How do you spell RESEARCH? SOCIETY - Science, histOry, Culture, musIc, Environment, arT, technologY

Project Information

SOCIETY

Grant agreement ID: 819090

DOI

10.3030/819090

Project closed

EC signature date 25 June 2018

Start date 1 May 2018

End date 31 December 2019

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 295 327,50

EU contribution

€ 295 327,50

Coordinated by

CINECA CONSORZIO INTERUNIVERSITARIO
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SOCIETY (How do you spell RESEARCH? SOCIETY - Science, histOry, Culture, musIc, Environment, arT, technologY)

Reporting period: 2019-03-01 to 2019-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

European Researchers' Night (ERN) events promoted by the SOCIETY Consortium will take place in 5 cities (Bologna, Forlì, Cesena, Ravenna and Rimini), with a program extended to both 2018 and 2019, for a total project duration of 18 months. SOCIETY aims to present research as the best tool to sort out the Societal Challenges that human beings face. SOCIETY will rely on interactivity and engagement at large: the project will aim to produce a Night co-design approach, in which researchers together with society will conceive the event programme. After the success of the previous ERN edition, the Consortium comes with a new proposal, inspired by the EU Year of Cultural Heritage. This is reflected by the new concept pointed out in the new title and acronym, where SOCIETY now stands for words that can be used to define our cultural heritage: Science, histOry, Culture, musIc, Environment, arT, technologY. The proposal stands at the intersection between these concepts. We’ll try to identify the features that shape and define our perception of ourselves and how we perceive who lives near and far from us. What is it that defines our culture? How and when is it that what we know, what we do, where we are, how we speak and move, and eat, and wear become culture? And finally, can our cultural heritage help us look ahead, understand the present, and to imagine the future? ERN events will explore the many ways in which research may help us understand, sustain,
preserve, and develop our cultural heritage, in all its various shades and declinations.They will be designed in order to attract different kinds of publics. However, secondary school students, who are about to make their choice in terms of career, will be a privileged target, also through the involvement of Eu and MSCA researchers. Specific effort will be devoted to involve female young researchers and students in the activities, to stress that research needs increasing contribution from women to reach its goals.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

• To showcase that research consists of an effective approach to build knowledge and improve our understanding of the world citizens live in;
• To favour the meeting between citizens and researchers through a wide range of activities proposed, promoting a mutual exchange between researchers and participants;
• To inspire young students to embrace research career by showing research as a powerful tool to decrypt reality, which can be applied in any direction and exploits a wide range of personal capacities;
• To offer a wide and composite image of research and researchers, to suggest that research embraces all areas of knowledge, tools and approaches, well beyond stereotypes;
• To organise an event that will represent research as a very general, strong methodology that can be applied to the study of any field of interest;
• To highlight the wideness of research horizons and emphasize the importance of inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches, seeking the involvement of a greater number of researchers coming from disciplines such as humanities or social sciences that are usually underrepresented at the Researchers’ Night;
• To engage a wide variety of participants, through the offer of a number of fun-based activities during the Night to attract a general public and ensure the participation of families with children;
• To make the Researchers’ Night the perfect occasion for a true, two-ways, engaging communication, where views and priorities are shared and discussed in a friendly environment.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Both the teaser events and the Researcher’ Night attracted a large audience including children, young and senior people, and all the events were highly appreciated by most attendees. Participants’ views and opinions were collected via structured surveys directly at the venues. Overall, the results of the surveys indicate high levels of satisfaction among attendees and a positive contribution to their views of the scientific research as well as to their scientific knowledge.
The views of researchers involved in the event were explored using a targeted online survey administered in the following days after the event. A sample of 167 researchers shared their experience. The sample was well-balanced by gender, age and different academic status Overall, researchers expressed satisfaction with the event equal to 4.7 on a scale ranging from 1=“not at all satisfied” to 5=“very much satisfied.
Social Media Analysis shows a good success of Facebook as a promotional tool among young and adult users from 18 to 54, especially among women aged from 18 to 34. The Facebook page of “Notte Europea dei Ricercatori a Bologna, Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna e Rimini” reached a great number of visualisations in the weeks before and after the event including users from several foreign countries.

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