LifeisScience · Identification of scientific contents in the daily life

Identification of scientific contents in the daily life

"“Life is Science” took place on 27th November 2020 in the frame of the European Researchers Night (MSCA-NIGHT). The objective of the project was to offer a broad spectrum of activities that are entertaining and educating to young adults and the general public. The event was originally planned as an open event with 3 locations, where visitors experience what is happening behind the scenes of a research laboratory. The COVID-19 pandemic changed this plan significantly and the concept was totally re-structured from three event venues to a 100% virtual event. However, the message that we wanted to convey kept the same: with “Life is Science” we wanted to show where science meets our daily life. We offered activities in 3 main topics: health, food technology and renewable resources. The program was structured in a 13-hours lasting live program (sessions broadcasted in a live stream) and pre-recorded explanatory videos, virtual lab tours and games. Despite the necessity of physical distance, the project ""Life is Science"" was eager to offer possibilities to engage and to interact: a couple of video tutorials for experiments at home have been produced, and live-sessions encouraged participants to fill surveys (menti.com), to discuss and to ask questions. Topics like ""Meat from the Lab"", ""What does society really know about viruses"", ""The principle of vaccination"", ""Nanotechnology"", ""Bioeconomy now - an escape game on tour"" etc. have been part of the live-program. About 1,400 participants attended the live-stream on 27th November. All recorded sessions and videos are still available, and they are well accepted (more than 5,000 additional views of videos, tendency increasing). Events like this are important to raise the awareness about career paths in MINT disciplines on the one hand and to create a better connection between research and society on the other. Especially, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has shown the relevance of research and public gained insights more intensively than ever. According to the event evaluation forms, ""Life is Science"" has been an ideal possibility for home-schooling during the November lock-down in Austria and was a highly valuable complement to the lessons of natural sciences."

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз