Nuclear science is ubiquitous in modern society. From the routine sterilization of packaging to the most sophisticated diagnostic tools and treatments; from a significant part of our energy supply to many aspects of security: nuclear methods and detection techniques are everywhere. And yet, in conversations with the general public, a very different picture emerges in which very emotive responses dominate, often combined with a vague fear of the radiation that cannot be seen, heard, or smelled, but may cause harm. In short, although much progress has been made, nuclear science has still some way to go to embed the many positive ways it impacts daily life into the general debate.
Across the world great efforts by individual scientists, journalists, laboratories, governments, and learned societies are continually being made to improve the situation. Benefits are pointed out, risks are explained and quantified, technical terminology is being demystified. But anyone who has ever organized an open day or an outreach session at a school will appreciate the scale of the effort, and how difficult and resource intensive it is to scale activities up to regional, national, or international level. This is where Public Awareness of Nuclear Science (PANS) has a role to play.
PANS is a joint activity of NuPECC and the EPS, and is tasked to “[…] co-ordinate and stimulate a European wide network for communicating easily accessible information on achievements, techniques and diverse applications of nuclear physics to the general public.” It is currently run by a group of three people (Stephan Pomp for EPS/NPB, Sissy Koerner and Rodi Herzberg for NuPECC).
In the past, work under the PANS umbrella has included creating a wide spectrum of activities. Examples include publicly available reports, such as the brochures “Nuclear Physics for Medicine” (2014) and “Light to Reveal the Heart of Matter” (2015) or the summary brochures accompanying the NuPECC Long Range Plans (all are available from www.nupecc.org/pans). The NUPEX website (www.nupex.eu) aims to give a broad overview in multiple languages. And a particular highlight was the development of a thematically relevant computer game (MIAZMA or the Devil's Stone, www.atomki.hu/miazmaeng).
Recently we have decided to use the NuPECC/PANS website to collect information on national and regional outreach contacts. While the site is in its infancy, the vision is for it to become a prime resource to find like-minded contacts and activities around Europe (and beyond). I therefore invite everyone to place a link to all relevant activities and contacts onto the PANS site, where they will hopefully reach a wide audience. Maybe it will help to generate more pan-European activity by facilitating contacts between potential applicants. Maybe it will inspire someone to follow best practice shared. The full benefit of such a collection will only emerge with time, but I am confident that it will emerge.
Without your help, however, this effort is doomed. So we would like to ask for your support to realise this goal. With only a short email to any member of the PANS management team (Stephan Pomp, Sissy Koerner, Rodi Herzberg) we can hopefully build up a much more coherent and up-to-date picture of all the excellent work that is taking place on all levels and scales. So please use this site to put yourself on the map!
ORCID
Rolf-Dietmar Herzberg 
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9876-1518