Are you a researcher? Do you work in a school? The Mediterranean Researcher Night is here!

 

The non-profit organization SciCo - Science Communication in collaboration with the University of the Aegean in Lesvos organizes the Mediterranean Researcher Night - Mednight. 

In order to appeal to the general public and showcase the value of researchers’ work and contribution, a series of activities will take place under a common umbrella which Mednight terms "Mediterranean Science". The activities, which started in Lesvos, will take place over several months and peaking on the island of Lesvos on 30 September, when more than 400 European cities will celebrate science through a series of events, including Lesvos, Valencia, Messina, Istanbul, Alicante, Orihuela, Torrevieja, Nicosia and El Cairo by Mednight.

 

Mediterranean Science

Mediterranean Science relates to Science developed in the Mediterranean territories. Mediterranean Science is also research focused on Mediterranean topics, such as those related to Mediterranean culture, the Mediterranean way of life, or the current challenges for the Mediterranean region. Thus, we have identified four thematic areas which lie in the nucleus of EU policies and priorities and are key for the Mediterranean context:

 

Key thematic areas: Sea and pollution, Climate and clean energies, Diet and nutrition, Life and Health

 

What do we offer

  • Join a network of experts in defense of Mediterranean culture, science and society
  • Free training in different fields of dissemination and public comunication of science
  • Promotion of your work in international networks
  • Contact with researchers along Mediterranean

 

Call to researchers

Registration to participate in Mediterranean Researchers' Night is already open

Under the common umbrella of Mediterranean Science, we make this call to researchers, research centers and universities. Our goal is for researchers and scientists to “leave the lab” and bring their research to the public on beaches, central squares, school classrooms, public areas, Social Media, TV shows and other friendly formats.

 

I am a researcher. How could I help? 

If you are a scientist or a researcher in the Mediterranean basin, your contributions are very important for the social construction of Mediterranean Science. We propose several ways to help us to engage scientists and citizens in a common objective: the mitigation of Mediterranean problems as well as to value our common culture, society and of course, science. Below you can find our proposals. We would also like to help you to start up your own ideas and initiatives referred to Mediterranean Science outreach. If you find our proposal interestinging and want to help us in our mission, please, fill the form and we will contact you in order to work together.

 

Registration form:

https://forms.gle/Cgy3HytYtJFtB8yRA

 

Activities 

Short videos: One of the most direct ways to explain to the general public what is your research about is using short videos for social media. Videos should be no longer than 2 minutes. You should explain what motivates you to study a science career, what is your research about and why this research area is important for Mediterranean citizens.

 

Back to school: Today’s scientists were also young people who went to school and high school. The aim of this activity is to bring the real person to their own primary or secondary school, so that students can know in a close way and with someone from its village or neighborhood what are the steps to become a scientist. This activity can be developed both online or face-to-face. Do you want to come back to school?

 

Your original activity for the NIGHT (September 30th): The activities proposed should emphasize the applications of science in our daily life and aim to further enhance the relevance and understanding of science by the general public and build their trust in science. proposed activities will be especially engaging for children, stimulating their natural curiosity and showing them the fun aspect of science, technology and research.

Type of activities: Talks, Scientific art happenings, talk shows, Competitions, Exhibitions and Murals, Scientific Games, Experiments, Information pills, Workshops, Guided Visits, dramatized routes, science films and Guerrilla Science events.

 

Guerrilla science (Mind the Lab). In “Mind the Lab” scientists demonstrate how the science of Laboratories is connected with our daily lives and the world around us. Scientists move their lab to a public place and anyone who wants to stop can enjoy experiments and other activities which only last for a few minutes. We offer you training in Guerrilla Science methodology and experiments so that you can target the untargeted in your region. Are you ready?

 

Mednight TV shows: If you have oral communication abilities this is the perfect chance to become an audiovisual communicator. Propose us a theme and we will organize, or help you to organize, the best Science TV show ever! You can count with the training of our specialist Theo Anagnostopoulos and Myrtani Pieri, International references in TV science communication.

 

Challenge - Mediterranean wave: In order to make visible Mediterranean Science we propose ourselves a challenge, in which we need your help. We want to perform a human wave in research centers form Algeciras to Istanbul. Beginning from the European side for this 2022 and coming back form the African side for 2023. If you want to join our challenge, please fill the form and send us your video, so that we can plan the whole wave.

 

Here you can find an example, the Mednight team performing the human wave in Lesvos. Let’s do it! watch

 

Call to schools (SP)

Registration already open to host Mediterranean Researchers' at schools

 

In this “Mediterranean Researchers’ at schools” we propose activities of scientific culture in schools that contribute to achieve some of the challenges of today’s society and, with this, contribute to education for development and global citizenship, as well as gender equality and coeducation. We will bring researchers working on topics related to the Mediterranean Science areas to bring young people closer to how scientific research works towards achieving the SDGs. We will also promote industry professionals' visits to schools to show apply research results in the development of their products. 

In this way, we want schoolchildren to see how science and scientists influence our daily lives, highlight potential future professional options in STEAM careers and contribute to social well-being.

Moreover, we aim to provide Mediterranean schools with our own content produced during the Mednight project, to be offered as educational and dissemination resources. The resources we refer to are the following:

 

Exhibition “The Mediterranean Faces of Science”

Exhibition composed of 30 images showing women scientists from the Mediterranean basin. You can request the downloadable files to print them and display the exhibition in your school. The exhibition is available in different languages: Spanish, Valencian, Italian, Greek, Turkish and English.

https://mednight.eu/mediterranean-faces-of-science/

 

Documentary “MEDNIGHT Expedition: The Ports of Science”.

It is a documentary that narrates a journey through the knowledge of the Mediterranean basin, as well as its past, present and future to give a vision of the research that is currently being carried out in the Mediterranean countries. The documentary is divided into three 15′ blocks and also includes a series of activities for students to do after viewing.

 

Science stories “Tales from Mednight”

Through reading tales, pupils can also learn new scientific concepts related to science in a fun, simple way and in a language that is familiar to them. Mednight provides schools with a series of tales and activities so that teachers can use them in their classes and encourage students to learn science in a different way.

 

If you would like to request some of these resources for your school, please fill in the following form:

https://forms.gle/86mHxs29S1vHVWk2A

 

Researchers back to school

Today’s scientists were also young people who went to school and high school. What motivated them to devote themselves towards science and what is their research today? The aim of this activity is to bring research in different areas of knowledge to schools so that pupils can hear first-hand from an active researcher and ask them their questions.

 

If you would like to request a scientist to come to your school, please fill in the following form:

https://forms.gle/HMpDJooEFJAegP7s6