Universities and entities of the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia bid farewell to September with the celebration of the “Mediterranean Night of Researchers Goes To School”
ISABIAL organizes the event SCI-DATES “Dates with Researchers,” which will offer workshops, meetings with scientists, and an exhibition on health research at the Espacio Séneca
MEDNIGHT GTS is a project associated with the initiative “European Researchers’ Night” of the European Union
Alicante (28.09.22). Universities of the Valencian Community, Castelló de la Plana, Alicante, Elche, Murcia, and Cartagena celebrate the Mediterranean Night of Researchers, coordinated under the “Mediterranean Night of Researchers Goes To School” project (Midnight GTS). The call, funded by the universities and represented by researchers and institutions from the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia, offers a program of activities for all audiences that will take place during the last weeks of September and will have its highlight on the nights of September 29 and 30, and October 2, 2022. The agenda of activities is available on the website mednightgts.eu.
Among the activities, free of charge and open access, there will be workshops and street activities, exhibitions and outreach stands that aim to bring scientific research closer to citizens. The intention of MEDNIGHT GTS is to make research accessible and close to all sectors of the population, from the general public to specific groups. Ultimately, the aim is to encourage young people’s interest in learning scientific skills that will turn them into the professionals of the future.
In Castelló de la Plana, on the afternoon of September 30 (from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.), the Jaume I University has organized collaborative workshops with hands-on experiments, demonstrations, and guided tours of public spaces such as the Agua Museum and the Río Seco Campus. In addition, children and families will be able to explore in an autonomous and experiential way different play spaces focused on discovery. A cross-cutting approach will highlight research in different fields of knowledge, exploring solutions that science can provide to the challenges of the crisis of resources and the environmental emergency. At the European level, this outreach space allows young people to participate in building a society based on knowledge, with the participation of European institutions.
In Valencia, the Night is organized by the CSIC delegation in the Valencian Community, the University of Valencia, the Polytechnic University of Valencia, the INCLIVA Institute, and Fisabio. This consortium is part of two European projects: MedNight – coordinated by CSIC, Fisabio, and INCLIVA – and MedNight GTS – UV and UPV. Today, more than 27 institutions, including universities, scientific entities, and science museums, will host sessions with thematic round tables on topics such as microorganisms in the human body, myths about vaccines, climate change, new ways to eat CO₂, the need to invest in science regarding food, or learning not to know. On September 30, a major outreach event for science will take place in the setting of the Príncipe Felipe Museum. Throughout the day, research staff from the organizing entities will offer activities for primary and secondary school students in the morning and for the general public in the afternoon, with more than 30 science workshops designed to bring science closer to Valencian society. In addition, researchers leading major European projects will meet with students and teachers at 1:00 p.m. in the European Corner to share their experiences and vocation for science. The Science Museum, Oceanogràfic, and Ciencia Eventos Científicos also collaborate, together with CaixaForum Valencia (belonging to the “la Caixa” Foundation), through its project “La Noche de la Investigación”.
The University of Alicante (UA) is promoting more than 50 activities with experiments and scientific and technological shows, talks, exhibitions, and astronomical observation in the San Vicente del Raspeig campus, as well as workshops and talks at different Science Stations (IBI, Alcoy, Santa Pola) and at the University Headquarters in Alicante. The research staff and students of the University of Alicante will present to the public, in an engaging and educational way, basic concepts of their disciplines in Mediterranean Science: archaeology, ecology, nutrition, chemistry, biology, humanities, geology, economics, robotics, and health.
Also in the city of Alicante, the Foundation of the Valencian Community for the Management of the Health and Biomedical Research Institute of Alicante (ISABIAL) has organized, from September 29 to 30, the SCI-DATES “Dates with Researchers” event at Espacio Séneca (former bus station). This is a space where talks will be held focused on health, with researchers available to discuss topics related to health, the functioning of medicines, pain, and aging. SCI-DATES, which can be visited in the morning and afternoon, will also feature an exhibition with the materials of ISABIAL, workshops for schools, and the general public from the ISABIAL Innovation Simulation Laboratory, and the presentation, with outreach activities, of the Platforms for Support to Health Research such as Biobanco, Epidemiology, Preventive Medicine, Pathological Anatomy, and Microbiology. The event, which has the collaboration of the Alicante City Council, will conclude on September 30 with an acoustic concert in Plaza Séneca.
In Elche, Miguel Hernández University of Elche and ATAMA have organized an afternoon of science aimed at young audiences, including a science show that will bring participants closer to cutting-edge research through the achievements of different scientists of recognized prestige, as well as a scientific café session in the city center on the afternoon of the 30th. Likewise, coinciding with Science Day (and as part of the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of UMH), on October 1 a full day will be held in which the public will be able to enjoy scientific workshops, booths, exhibitions, games, and hands-on activities. The program will start at 10:00 a.m. and will feature the participation of research staff from the different campuses and research areas, with dynamic and interactive workshops.
In Murcia, the University of Murcia (UMU) will organize on the afternoon of September 30 more than one hundred scientific and technological workshops in the Plaza del Cardenal Belluga. Research staff will present, in an educational way, basic concepts about Mediterranean science through games, competitions, talks, experiments, exhibitions, and guided tours across the city, all aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This Night will also be accompanied by ceremonies in which actors from El Hechizo will become renowned scientists to tell anecdotes and stories. For its part, Fundación Séneca will present the exhibition Ingenium Nostrum, a touring exhibition that brings together 25 inventions that emerged in Mediterranean countries and regions, as well as the Fake Science Hunters short video contest that debunks scientific hoaxes.
In Cartagena, the Polytechnic University of Cartagena will celebrate its main event evening at the emblematic Plaza de Héroes de Cavite, a privileged venue in the heart of the city. Students, teachers, researchers, and specialized science communicators from different parts of Spain will showcase, at exhibitions and open-air science museums, the capacity of science to transform society and solve challenges of all kinds—from energy sustainability, which contributes to combating global warming, to the availability of consumer products such as cosmetics, as well as innovations in manufacturing processes, the discoveries of Roman constructions in Cartagena, and major engineering achievements. There will also be interactive scientific parks at the Roman Theatre Museum, where historians and engineers will give public lectures presenting the documentary program Ingeniería romana. Parallel to the main event, activities will also take place at the Alfonso XIII Campus, at the El Soldadito de Plomo Museum, and at the Interpretation Centre of the Muralla Púnica. Furthermore, from the School of Industrial Engineering of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena, outreach workshops on nuclear energy will be offered, together with the activities of the Spanish Nuclear Society conference, which has been held this same week in Cartagena and will conclude with an outreach event for the common interest in engineering. With these scientific outreach activities, a new schedule will be launched under the name Cartagena Piensa and continuity will be given to the event in the city after the Carthaginians and Romans festivities that concluded the previous week.
MEDNIGHT GTS is a project associated with the European Union’s “European Researchers’ Night” initiative, funded by the Marie Skłodowska‑Curie Actions, under call identifier HORIZON‑MSCA‑2022‑CITIZENS‑01 (MSCA and Citizens 2022).
