The European Researchers’ Night Returns: Events and Activities for All Ages Across Multiple City Locations

The European Researchers’ Night returns on Friday, 27 September, in Bologna’s university area, between Piazza Scaravilli and Palazzo Poggi, and in the Navile District, at the CNR Research Area and the new University District. The event will be expanded to multiple points across the city.

The Night will also engage the Romagna campuses (Cesena, Forlì and Predappio, Rimini, Ravenna and Faenza, with an event held at CNR-ISSMC) and the University of Ferrara, offering citizens, young people, and individuals of all ages and backgrounds the opportunity to meet researchers from various fields and actively participate in the birth of new ideas through experiments, presentations, demonstrations, games, exhibitions, and workshops.

In a world facing unpredictable and dramatic events, research provides concrete answers and innovative solutions for looking to the future with confidence. But to turn these solutions into reality, it is essential to inspire the younger generations with a passion for the complexity of the surrounding world.

The goal of the Night is therefore to trigger a chain reaction (reAGIAMO) that helps people reflect on and understand the complexity of today’s world, facilitating dialogue between the educational community, researchers, citizens, and young people on crucial topics such as the environment, people, communities and territories, technological innovation, health and well-being, culture, inclusion, diversity, art, and creativity.

All events are free and organised by the Society Consortium, one of the Italian projects associated with European Researchers’ Night, in collaboration with the University of Bologna, CNR, CINECA, INAF, INFN, INGV, and the University of Ferrara.

In Bologna, while awaiting the inauguration of the Night, the first event will be at the Navile University District (Via Piero Gobetti, 85) from 16:00 to 17:30. After the opening remarks by Professor Maria Letizia Guerra, Delegate for Public Engagement, an activity titled "Waiting for the European Researchers’ Night." Chemical, Industrial, and Pharmaceutical Re-actions: Transformation Happens at Navile" will take place, featuring researchers from the University of Bologna's Departments of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician," Industrial Chemistry "Toso Montanari," Pharmacy, and Biotechnology.

The Night will officially begin at 17:00 at the CNR Research Area (Via Gobetti, 101), with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by the President of the CNR Research Area, Vittorio Morandi, coordinator of the Society reAGIAMO project, and representatives of the partner organizations (CINECA, INAF, INFN, INGV, UNIBO), alongside Bologna City Councillor Laudani and Regional Councillor Colla.

At Palazzo Poggi and Piazza Scaravilli, the Night will be inaugurated at 18:30 by Rector Giovanni Molari, accompanied by Emmanuelle Charpentier, who has just been awarded an honorary degree from the University of Bologna and will emphasize the public value of knowledge. Also in attendance will be Vittorio Morandi, President of the Bologna CNR Research Area and coordinator of the project, along with representatives of local and regional institutions.

Vittorio Morandi, President of the Bologna CNR Research Area and coordinator of the project, along with representatives of local and regional institutions.

The activities at the centre of the historic town, led by Unibo researchers, will take place between Piazza Scaravilli and Palazzo Poggi, following various paths starting with the environment. Participants will be able to follow scientific experiments, games, and theatrical scenes to discover how to care for the planet. They will explore the present and future, transform biogas into hydrogen and carbon nanotubes for clean energy, understand the origins of life on Earth, and uncover clues for finding traces of life on Mars and other planets.

Activities on well-being, health, and inclusion will delve into mental health—how to maintain it over time and how it’s a common good. Attendees can experience a night in the Forest of Brushes, attend lessons in Chinese language and culture, and discover the language of cells.

Interactive projects will be showcased, aimed at reducing carbon footprints, promoting healthy lifestyles, and creating sustainable infrastructure with green strategies. Participants will engage in ecological transition activities and plastic upcycling to reduce pollution. There will also be discussions about the foods with the most environmental impact and what can be done to safeguard humanity’s future.

Games will reveal how to reduce biases, and a digital culture meeting will be held. Additionally, visitors can tour the exhibit "The Other Renaissance. Ulisse Aldrovandi and the Wonders of the World," now brought to life in the Metaverse. The event will also include exploring the city's locations of great mathematicians, learning about the evolution of ancient alphabets, ancient manuscripts, the history of photography, and technological innovations from the web to supercomputing to artificial intelligence.

