Record Attendance at the European Researchers’ Night by the G9Missions Consortium
Approximately 25,000 attendees and over 1,300 researchers gathered on September 29th for this popular European event promoting scientific awareness.
Visitors enjoyed more than 400 planned activities across various cities including Oviedo, Santander, Bilbao, Pamplona, Villava, Zaragoza, Huesca, Teruel, Cuenca, Palma, Badajoz, Mérida, Cáceres, and Plasencia. A wide array of workshops, talks, exhibitions, games, and scientific-technological demonstrations aimed at engaging the general public and sparking an interest in science and research among young people.
In Pamplona and Villava, the Public University of Navarra featured workshops on virtual reality technologies like 3D glasses and holograms. Tastings of regional “superfoods” from cheese, juice, and oil industries were also popular.
The University of Cantabria saw a massive turnout, with over 6,000 people attending demonstrations and experiments at Santander’s central Plaza Pombo. Additional activities for children were offered, filling all available spots.
The University of Zaragoza celebrated the event in Zaragoza, Huesca, and Teruel. Highlights included nine educational walks covering scientific, mathematical, architectural, and natural sciences topics at the Paraninfo, as well as a special focus on Albert Einstein’s historical visit to the university over a century ago.
In Oviedo, more than 3,000 individuals visited the Historic Building of the University, with special mention to the portrait of Nobel laureate Severo Ochoa made from nearly 7,000 recycled bottle caps. The University of Oviedo also made efforts to make the event accessible to all, including those with disabilities.
Record numbers were also achieved in Bilbao, where over 4,300 people attended a science fair organized by the University of the Basque Country, featuring 20 stands on science, technology, and research. A workshop on astronomical observation was led by expert astrophysicists from the Planetary Sciences Group of the university.
A spectacular night unfolded at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, with a sold-out event featuring the play “Women Scientists of UCLM: Past, Present, and Future” at the José Luis Perales Theatre in Cuenca.
Attendees in Palma could take part in various guided tours offered by the University of the Balearic Islands in their five scientific itineraries. The event was a resounding success, thanks to contributions not only from the university’s researchers but also from the majority of the Balearic Islands’ research centers.
Lastly, the University of Extremadura held simultaneous events in Plasencia, Mérida, Cáceres, and Badajoz. More than 400 researchers engaged the public on science and technology, with a particular focus on environmental conservation. Workshops like the one organized by the EUGREEN Alliance emphasized the European perspective on sustainability and cooperation.
The full program for the Researchers’ Night at each university can be accessed at G9Missions website.
G9Missions
The joint G9 MISSIONS project of the G-9 Universities Group consists of the universities of Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Balearic Islands, Oviedo, Basque Country, Public of Navarra, and Zaragoza, with collaboration from the University of La Rioja. The project is funded by the European Commission under the HORIZON EUROPE program (Project No. 101061455).
The European Researchers’ Night, celebrated in over 370 cities across the continent, is financed by the European Commission under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)—an initiative aimed at encouraging scientific careers in Europe. It falls under Horizon Europe, the European Union’s Framework Program for Research and Innovation. The main objectives are to bring researchers closer to the general public, to promote awareness of their work and its societal benefits, as well as to encourage the pursuit of scientific careers among students while eliminating gender barriers.
COMPARTE EN TUS REDES SOCIALES CON EL HASHTAG #NIGHTSPAIN
