4,000 Attend Two-Day Science Festival
More than 4,000 people attended the European Researchers’ Night in Tarragona, transforming Plaça Corsini into a hub of hands-on science over two days. Nearly 300 researchers from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and regional CERCA research centres led around 50 interactive workshops for children, teenagers, and adults. Participants engaged in activities ranging from mathematical challenges and robotics to experiments on tobacco, sugar, and energy drinks. Other workshops explored prejudice, language evolution, electronic 'noses', microplastics in organs, sensory perception, and the role of algae in plant resilience. Attendees received a scientific passport, stamped at each workshop, and earned a small gift upon completion.
Public Engagement Through Interactive Learning
The event, organised by ComCiència, URV’s science communication unit, has become a key public outreach initiative since its launch in Tarragona in 2018. This year marked the ninth edition of the European Researchers’ Night in the region, reflecting its growing popularity. The festival also included public lectures, a multi-talk session on the biochemistry of Saint Tecla, and the launch of the second issue of URV’s science outreach magazine Mirades de Ciència. Topics spanned artificial intelligence, archaeology, 3D printing, photosynthesis, and consumer culture.
Ongoing Exhibits and Regional Expansion
An exhibition titled Castells de Ciència remains open at Tarragona’s Mercat Central until 13 October, using 14 panels to explain the science behind human towers, covering physics, mathematics, architecture, psychology, and Catalan philology. For the first time, the festival expanded to the Terres de l’Ebre. On Friday 2 October, a science fair with around ten workshops will take place in the town hall square of Tortosa, covering viruses, sport and health, aquatic plants, cellular agriculture, world languages, and entrepreneurship. The European Researchers’ Night is held annually across some 300 cities in 30 European countries. In Tarragona, it is supported by Horizon Europe, the University of Girona-led consortium, CERCA centres (ICAC, ICIQ, IPHES-CERCA, IRBCatSud), Tarragona City Council via Europe Direct, Mercats Tarragona, Borges, and PortAventura World.
Reported by icac.cat, Redacció Ebredigital.cat, diaridigital.urv.cat, diaridetarragona.com, uvic.cat, La Ciutat, Ràdio Ciutat de Tarragona, reusdigital.cat.
