way to connect with everyone in a more relaxed setting.” (from the student survey)

“After this enriching experience, I’ve decided to join IEEE and NPSS, and I highly recommend it to anyone working in the field, as these communities offer truly valuable opportunities for learning, networking and professional growth.” (Laura, on LinkedIn)

On the last day each student gave a short presentation about one school topic of his/her choice. Giving presentations is important in the professional life of a scientist, and the school provides a training ground without the pressure of an exam or a conference.

“It was the first time (in a presentation) I didn’t get adrenaline rush that made my voice shake. Definitely built up some confidence for me.” (from the student survey)

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The success of the school is reflected by a survey conducted at the end: everybody confirmed their perfect satisfaction with the school in general, the lectures, the exercises, the teachers and the social program. Some quotes from the survey are scattered throughout this Newsletter article. – At the school in Rabat 2024 due to logistic constraints we had to run all the lectures in the first week and all the exercises in the second week – which was noted as not optimal in the Rabat survey. In Prague we could have lectures and exercises every day which made for a much better balance.

“(I liked most) the balance between lectures/exercises and free time, which was perfect in my opinion, and the possibility to meet extraordinary people (both professors and students).” (from the student survey)

On behalf of the organizing committee, we would like to warmly thank all the lecturers and exercises tutors and assistants. The organizers gratefully acknowledge the financial and logistics support by NPSS (EduCom, Distinguished Lecturer program , DING initiative, ECTG initiative) and IEAP Prague.

“It was the most interactive summer school I have ever attended. I am so grateful to have been selected as one of the students.” (from the student survey)

Patrick Le Du, EduCom honorary member, can be reached by E-mail at [email protected]

Martin Grossmann, NPSS EduCom Chair, can be reached by E-mail at [email protected]