  Studying quantum physics in upper secondary school is now a standard practice
(Stadermann et al., 2019). But given the context of science education, with low
recruitment numbers in higher education and poor attitudes towards science, it
remains a question whether students find the learning of quantum physics
relevant. In this study, we explore how students perceive the importance of
quantum physics and technology and whether their perception changes after an
intervention, namely the "Quantum Rules!" visit. We also aim to understand if
they overall feel that learning quantum is relevant or not. In order to answer
these questions, we followed a mixed-methods approach, combining both
questionnaires and interviews. The quantitative analysis showed that the
"Quantum Rules!" intervention has a positive effect on students' perception of
the relevance of quantum physics and technology, especially regarding how
important they feel quantum science is for society. Nevertheless, the
qualitative information revealed that although students may find quantum
physics and technology important for society, that does not necessarily mean
that they find learning quantum physics relevant. We found that students
believe the latter is relevant to them only if they find it interesting. We
therefore rediscover the common expression "important, but not for me," and we
further propose that this perception derives from students not seeing the
societal relevance of learning quantum physics.

Physics Education