HUMAN_ERA Night — European Researchers' Night in Cyprus: The Human Era

Results in brief

European Researchers' Night in Cyprus: The Human Era

The overall objective of the ‘HUMAN_ERA Night’ project was to reach out to the wider public and raise awareness about the research and innovation activities undertaken at national and EU level while boosting knowledge about the benefits of science to society in order to stimulate the interest in research careers, especially among young people. With the motto ‘science for all’ as a flagship, the ‘HUMAN_ERA Night’ organised two fun, interactive events,one in 2018 in Limassol and one in 2019 in Nicosia, targeting various audiences during European Researchers’ Nights in Cyprus. The events offered a unique opportunity for the public to meet and interact with the researchers through different activities. • Bring together researchers and the public at large (of different ages, gender and background, but especially young people) and allow them to interact through a balanced mix of “edutainment” activities, so as to remove stereotypes about researchers, and make research careers more appealing by proving that researchers are in fact “ordinary people with fascinating jobs”, thus increasing the number of young people choosing to get involved in research while at the same time nurturing a research culture. • Raise the public’s awareness regarding the latest R&I achievements in Cyprus and beyond, that have positively affected many aspects of our everyday lives, including economic growth and better quality of life, emphasising projects funded by the EU, in order to understand the benefits for society, as well as the international dimension of research and increase the public’s recognition of the importance of the researchers’ work. • Engage relevant actors to encourage formal and informal science education with the aim to improve the scientific knowledge base in Cyprus. • Give a clear message to policy makers that investment in research will help boost the economy and increase Europe’s competitiveness. • Promote gender balance and inclusion in research by ensuring equal participation of males and females and extensive promotion. • Promote the idea of the human (the researcher) as the driving force in the science evolution.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

The HUMAN_ERA Night proposal aims at organising two events, one in 2018 in Limassol, and one in 2019 in Nicosia. Both events will be dedicated to the Human Era, a concept inspired from the fact that never before has the Earth been so affected by one species as is now by humans. Employing an anthropocentric approach, the HUMAN_ERA Night over the next two years aims to celebrate our Cultural Heritage (2018, on the occasion of the European Year of Cultural Heritage) and Life Sciences (2019) as two different mirrors reflecting the same image, human evolution. The Coordinator, the Research Promotion Foundation (RPF), as the National Agency for supporting Research and Innovation (R&I), has within its remit gained a long experience in organising activities for the promotion of R&I towards the public and especially the younger generation, with the European Researchers’ Night events being an integral part of its philosophy since 2006, and always with the vivid support from the National R&I System. The proposed events will be the result of a long-lasting and well established collaboration (12 years of organising European Researchers’ Night in Cyprus) of the RPF with all relevant R&I stakeholders (government, industry, academia) and civil participants ensuring maximum complementarity and open innovation at the same time. Building on past experiences, HUMAN_ERA Night will bring together researchers from all sectors and disciplines, along with the public, increasing appreciation of the researchers’ work, raising awareness on the importance of R&I for society and the economy and motivating young people to take up a career in research. Through a balanced mix of educational and entertaining, interactive activities, aiming at people of all ages, genders and educational backgrounds, the events will celebrate R&I achievements, especially EU funded and will ultimately remove stereotypes about the researchers’ profession, creating a much needed R&I culture among the Cypriot population.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

IDRYMA EREVNAS KAI KAINOTOMIAS · NicosiaCoordinatorCyprus

HUMAN_ERA Night · European Researchers' Night in Cyprus: The Human Era

Results in brief

European Researchers' Night in Cyprus: The Human Era

Project objective

Participants

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