European Researchers' Night

Coming hot on the heels of the La Mercè Festival, on 27 and 28 September a wide range of activities are being held in Barcelona as part of this year's European Researcher's Night, which is taking place simultaneously in 300 cities in 30 countries. Eleven venues are putting on events in a wide variety of formats aimed at bringing science and technology to people of all backgrounds and awakening scientific vocations among students.

One of these venues is CosmoCaixa, which has planned activities aimed at a mainly young audience. There will be brief talks on leading research topics, workshops and an exhibition about nanotechnology, a dramatized lecture about women scientists, a short play, demonstrations and even an astronomical observation with a telescope in the museum's square.

For the broader public, other venues are holding talks, both short and long, about the most cutting-edge or relevant issues, among other activities. This is the case for the Urgell and Vil·la Urània civic centres, Sagrada Familia Library, the Residencia de Investigadores (Residence for Researchers), the University of Barcelona's historic building and the French Lycée. One venue in particular is FabCafè, which is holding a series of activities in English: a roundtable about who’s who in European science, presentations of research projects by doctoral students and speed dating sessions for male and female scientists.

The event also includes two proposals concerning citizen science, i.e. science involving people who are not specialised in any of the processes, from designing experiments, through gathering data, to producing results. In this area, Centro de la Playa has organised a sampling on Somorrostro beach to detect and measure the plastic waste that seawater returns to us, and CaixaForum is presenting a new pilot project focusing on the study of atmospheric pollution and its impact on health.

And there are even more activities going on that night. See the full programme through this link.