150 Outreach Activities Close European Researchers’ Night in Barcelona

Over 300 cities have joined the 2019 edition of the European Researchers’ Night, and Barcelona was one of them. In this city, the event, comprising an extensive programme of 150 activities, was led by the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a research centre supported by ”la Caixa”.

The mission of European Researchers’ Night, an event organised in the framework of the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme, is to bring research and researchers closer to the general public, to break down stereotypes and to promote research among young people, encouraging them to choose careers in scientific research. The events offer attendees the possibility of enjoying short presentations (microtalks), workshops, shows and games organised by scientists, among other activities.

This year, European Researchers’ Night in Barcelona was extended to include events taking place between the morning of Thursday 26 September and the evening of Saturday 28 September. The number of entities participating also increased. This year, in addition to CosmoCaixa, the Vil·la Urània Civic Centre and the Sagrada Familia Library, activities also took place at the Barcelona CaixaForum, the UB’s Historic Building, the Lycée Français, theCSIC Delegation, the Centre Cívic Urgell, FabCafé, the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), and the Centre de la Platja. Another innovation was the participation of two other municipalities in the Barcelona area: l’Hospitalet de Llobregat and Viladecans.

Science for Every Taste

The variety of the programme was due not only to the type of activities available but also to the diversity of the subject matter. For instance, the microtalks held in the UB's historic downtown campus covered a wide range of topics, ranging from neuroscience to pollution and health, including rare diseases and cancer. Other highlights included the Micro-Combat tournament at the Sagrada Familia Library using a card game designed by ISGlobal and the guided tours of the UB’s Science Park (PCB).

Once again this year, Cosmo Caixa was one of the main attractions of the night. The institution offered a wide range of activities including more than twenty microtalks on very diverse topics, a series of workshops about nanoscience and a dramatized reading of a work about women who played a key role in the history of science.

European Researchers’ Night in Barcelona takes place as part of EUNightCat, a joint initiative of the University of Barcelona, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, the University of Lleida, the University of Girona, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and ISGlobal, in collaboration with the Catalan Association of Scientific Communication (ACCC). The aim of the event is to showcase the research carried out in all these different Catalan research institutions.