Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SCIENCE4FUTURE (Nacht der Wissenschaft in der Kiel Region 2020)
Reporting period: 2020-05-01 to 2021-01-31
SCIENCE4FUTURE aims to:
o break down stereotypes about researchers and their careers as well as increase appreciation for researchers’ work through personal interactions with researchers;
o spark interest in research in young people, especially those from marginalised backgrounds, through a professional media campaign and by offering carefully selected activities at suitable venues targeted at school classes
o develop an understanding that research has an impact on every aspect of our daily lives through theme-based activities presented by researchers;
o give public an overview of the wide range of research projects happening at our doorstep and the various benefits they generate by including all research organisation in the events
o increase the uptake of regular practical research-related activities in homes, nurseries and schools by training teachers, nursery staff and parents during the NIGHTs in simple “take-home” experiments;
o improve coordination between research organisations and regional/national initiatives that aim at increasing awareness of science in schools, nurseries and non-formal education settings;
o achieve international visibility for the Kiel Region as a hub for excellent research;
o increase the uptake of research careers, by increasing the number of pupils with university entrance qualifications and increasing the number of students enrolled in our region’s universities;
o establish an annual regional European Researchers’ Night in the Kiel Region;
o break down stereotypes about researchers and their careers as well as increase appreciation for researchers’ work through personal interactions with researchers;
o spark interest in research in young people, especially those from marginalised backgrounds, through a professional media campaign and by offering carefully selected activities at suitable venues targeted at school classes
o develop an understanding that research has an impact on every aspect of our daily lives through theme-based activities presented by researchers;
o give public an overview of the wide range of research projects happening at our doorstep and the various benefits they generate by including all research organisation in the events
o increase the uptake of regular practical research-related activities in homes, nurseries and schools by training teachers, nursery staff and parents during the NIGHTs in simple “take-home” experiments;
o improve coordination between research organisations and regional/national initiatives that aim at increasing awareness of science in schools, nurseries and non-formal education settings;
o achieve international visibility for the Kiel Region as a hub for excellent research;
o increase the uptake of research careers, by increasing the number of pupils with university entrance qualifications and increasing the number of students enrolled in our region’s universities;
o establish an annual regional European Researchers’ Night in the Kiel Region;
Target Groups of awareness Campaign:
o Public regardless of age and scientific background
o Children and young people
o Teachers, nursery staff and parents
o European neighbours
Key Messages:
o Researchers are ordinary people with extraordinary Jobs and come from all walks of life
o Everyone could become a researcher
o Research is an exciting and rewarding career choice, is the key economic driver for our Region and affects every aspect of our daily life
o Science is wonder-ful!
Off-line
o display of promotional material;
o articles in press and free city magazines;
o promotional spots on regional radio & TV channels
o mailings to regional nurseries, schools, youth clubs and children's’ centres,
On-line
o updating project website
o Links to partners' websites;
o Updating social network profiles;
o viral Videos about SCIENCE4FUTURE and its Contents
o E-Mail-Newsletters
Overview of the results
o Established branding and visual identity of SCIENCE4FUTURE (from 2016 to 2019) in all promotional material to ensure high recognition among population;
o Online press conference (18 November 2020), attended by research organisations as well as the mayor of Kiel as well as the sponsor of the event Förde-Sparkasse;
o Distribution of promotional material from May 2020: posters, digital postcards as a “save-the date” message
o Display of written promotional material from August at all local schools;
o Regular publication of articles in newspapers and free City magazines between May and November 2020;
o Distribution of the digital programme in November
o Announcements/promotional spots through radio;
o Regular updating of the project website
o Use of Kiel city’s large digital roadside screens throughout November 2020
o Throughout August till November 2020 announcements and promotion through the partners’ websites;
o Increased activity on social media, including Facebook and Twitter, in October and November 2020 especially to promote selected programme highlights
o Branding of a company car in SCIENCE4FUTURE design. The car was used almost on a daily basis with focus on regional travel to maximise visibility and exposure.
o overall 1 million people made aware of the event and its key messages
Tasks during the NIGHT (Highlights)
Due to the Covid-pandemic, the NIGHT had to be organised and adapted at very short notice to an amlost exclusively online format.
