The SCINAT impact assessment results highlight:
• The online format does not allow the identification of the exact number of participants, nevertheless the number of participants/viewers was high (14550) even considering duplications.
• There were 605 registrations on the SCINAT online platform. This was the number considered for the impact assessment, avoiding duplication. Although the response rate was quite high this year (around 50%), the number of respondents decreased compared to previous years, since the survey population was smaller.
• The event attracts visitors of all ages. However, this year, given the online edition, two thirds of the public is over 34 years old. Nevertheless, the build-up activity targeting schools engaged 532 young students with online activities.
• Among participant adults, the majority are highly qualified people (graduates), with a considerable increase in individuals with a PhD.
• Female audience is higher than the male one, in line with previous years.
• The event still captures the interest of newcomers, but to a lesser extent than in previous years. Newcomers are mostly men, young and slightly less educated.
• In this edition most people were by themselves during online activities.
• In 2019 visitors got to know the event through people close to them, but this year it was mainly through schools and research centres as well as social networks.
• The public adhered to both live and recorded activities, the youngest being those who most often opted for games/quizzes.
• As in previous editions, the public shows a very positive attitude towards science and towards researchers.
• The public has a positive opinion about the event (general organization, activities, topics, etc.) and its impacts; Nevertheless, the positive opinion about the event is generally lower than in previous editions, especially in what concerns the opportunity to interact with researchers and to actively engage with the activities.
• The event continued to mobilize several Portuguese institutions and researchers committed to engaging directly with the public, most of whom have prepared specific activities for the ERN 2020 event.
• The reasons for researchers to participate are aligned with some of the main objectives of ERN.
• The majority of researchers already had previous experience in this type of activities; participating researchers tend to be women, with a PhD degree, from various scientific areas, a few with European funding. The number of science and technology managers and communicators has also grown.
• Participating researchers express high levels of satisfaction with the event, although lower than in previous years. Due to the online format, they had some difficulties in perceiving the impact of the event on the public.
• Almost all researchers say they are interested in participating in future editions: about half will do so regardless of the format of the event, but little less than half prefer the onsite format.
• The response rates (public and researchers surveys) are very satisfactory, and the reward system for public adherence to the online survey has proven to be effective.