During the event, Palazzo Poggi Museum (Via Zamboni, 33) will stay open until 23:00. From 20:00 to 23:00, the facades of Piazza Scaravilli will transform with Ulisse Aldrovandi's Theatre of Nature: an immersive journey through the natural wonders of the famous Bolognese naturalist, curated by the University Museum System. There will also be activities led by Unibo researchers at Navile, covering artificial intelligence, space, numbers, and physics.

At the CNR Research Area (Via Gobetti, 101), CNR will present multidisciplinary research themes.

Researchers from the Institute of Bioeconomy (IBE) will guide participants on a journey to the centre of leaves. Through demonstrations and lab activities, they will show how chlorophyll analysis reveals plant stress—an invisible signal to the naked eye but detectable even from space using sophisticated instruments.

The CNR Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC) will present easy-to-do experiments at home or in the classroom to understand various atmospheric phenomena, such as creating a cloud in a bottle.

The CNR Institute of Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity (ISOF) will focus on glial engineering, exploring technologies that allow communication with the brain, opening new paths for innovative regenerative therapies.

The CNR Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR) will display a sandbox for understanding underwater phenomena and showcase artistic objects made from sea floor clays or mud from the May 2023 floods, featuring the presence of artist Babini. Children from five primary schools in Bologna, who participated in the project “2030 Agenda for Girls and Boys,” will act as researchers for a day, presenting sustainable development goals through projects developed with CNR, INAF, and Women & Science.

CNR Molecular Genetics Institute (IGM) researchers will explain the language of cells through interactive games aimed at youth and adults (in Piazza Scaravilli).

The "Friends of the Night" will propose experiments and games to entertain, make people reflect, and provide information on environmental monitoring, climate change, and sustainable practices (Proambiente), immersive technologies and creativity for the future of businesses (MISTER), water purification and safety (MINERVA), water saving and circular economy (ENEA), animal genetics and monitoring (ISPRA), and interactive quizzes to assess the gap between public perception and scientific knowledge (ISTAT).

Discussions will also focus on the future of orthopaedics, thanks to regenerative medicine and 3D printing for customized prosthetics (IOR). The SENZA FILTRO laboratory will explore lesser-known harms of smoking, both traditional and electronic, for humans and the environment (AIRC). The Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna will present projects as part of the Europe Direct centre.

CINECA researchers will guide the public through the world of supercomputing and the Leonardo supercomputer, one of the most powerful systems globally. Through games and small interactive labs, they will explain how it’s possible to achieve computing power equivalent to millions of billions of operations per second, demonstrating quantum computing as well. Projects on artificial intelligence applied to science, industry, and cultural heritage will also be presented, covering topics from the Garisenda Tower and Bologna to the entire planet Earth, with activities held both at Navile and Piazza Scaravilli.

Researchers from the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) will lead the public on a captivating journey through the cosmos, observing the sky in various ways.

Participants can explore the universe from the comfort of a planetarium or gaze at the stars live with telescopes and Unistellar, an innovative system that allows live photos to be taken at the telescope, dedicating star observations to loved ones, all through a smartphone.

Additionally, INAF and DIFA-Unibo researchers will offer scientific exhibits and virtual reality experiences to help understand the mysteries of the cosmos. The most recent findings from the Euclid and JWST space telescopes will be presented by INAF and DIFA-Unibo researchers, who will be available to answer public questions.

Children can also participate in labs such as “Light Up the Constellations” or “Create Your Own Crater” and play the Cody Maze, a virtual labyrinth set in the real world.

The National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) will present activities to help the public understand particle physics. People will have the chance to directly observe particles constantly falling from space in the activity "Particle Rain from Space" or discover how neutrinos from the cosmos can be detected by the ARCA/Km3NET submerged telescope. Technological applications of particle physics will be presented, ranging from classification problems solved with artificial intelligence to the use of particle beams in medicine at the stand dedicated to hadron therapy. There will also be labs for children, such as "inVISIBILI," introducing the wonders of the microscopic and invisible world of particles playfully and inclusively.

The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) will offer its activities at the CNR Research Area in Bologna. INGV researchers will show the public how mountains are formed or how tsunamis occur. Visitors will be able to see a thermal camera, an accumulation chamber, and other instruments used to collect data that help us understand the processes affecting our planet.

The programme with all the activities will be available on the website: https://www.nottedeiricercatori-society.eu/la-notte

Some activities require a reservation, and you can book your spot here:

https://www.nottedeiricercatori-society.eu/prenotazioni-notte-2024

The media partners for the 2024 edition are Radioimmaginaria, Radio Città Fujiko, Lepida TV, and RAI Cultura.