Digital Activities:
Around 60 contributions from many fields of science and research in a wide variety of formats, including games, lectures and film screenings. More than 8,500 viewers followed our digital programme at home.
Our programme addressed many different topics: archaeology, evolutionary biology or sustainability, the European Union and science in general. The program of SCIENCE4FUTURE gave a great overview on all the relevant topics our partner institutions work on.More than 250 scientists participated in the different events. Several EU-funded projects took part in SCIENCE4FUTURE.
Rent-a-Scientist:
More than 80 scientists agreed to visit different schools in the Kiel Region and presented their research to school classes during normal lessons. Rent-a-Scientist was allowed to be carried out as planned after consultation with the Ministry of Education, since the schools in Schleswig-Holstein were still open in November. Overall, this project module was a great success and for us one of the highlights of this turbulent year. More than 100 school classes applied for the 85 scientists and we reached approximately 2,500 pupils and teachers with Rent-a-Scientist.
Science Rallies:
Digitally guided science rallied on the topics of climate, the SDG (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) and marine sciences were part of SIENCE4FUTURE, available from November 27-29 to the interested public. On these days, participants could activate the rallies at any time on their own smartphones and tablets and experience an exciting foray through the city of Kiel on the topics mentioned. This offer aimed primarily at families who had to forego almost all entertainment activities in the current lockdown.
o Active involvement of over 250 Researchers
o more than 11.000 visitors/viewers took part in the activities offered;
Tasks for Impact assessment
Methodology
Quantitative data
o Number of newspaper adverts posted and of E-newsletters circulated
o Number of visits
o Distributed flyers, postcards, posters;
o Number of participating Researchers and stakeholder organisations
o Number of activities during the NIGHT
o number of newspaper articles, radio and TV reports before, during and after SCIENCE4FUTURE
o Social network campaign (hits, views, likes and Shares, followers)
o Number of EU funded researchers involved in the NIGHT
Qualitative data
o Public attitudes towards researchers
o Changes in attitudes
Implementation of the impact assessment methodology
o Due to COVID retsrictions, survey adapted to exclusively online format
o Use of template from 2016/17 to ensure comparability
o Questionnaire deliberatley short format (3-5 minutes) and visually entertaining
o QR-Code to survey placed prominently on the project website and shown also to viewers in between the live online talks during the NIGHT.
o Public regardless of age and scientific background
o Children and young people
o Teachers, nursery staff and parents
o European neighbours
Key Messages:
o Researchers are ordinary people with extraordinary Jobs and come from all walks of life
o Everyone could become a researcher
o Research is an exciting and rewarding career choice, is the key economic driver for our Region and affects every aspect of our daily life
o Science is wonder-ful!
Off-line
o display of promotional material;
o articles in press and free city magazines;
o promotional spots on regional radio & TV channels
o mailings to regional nurseries, schools, youth clubs and children's’ centres,
On-line
o updating project website
o Links to partners' websites;
o Updating social network profiles;
o viral Videos about SCIENCE4FUTURE and its Contents
o E-Mail-Newsletters
Overview of the results
o Established branding and visual identity of SCIENCE4FUTURE (from 2016 to 2019) in all promotional material to ensure high recognition among population;
o Online press conference (18 November 2020), attended by research organisations as well as the mayor of Kiel as well as the sponsor of the event Förde-Sparkasse;
o Distribution of promotional material from May 2020: posters, digital postcards as a “save-the date” message
o Display of written promotional material from August at all local schools;
o Regular publication of articles in newspapers and free City magazines between May and November 2020;
o Distribution of the digital programme in November
o Announcements/promotional spots through radio;
o Regular updating of the project website
o Use of Kiel city’s large digital roadside screens throughout November 2020
o Throughout August till November 2020 announcements and promotion through the partners’ websites;
o Increased activity on social media, including Facebook and Twitter, in October and November 2020 especially to promote selected programme highlights
o Branding of a company car in SCIENCE4FUTURE design. The car was used almost on a daily basis with focus on regional travel to maximise visibility and exposure.
o overall 1 million people made aware of the event and its key messages
Tasks during the NIGHT (Highlights)
Due to the Covid-pandemic, the NIGHT had to be organised and adapted at very short notice to an amlost exclusively online format.
