The last Friday of September has been designated European Researchers’ Night by the European Commission. Across Sweden and all over Europe hundreds of activities are organised to show members of the public how exciting research can be and how relevant science actually is to our daily lives.
ForskarFredag (Researchers’ Friday) is organised by universities, science centres, municipalities and regional development councils and is coordinated by the Swedish non-profit organisation Vetenskap & Allmänhet (Public & Science).
These innovative and exciting activities allow for public engagement and meetings with researchers in relaxed and festive environments. The events are aimed at showing that researchers are ordinary people with extraordinary jobs and that research is all about communication and international cooperation.
The theme of 2017 is The image of the researcher which will challenge stereotypical images of scientists and researchers. A Draw-a-scientist-competition will be arranged for pupils age 6 to 12.
ForskarFredag is funded by AFA Insurance, IKEM – Innovation and Chemical Industries in Sweden, the Swedish Steel Producers’ Association, The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, LIF – the research-based pharmaceutical industry, the Swedish Association of Professional Scientists, the Oscar and Maria Ekman Philanthropic Fund, The Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers, SULF – the Swedish Association of University Teachers and Researchers, The Association of Swedish Engineering Industries, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, Vinnova – Sweden’s Innovation Agency and the ÅForsk Foundation.
The project is funded by the European Commission under HORIZON 2020 in the framework of the Marie Sklodowska Curie actions.
For more information about Researchers’ Night in Stockholm click here. This year, ACES teamed up with the Bolin Centre for Climate Research in organising an activity for young people between 16-19 years old focusing on what is climate change and how we study it. Professor Kevin Noone is one of the researchers that will participate in this activity. Stay tuned!
