Researchers' Night is an annual event held on the same day, simultaneously in over 25 European countries (this year on Friday 30 September), to celebrate knowledge, discoveries and the benefits of research. This year the title of the Night of the Researchers is U*NIGHT.

Researchers' Night Program from this year included conferences, interactive experiments, debates and prize competitions, in an unfolding throughout the day of September 30, but also in the events associated with the U*NIGHT action, which took place before the event (on September 23, "Discover your environment!", Science Cafe & Interactive Experiments event, held between 11 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. at the Dumbrăvița Secondary School) and post-event (on October 6, "Discover your environment!", Science event Interactive Cafe & Experiments, held between 11 a.m. and 12.30:XNUMX p.m. at the Secondary School in Ciclova Română).

The events were organized with the financing of the European Union, through the actions of Marie Skłodowska-Curie, the one in Timișoara taking place in 2022 through the organization ensured within UNITA alliance, composed of universities from Italy, Spain, France, Portugal and Romania, including the Western University of Timișoara. The main purpose of the event is to bring together researchers and the general public, to allow interaction with science and researchers, in a relaxed and friendly setting, but also to promote public awareness of the global problems that science tries to solve . One of the messages is to show that researchers are ordinary people, with an unusual job, who contribute to the development of communities through what they do every day. Through this event, natural phenomena encountered in everyday life are brought back to the public's attention, to which physics gives a truly spectacular scientific explanation.

In addition to the experiments addressed to all ages, the organizers of the event also prepared a program that included activities such as:

• researchers' debates on topics of major importance regarding the circular economy, climate change, smart cities, cancer, renewable energies, cultural heritage;
• the awarding of prizes to the winners of the media and graphic contests with the theme "Climate change – dangers and opportunities";
• science-cafe in The Urban Garden of the Western University of Timișoara,
• interactive experiments, made at ExperimentariumTM.

UVT rector, Marilen Gabriel Pirtea: "In the last week of September, all those interested had the opportunity to participate in several events and experiments in the field of scientific knowledge, grouped within the program of the Researchers' Night, on September 30. The West University of Timișoara is part of the UNITA European Alliance and proposed this year an international format in the implementation of the Researchers' Night program, benefiting from the extensive international cooperation developed with the other partner universities, which brought together, physically and online, the communities of the university cities in the alliance, representing Romania, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, participating in the UNITA network."

The event "Researchers' Night 2022 - U*NIGHT" was organized at the University of the West Timișoara and in the locations of the partners, at the Faculty of Physics and the Department for Relations with the Pre-University Environment (DRMP), in cooperation with other Faculties and Departments of the University of the West, at the ExperimentariumTM, as well as with the help of the Timișoara, Dumbrăvița and Ciclova Română town halls. The project benefited from funding from the European Union (grant 101061610) within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions. The coordinator of the event from the UVT was prof. Dr. Marius Ștef, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Physics, West University of Timișoara.