Digital Activities:
Around 60 contributions from many fields of science and research in a wide variety of formats, including games, lectures and film screenings. More than 8,500 viewers followed our digital programme at home.
Our programme addressed many different topics: archaeology, evolutionary biology or sustainability, the European Union and science in general. The program of SCIENCE4FUTURE gave a great overview on all the relevant topics our partner institutions work on.More than 250 scientists participated in the different events. Several EU-funded projects took part in SCIENCE4FUTURE.
Rent-a-Scientist:
More than 80 scientists agreed to visit different schools in the Kiel Region and presented their research to school classes during normal lessons. Rent-a-Scientist was allowed to be carried out as planned after consultation with the Ministry of Education, since the schools in Schleswig-Holstein were still open in November. Overall, this project module was a great success and for us one of the highlights of this turbulent year. More than 100 school classes applied for the 85 scientists and we reached approximately 2,500 pupils and teachers with Rent-a-Scientist.
Science Rallies:
Digitally guided science rallied on the topics of climate, the SDG (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) and marine sciences were part of SIENCE4FUTURE, available from November 27-29 to the interested public. On these days, participants could activate the rallies at any time on their own smartphones and tablets and experience an exciting foray through the city of Kiel on the topics mentioned. This offer aimed primarily at families who had to forego almost all entertainment activities in the current lockdown.
o Active involvement of over 250 Researchers
o more than 11.000 visitors/viewers took part in the activities offered;
Tasks for Impact assessment
Methodology
Quantitative data
o Number of newspaper adverts posted and of E-newsletters circulated
o Number of visits
o Distributed flyers, postcards, posters;
o Number of participating Researchers and stakeholder organisations
o Number of activities during the NIGHT
o number of newspaper articles, radio and TV reports before, during and after SCIENCE4FUTURE
o Social network campaign (hits, views, likes and Shares, followers)
o Number of EU funded researchers involved in the NIGHT
Qualitative data
o Public attitudes towards researchers
o Changes in attitudes
Implementation of the impact assessment methodology
o Due to COVID retsrictions, survey adapted to exclusively online format
o Use of template from 2016/17 to ensure comparability
o Questionnaire deliberatley short format (3-5 minutes) and visually entertaining
o QR-Code to survey placed prominently on the project website and shown also to viewers in between the live online talks during the NIGHT.
Collection, analysis and processing of 97 questionnaires:
o Typology of visitors: 57 % female, 42 % male, 1% diverse. average age 36-37, most aged 19-32 (46%), 62 % from Kiel, about 59 % having completed/currently in tertiary education, 39 % have a researcher in their family
o Overall positive feedback about the event itself
o Improved public perception of researchers and research:
o More positive attitude towards science and scientists
o More realistic and refined picture of research after attending the NIGHT
Feedback from researchers:
o Minor technical problems with online platform
o General will expressed to be involved in the 2021 event
o Typology of visitors: 57 % female, 42 % male, 1% diverse. average age 36-37, most aged 19-32 (46%), 62 % from Kiel, about 59 % having completed/currently in tertiary education, 39 % have a researcher in their family
o Overall positive feedback about the event itself
o Improved public perception of researchers and research:
o More positive attitude towards science and scientists
o More realistic and refined picture of research after attending the NIGHT
Feedback from researchers:
o Minor technical problems with online platform
o General will expressed to be involved in the 2021 event