The European Researchers’ Night in Finland was celebrated on the last Friday of September, 28.09.2018 in 11 locations in Finland from Helsinki to Sodankylä. The event offered new experiences, practical research experiments and discussions with enthusiastic scientists. People of all ages experienced the work of the researchers and saw how science influences our everyday life. This year there were over 27 000 visitors and hundreds of researchers participating all over Finland.
The theme for this year’s event was Traces, the marks science makes on society and that humans leave on the earth. The event also celebrated the European theme year of cultural heritage and remembered the Finnish Civil War in 1918. The audience got familiar with research through workshops, science lectures and laboratory visits. The most popular programmes were for example the teddybear hospital in Kuopio, a bugworkshop in Oulu, and gaming research and robotics in Tampere.
The largest number of visitors was at the University of Jyväskylä where various Researchers’ Night activities gathered more than 13 500 visitors. The audience was interested in, for example, the virtual worlds of Ruusupuisto, the Rihlaperä observatory and the accelerator laboratory of the Department of Physics. All in all, this year the event was held in Espoo, Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kajaani, Kuopio, Oulu, Sodankylä and Tampere. In addition, programme was also organized by the participating organisations University of Turku in the Turku region; Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius in Kokkola and the Institut Francais de Finlande in Helsinki.
The event was a great success with the public and the organizers received lots of positive feedback across all age groups. Advertising of the event was very much strengthened. Again this year, there were synergies with other independent local events, for example the cooperation with the City of Light in Jyväskylä, which played an important factor in the impressive number of visitors. For the following year, the continuity in the organisation and a higher level of ambition of the event is necessary to reach a wider audience.
Overall objectives:
1) to shed light on the forefront research carried out in Finland
2) to break stereotypes the general public may have on researchers
3) to inspire and enhance vivid public engagement of researchers
4) to encourage childrens’ and students’ interest towards scientific careers
The project reached its objectives and proved to be successful.
