The Faculty of Physics of the Western University of Timișoara invited, on September 24, those passionate and lovers of physics and natural sciences to take part in a new edition of the European event Night of the Researchers. Promoted by The European Commission through the framework project Horizon 2020, organized in Timișoara by UVT under the banner "Opening Up Science", the annual event "Researchers' Night" invited the general public to participate in activities intended for curious minds of all ages - areas full of games, competitions with prizes, experiments or exhibitions to stimulate creativity, critical thinking and curiosity. On September 24, the program was conducted by researchers, inventors and explorers in an interactive, educational and fun way.
This year, the activities at the Western University of Timișoara took place in the "Ioan Mihai" Amphitheater and at the ExperimentariumTM. Participation in all activities was free and subject to the rules of compliance with medical safety.
The rector of UVT, university professor Dr. Marilen Gabriel Pirtea: "The program organized by the Western University of Timișoara as part of Researchers' Night 2021 includes amazing activities from different fields of science, accompanied by masterful lectures by important voices of science: cosmonaut Dumitru Dorin Prunariu, the only Romanian to fly into outer space, Mr. Marius Ioan -Piso, the director of the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA), the well-known physicist and researcher Cristian Presură or Mr. Ioan Dăncuș, from ELI-NP".
During the event on September 24, Nichita Cristian also lectured, together with Mircov Vlad, from CMR Banat Crișana, respectively the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Timișoara, and also Adina Rău, from the Seismological Observatory in Timișoara.
Also during the event, the winners of the science-themed graphic creation contest entitled "From the stars to the center of the Earth" were awarded, the works being exhibited in the Great Hall of UVT. Also here, the participants of the event could visit the stands of the UVT faculties.
In addition, the organizers proposed to the public, on September 25, the Șiințescu and Friends Fair, hosted by the Timișoara Seismological Observatory and organized within the RecoNnect project.
There were experiments, hands-on activities, creative games, digital art, solar disk observations and guided tours of the Seismological Observatory.
The 2021 European Night of Researchers event aims to celebrate science, which has facilitated progress and opening up the world. If 2020 can be defined by the word "Lockdown", we hope to define 2021 by the concept of "Opening Up", even if the epidemic still imposes restrictions. We attribute research to a significant contribution to the return to normality. Never in human history has the impact of science on our lives been clearer and faster. We thus underline the key role that research will play in a sustainable post-Covid recovery, a process that will enable societies to move towards a cleaner, more sustainable, carbon-neutral future.
By "Opening Up Science" we also mean public trust in science, a greater responsibility for researchers to communicate and open up to the public. Noaptea Cercetatorilor, the largest public science event in Romania, is an example of good practices through which we highlight the importance of public engagement and science education as vital elements to make science more attractive and to motivate young people to want a career in research.
At the national level, the six universities from Iași, Timișoara, Craiova, Constanța and Sibiu, which are part of the "Opening Up Science" consortium, carried out joint activities, together with large research institutions from Romania, universities from Bucharest, Suceava, Galați or Cluj, the Federation of Community Foundations from Romania and the Bucharest Community Foundation, united in the ReCoN-nect – The Green Deal consortium.
At the level of the European Union, the European Night of Researchers is part of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions series of the Horizon 2020 framework project. The #OpeningUpScience event is financed by H2020-MSCA-NIGHT-2020bis, contract 101036006.
The Night of Researchers event at the Western University of Timișoara was organized with the support of the Cărturești Bookstore in Timișoara. The media partner of the event was UVT-TV.
The national partners of the event: British Council, the French Embassy in Romania, the French Institute in Romania, EU Direct and the Association for Ecology and Sustainable Development.
Further details and full schedule on specialized web page and social-media.
Contact Opening Up Science:
Univ. Assoc. Dr. Mihail Lungu, Dean of the Faculty of Physics of UVT, e-mail: mihail.lungu@e-uvt.ro, tel. 0745604078.
