Quantum Science Austria

• When: First week of October (6-10th). You will run the program once (1 class) or twice (2 classes) in one day of that week . You can indicate your preference for that day in the registration form.
• Where: in a school/s in your city, or close to your city (you will always be able to go and return from the school within the day). The participant cities are Innsbruck, Linz and Vienna, and the regions around them.

There are two types of schools and age groups:

• Sekundarstufe I: (13-14 yo)
• Sekundarstufe II: (15-16 yo)

The escape game and the program are the same for both, the only difference being the difficulty of the riddles. The riddles are easier in the escape game for Sekundarstufe I.

The program is designed for one high-school class (group of maximum 32 students). The teacher will assist you with the students, group dynamics, etc.

Being fluent in german is neccessary to run the program in most schools. However, there will be some schools where non-german speakers can run the program in english, so if you only speak english and would like to participate, we encourage you to register, indicating in the form that you cannot speak german. The game itself is designed in german, but it is really easy to understand (most of the material contains images and visual cues, and the training session can be run in english).

The entire material for the escape game will be provided to you, including the initial presentation, a game manual and a document with the descriptions of the quantum mechanics concepts that appear in the game. You would only need to prepare a short presentation (or any other communication media) about your actual research for the Q&A session.

The quantum@school SciComm workshop consists of:

• (1h) General SciComm training
• (1h) Play the escape game and get yourself familiar with the program
• (1h) Discussion about logistics + distribution of material among participants

This workshop will take place at the quantA+VCQ summer school in Vienna on the 19th September 2025 (you can sign up for the workshop together with the summer school, or independently of it). If you are from Innsbruck and cannot attend the workshop in Vienna, please indicate so in the registration form (link below). We will do a quantum@school SciComm workshop in Innsbruck if needed.

• (60 min) Immersive Escape Game: The session begins by you giving a standard outreach talk (the slides will be given to you, it lasts for about 4 min) but quickly turns into an escape game when you receive an urgent call from your "supervisor" about a failed quantum simulation. Reality and fiction blend as students take on the challenge of solving the quantum-themed riddles to fix the simulation and help you escape a crisis in the research group. Key quantum concepts, such as superposition and the uncertainty principle, are embedded in the game, making abstract ideas more tangible.
• (40 min) Q&A with the Scientist: After the game, you will explain the quantum mechanics principles featured in the activity, share insights about your own research (this time for real ;) ), and discuss about your life as a scientist with the students.

**The program has been tested at the MIP Tag in Innsbruck and received very positive feedback from the students.