Researchers' Night

The Researchers' Night is the event planned every year at the same time in Europe, which since 2017 has taken place at the MUSE premises and in Trento's "Le Albere" district.
Organised by the Bruno Kessler Foundation, the Edmund Mach Foundation, the University of Trento, and MUSE - Museo delle Scienze, in collaboration with the Autonomous Province of Trento and with the patronage of the Municipality of Trento, the Researchers' Night is an opportunity both to make the general public aware of the activities and competences developed within the provincial research and innovation system.

The aim is to foster, while having fun, the dialogue between science and society, putting researchers in direct contact with the general public and giving them the opportunity to show the added value of their work as a driver of the social and economic development of the territory.

The event has a varied programme and different formats:

• science demos to explore
• a six-stage science hunt for children
• meetings with research to savour science and learn about its tangible effects on everyday life
• "living books' to hear research stories directly from the voice of those who are living them
• dinners with research for those wishing to talk to researchers over a good meal
• as well as many other initiatives organised in collaboration with other organisations and companies in the area.

In order to find one's way through the countless proposals, the 2018 edition has provided a route to choose from the different coloured symbols that correspond to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals contained in the UN's 2030 Agenda: eradicating poverty, eradicating hunger, health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, decent work, economic growth, to name but a few.

Guest of Honour at Researchers' Night 2018 was Grammenos Mastrojeni, who has been focusing attention on climate change on the Planet and its repercussions on the world's social stability for more than 20 years. Coordinator for the Environment and Head of the Science-policy interface of Development Cooperation, Mastrojeni gave a talk on the terrace of the MUSE Café at 10 p.m. on the topic 'The Gaia matrix. Science, interdependence, and the challenge of sustainable development'.

There was a great deal of interest shown by the large audience, who enthusiastically took part in this meeting, where they were able to experience first-hand the results of Trentino's scientific research:
a reality that focuses on people's quality of life.

The event has always ended with a concert, which in the 2018 edition was held by the 'B-Ing Band', the group formed by researchers and technical and administrative staff of the University of Trento, who performed 60s and 70s rock songs, through to more recent pop.

The Researchers' Night was realised in the last three editions thanks to the contribution of the Post-Doc researchers of the Trento Autonomous Province's "I comunicatori STAR della scienza" (Science STAR communicators) competition, and is part of the series of initiatives launched by the Province to support science communication and dissemination.

Photographs taken while visiting the stands of the various editions:

FBK magazine articles: Research night 2023 Chemistry for all	. .