European Researchers Night, the annual festival of science and scientific achievements, organised in over 350 cities across Europe, is being celebrated in BiH for the 8thyear in a row, in 9 cities across the country. Traditionally, European Researchers Night is organised on the last Friday of September, as a refreshing change to a routine Friday night out, and is dedicated to interactive experiments, workshops, quizzes and lectures, all in an effort to promote science and engage young people to consider a career in science.
Gianluca Vannini, Head of Operations Section for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross Border Cooperation,welcomed the participants during the opening ceremony and underlined that events like European Researchers Night prove that science is not only important but that it can also be interesting and fun:“I am very happy to see that there are more and more young people and BiH cities joining us each year. I am sure you will enjoy the events and find an interesting variety of interactive and fun activities prepared for you tonight. Science and research contribute to a country’s development, and lead to job creation, which is why the European Union is supporting these events through Horizon 2020, our largest programme for research and innovations,” said Vannini.
The slogan of the event is “Let’s STEAM! Stvarajmo nove prilike”, in celebration of the creative side of science, as well as the creative process implied by scientific work, underlining that European Researchers Night is an opportunity to meet and get to know extraordinary people who work in these areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The EU Info Centre hosted a presentation of young STEM innovators, students of the School of Electro-technical Engineering in Sarajevo, who participated in the First Global Challenge, and Robokids from Banja Luka, who promoted the importance of STEM education and their own innovative robots.
Thousands of citizens gathered in 9 cities across the country for this fun, scientific night in Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Brčko, Goražde, Konjic, Mostar, Sarajevo, Trebinje and Tuzla, and participated in rich educational and entertainment programmes designed to bring science and innovation closer to visitors, present scientific achievements and results, and spark the imagination with various interactive experiments, presentations, quizzes, projections and entertaining games for all ages.
European Researchers Night is an event held throughout Europe under the European Commission’s initiative since 2005, as part of FP7, currently the Horizon 2020 programme. European Researchers Night has been held in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2012. The aim of the event is to raise awareness of research and innovation in the country, support researchers and promote the achievements of local scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs, encouraging young people to consider science a potential career.
