The Corsini square in Tarragona will host the main event of the event, with 60 scientific workshops between 29 and 30 September. The activities will also be held the days before and after in Tortosa, Tarragona and Reus. 

The European Research Night expands its range of activities. The scientific workshops fair, will take place for the first time in Tortosa it will be extended to two days in the Corsini Square in Tarragona. This initiative, which in the Tarragona region is organized by Unit of Science Communication and Outreach of Rovira I Virgili University, has planned more proposals than ever before: more than 60 scientific workshops for a family audience, and more than 30 informative talks for teenagers and adults. All these activities have involved more than 300 researchers from the URV and CERCA research centers in the area such as Institut Català d’Arqueologia Clàssica (ICAC), Institut Català d’Investigació Química (ICIQ), Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV) and Institut de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES). The proposal has received funding from the European Union.

The European Research Night is a public event of scientific dissemination that takes place every year simultaneously in 300 cities in 30 countries of the continent. Since 2018 the URV has been organizing this initiative in the Tarragona region, which has been growing and consolidating over the last six years. The aim of the European Research Night is to bring research and its protagonists closer to audiences of all ages and to raise awareness of research and innovation in a plain and understandable language.

More than 60 experimental workshops

The main novelties of this edition are related to the central event: the scientific workshops fair for family audiences. The large influx of public in previous editions have made this activity to be held two days at the Corsini square in Tarragona: the afternoon of 29th and the morning of 30th September. More than 60 workshops will fill the square with experimental scientific workshops adapted to an understandable language.

The scientific workshops fair also arrives to Terres de l’Ebre. Concretely, Tortosa will host a previous activity of the European Research Night. It will be at the Town Hall square, where eight interactive workshops will be offered from 16.30 to 21h. This initiative will be continued in future editions in order to extend the activities homogeneously throughout the territory.

Both in Tortosa and Tarragona, when entering the square, children will get a scientific passport that can be stamped at the end of the workshops and access to a final gift once completed. The objective, however, is to bring them closer to science in a fun and entertaining way, and to awaken their scientific curiosity through experimentation.

Tarragona City Council, through the Europe Direct Tarragona office, is the main sponsor of the activity in Corsini Square, together with the Tarragona Provincial Council. It has also had the collaboration of the Central Market of Tarragona and the company Borges.

Workshops and informative workshops

In order to reach all types of public, activities have also been organized before and after the main event. Secondary schools in the region will be visited by researchers who will give more than 20 lectures and workshops during the week of September 25 to 29.

An informative lecture has also been organized on September 26th in the auditorium of the Museum of the Port of Tarragona. Researchers Javier Sigró, from the C3 Climate Change Center of the URV and Jaume Folch, from the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology of the University will talk about the climatic and human health consequences of the increase in sea temperature.

Finally, the European Research Night will offer on Thursday afternoon, October 5, a session of informative micro-seminars organized by the IIPSV in collaboration with the University, where researchers from different fields will make a presentation of their research lines.

The European Research Night is possible thanks to the co-financing of the Horizon Europe research and innovation program of the European Union and the collaboration of the consortium coordinated by the University of Girona and other Catalan universities and public institutions. Tarragona is also sponsored by the Tarragona City Council through Europe Direct, the Tarragona Provincial Council and the Port of Tarragona, in addition to the support of Mercats Tarragona and the company Borges, and the Tortosa workshop fair is sponsored by the Tarragona Provincial Council and the Tarragona City Council.

Detailed information with all the activities can be consulted at the web www.tarragona.nitdelarecerca.cat