New record audience: Researcher’s Night had 14,500 visitors in Jyväskylä!

European Researchers’ Night took place on Friday, 27 September 2019, in 11 locations across Finland. The event provided new scientific experiences, opportunities for people to try and do research themselves, and discussions with enthusiastic academics. The event involved again hundreds of researchers across the country.
Published
3.10.2019

The greatest audience in Finland was achieved at the University of Jyväskylä, where various activities collected nearly 14,500 visitors. Last year the corresponding number was about 13,500. The audience was attracted, for example, by the bangs of the Department of Chemistry, the physical activity programme of the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, and the Accelerator Laboratory of the Department of Physics. Across Finland, the event gathered altogether more than 28,000 participants.

“Our collaboration with the City of Light project was one important factor behind the great number of visitors. Magnificent light installations at the Liikunta Building and at Ylistönrinne brought a valuable bonus in attracting people to the campus,” says the national coordinator of the event, Senior Researcher Janne Pakarinen.

The theme of the event programme was traces: traces that science leave in society and the traces of humans on Earth. Science was introduced through, among others, workshops, science lectures and laboratory visits.

“The programme of Researchers’ Night was unprecedented in terms of its scope and diversity. The event succeeded in arousing the curiosity of young prospective researchers and offered eureka moments also for elder family members,” Pakarinen describes.

Researchers’ Night is a European-wide science event, which has been arranged annually since 2005 to introduce science and researchers’ work to the public. Last year the event was organised in altogether 11 locations across Finland with more than 27,000 visitors.

This autumn Researchers’ Night was arranged in Espoo, Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kajaani, Kokkola, Kuopio, Oulu, Sodankylä, Tampere and Turku. The diverse programme was produced by nine Finnish universities, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and Institut Francais de Finlande.

Further information:

Event coordinator Janne Pakarinen University of Jyväskylä janne.pakarinen@jyu.fi / 040 805 4900

University Communications Communications Manager Liisa Harjula University of Jyväskylä liisa.harjula@jyu.fi / 040 805 4403 www.tutkijoidenyo.fi

The European Researchers’ Night project is funded by the European Commission’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions, agreement number 817987.