The project was implemented through two main strands: MEETmeTONIGHT, the European Researchers’ Night organised in 2024 and 2025, and MEETme@SCHOOL, a school programme involving pupils and teachers in structured activities with researchers. Both aimed to increase trust in science and foster a stronger relationship between research and society.
Two editions of MEETmeTONIGHT were delivered in Milan through hands-on science, talks, workshops, science shows, interactive stands, one-to-one encounters with researchers and mission-oriented activities. The 2024 edition took place in the Milano Bicocca area on 27 and 28 September 2024. The first day, at BIM Stage, hosted science performances; the second, at Bicocca Science Park and Bicocca U7, included stands, talks, workshops, PhD speed dates and the EU Corner. The programme involved 400 researchers and 70 volunteers, reaching 300 participants on Friday and 2,500 visitors on Saturday. It included 3 Science Matches, 21 talks, 15 workshops, 26 stands around the five Horizon Europe Missions, 23 researchers in the EU Corner, 8 speed-date sessions with 33 PhD students, and 3 science shows.
The 2024 edition mobilised a large research community, delivered a diversified programme and created direct opportunities for citizens to interact with science and researchers. It also generated lessons for the second edition on venue accessibility, programme readability, audience monitoring, associated partner involvement and earlier planning.
The 2025 edition took place in the more central University of Milan – Festa del Perdono area, on 26 and 27 September 2025. It improved accessibility, programme structure and partner involvement. A pre-launch event with CoScience, Milan’s other Researchers’ Night project, attracted 89 participants and strengthened cooperation between science, art and music initiatives.
The 2025 main event expanded participation and programme offer: around 220 citizens attended Friday workshops for young audiences, 550 people joined Friday evening events, and around 3,200 visitors attended Saturday activities. It involved more than 450 researchers and more than 150 volunteers. The programme included 36 talks, 29 workshops, 28 stands around the five Horizon Europe Missions, 24 researchers in the EU Corner, 8 speed-date sessions with 31 PhD students, and 2 science shows.
Overall, the two editions created inclusive spaces for dialogue, increased the visibility of research careers, connected scientific topics with the Horizon Europe Missions and everyday life, and strengthened cooperation among universities, institutions, sponsors, media partners and local stakeholders.
MEETme@SCHOOL brought researchers in contact with pupils and teachers and integrated Citizen Science and Public Engagement in educational contexts. Over two years, the programme evolved from design, training and piloting into large-scale implementation across Lombardy. The first phase built the methodological framework through co-design among universities, researchers and schools, support to researchers in adapting scientific content, guidelines, a Pupil Science roadmap and training materials for researchers and teachers. A pilot phase tested feasibility and highlighted barriers, including the limited availability of suitable Citizen Science resources in Italian and the need to adapt language, duration and interaction formats to different school levels.
Full implementation took place during the 2024/2025 school year and the first part of 2025/2026. MMS engaged more than 11,000 students, including over 2,100 directly involved in Citizen Science projects across more than 100 classes. Activities reached primary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools through Citizen Science projects, lectures, workshops, laboratory visits and experiential learning. Participation increased from 20 classes, about 410 students and 4 schools in 2024/2025 to 83 classes, around 1,770 students and 8 schools in 2025/2026. Projects addressed misinformation, well-being, health awareness, climate-related emotions and air quality monitoring through Segnala(bufa)la!, StressOut, mAPPaCuore, EmotiCO2 and RESPIRO.
Students were active participants in the research process, contributing to questions, data collection, analysis and interpretation. Feedback showed high levels of enjoyment and engagement, while around 90% of teachers rated the educational value of Citizen Science as very high or excellent. A major output was the Pupil Science Toolbox, an open-access collection of materials supporting teachers in implementing Citizen Science activities autonomously.
Both strands were accompanied by continuous impact assessment. For MEETmeTONIGHT, a contingent evaluation approach showed very high satisfaction, with an average score of 9/10, follow-up responses from 75% of participants, and a positive average willingness to pay of €7. For MEETme@SCHOOL, feedback confirmed that Citizen Science supported scientific literacy, critical thinking and active participation. Overall, MEET generated value beyond participation numbers, providing evidence of audience satisfaction, perceived social value, educational benefits and strengthened dialogue between research, schools and society.
