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The Fascinating World of Science

Objective

Two thirds of the Europeans consider that they are often poorly informed about science and technology and 45% feel they are neither interested nor informed, according to the results of the last Euro-barometer 'Europeans, science and technology', conducted by the EC and published in December 2001. The perception of science among young people is at the same level as among the public as a whole. The lack of interest of young people in scientific studies and careers is firstly attributed to "the lack of appeal of scientific studies" (60%), followed by the "difficulty of the subjects" (55%) and thirdly by the fact that "young people are not so interested in scientific subjects" (50%). The above survey also reveals that, among the Europeans, the Portuguese are the least informed about science and technology (73% feel not well informed; EU15: 61%). This fact is in agreement with recent sociological research data developed in Portugal (Costa et al., 2002). Therefore, a gap exists between science and society, particularly strong inside Portuguese society.
This projects aims at raising public awareness of science by implementing initiatives particularly addressed to the Portuguese general public and school population. Efforts will also be done to assure a maximum participation of other European publics, mainly through Galician schools visits and virtual and interactive activities through the event web site. The project also aims to increase public knowledge of science applications and its influence on everyday life on Sciences and encourage young people to do training and a career in these areas.
The current project proposal for the "FW-Science 2004" Initiative covers the following activities:
Laboratory and Practical Workshops;
Field Workshops;
poster Session;
Debate Forum;
Virtual interactive activities;
Permanent exhibitions.
The following main fields of Science will be covered:
Biology,
Geology,
chemistry;
Physics and Mathematics.'

Call for proposal

FP6-2002-SCIENCEANDSOCIETY-2
See other projects for this call

Coordinator

UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHO
EU contribution
No data
Address
The Rectory, Largo do Paco
BRAGA
Portugal

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Total cost
No data