Chats

The Xperimania chat sessions address classes that are led by one or more teachers and aim at promoting awareness of all aspects of petrochemistry. Since these chats bring together key European personalities and classes from different European countries, they may enhance a lesson focusing on a significant subject.

Students from nine schools around Europe participated in the Xperimania online chat on “Petrochemistry and toys” on 25 April 2008. Dr. Ralf Eisert, Head of Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs at BASF answered students’ questions on what toys are made of in this spring’s last Xperimania chat.

“What career opportunities are there in the chemical industry?” asked students from 11 schools around Europe on the fourth Xperimania online chat on 14 March. Fabian Scuvie from essenscia, the Belgian chemistry association, gave students practical and helpful advice in planning their professional life.

15 schools all around Europe attended the third Xperimania online chat on 31 January focusing on the topic: Petrochemistry: caring for the environment? Students’ questions were answered by two top experts, Dr. Roger Van der Linden Group Manager for Environment, Energy and Product Stewardship – Borealis and Dr. Joachim Krueger, Executive Director of the Energy, Health, Safety & the Environment & Logistics Programme at Cefic.

What is the role of science in the world of sports? Michel Caillibotte, Global Brand Marketing Manager of Sportswear for Dow Fiber Solutions, visited the EUN office in Brussels on 10 December 2007 to chat about this very topic. Pupils from six schools in the European Union were online for the second Xperimania chat to ask questions based on the theme of “Sports and Science: How the Olympic Games rely on Petrochemistry”.

What’s the link between fashion and science? Pupils taking part in the first Xperimania chat for schools, held on 25 October 2007, got the chance to explore the topic with an expert guest. Children from schools in 10 countries posed their questions to the invited expert, Dr. Susannah Handley, on the theme “Fashion: how nylon and modern artificial fabrics came into our lives”.

An online chat is a real-time, synchronous, text-based communication via computer. Participants in online chat sessions type messages to each other using their keyboards. The message then appears on the screens of all the participants. They may be in the same room or in different locations anywhere around the globe.