The Particle Therapy Masterclass is a one-day program for students (mainly targeted for high school students). It aims to enhance participants* understanding of medical applications of particle physics, using radiation therapy as a representative example, and highlights the relevance of fundamental research in particle physics for everyday life. The Masterclass focuses on hadron therapy and the physics behind it. It was originally developed by Yiota Foka (GSI), Niklas Wahl (matRad, DKFZ) and collaborators, and the corresponding material is currently available in English and Greek.
In order to make this Masterclass more accessible in Germany and to facilitate its integration into the activities of Netzwerk Teilchenwelt, it was translated to German and adapted to the German research landscape as well as the educational curricula. The Masterclass consists mainly of two parts: In the first part, students are introduced to the theoretical background. The second part is a hands-on session where the students apply their new knowledge to create a treatment plan for a tumor using matRad, an open-source treatment planning software employed for educational purposes and teaching. The talk will present the newly adapted materials for this Masterclass as well as experiences gained in the first implementation of the Particle Therapy Masterclass within
Netzwerk Teilchenwelt.