The European Researchers’ Night in Finland was celebrated on the last Friday of September, 29.09.2017 in 14 cities. At the event the visitors encountered science in various ways. People of all ages experienced the work of the researchers and saw how science impacts on our everyday life. There were over 24 000 visitors and hundreds of researchers participating all over Finland.
The European Researchers’ Night is a European-wide science event organized since 2005 aiming to make science and the work of researchers known to the public. In Finland, the European Researchers’ Night was organized on this scale for the first time last year and it reached over 15 000 visitors.
This year the event’s themes where Change and Finland 100. Science was explored for example through workshops, interaction with the scientists, science lectures and laboratory visits. The most popular programs among others were the Science Slam -competition and the virtual tour to the European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN in Tampere, star show in Oulu, Aurora Night in Rovaniemi and the diverse program in shopping center Matkus in Kuopio.
The European Researchers’ Night in Finland gathered an enormous amount of visitors especially in Jyväskylä where many faculties organized program that reached as much as 12 000 participants. Plenty of people took also part in the event in Turku where the Turku Cathedral was full of people interested in science.
”Objectives of the European Researchers’ Night were to give faces to scientists and emphasize the importance of fundamental research. Excited researchers were successful in transferring the spark of research to the visitors. I believe that a research career is seen now as a more attractive option for many visitors of the event”, Event Coordinator, Academy Research Fellow Janne Pakarinen says.
The European Researchers’ Night was held in Espoo, Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kajaani, Kuopio, Lahti, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Savonlinna, Sodankylä, Tampere, Turku and Vantaa. Over ten Finnish universities, Finnish Science Centre Heureka, Federation of Finnish Learned Societies and Technology Research Centre of Finland VTT were in charge of the diverse program.
The European Researchers’ Night events are supported by Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 -programme.
More information:
Event Coordinator
Janne Pakarinen
Academy Research Fellow, University of Jyväskylä
janne.pakarinen(at)jyu.fi / 040 8054900
Communications
Mandi Vermilä
Event- and Communications Coordinator, Federation of Finnish Learned Societies
mandi.vermila(at)tsv.fi / (09) 228 69 221
https://tutkijoidenyo.fi/en
www.ec.europa.eu/research/researchersnight/
Marie Skłodowska-Curie: an inspiration to follow!
This European Researchers’ Night project is funded by the European Commission under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under contract number 722854.
The European Researchers´ Night in Finland is part of the the “Finland 100 years” centenary programme.