Science is not just what happens in laboratories and research centres – it is all around us, shaping the way we live, work and understand the world. That is why it is important to talk about science openly and in accessible language, and to create space for everyone to ask questions and share ideas. And there is no better place for that than the 17th European Researchers’ Night, held this year under the slogan “One Heart for Science”.
This year’s Researchers’ Night was officially opened at Europe House in Belgrade with introductory remarks by Dr Marija Gnjatović, Doctor of Biotechnical Sciences, Senior Research Associate and State Secretary at the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation; Rihard Maša, Head of Operations at the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia; Emerita Solino Peneiro, Project Adviser at the European Research Executive Agency (REA); and Dr Diana Lupulović, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Scientific Adviser and researcher at the Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy (INEP) at the University of Belgrade, and this year’s head of the European Researchers’ Night in Serbia.
“Tonight, you can be scientists yourselves, at least for a day. And who knows? Perhaps a new Nikola Tesla or Mihajlo Pupin, or a new Marie Curie, is among you. Maybe you will be the ones to create a technology that will change the world. That is precisely why the European Union is so enthusiastic about supporting this initiative,” said Rihard Maša, Head of Operations at the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, stressing the importance of curiosity and the desire for knowledge in the field of scientific research.
More than 110,000 people visited events held across Serbia as part of the European Researchers’ Night. According to the organisers, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., visitors at dozens of locations across the country could take part in free activities exploring the themes of the HEART project – ecology, animals and research.
This year’s European Researchers’ Night featured more than 200 free activities, designed to remind visitors that “science does not exist only in laboratories, but is part of our everyday lives.”
This year’s European Researchers’ Night in Serbia is being held as part of the HEART project, funded by the European Union through the Horizon Europe programme, the EU’s largest programme for research and innovation, under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
The project is coordinated by the Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy (INEP) of the University of Belgrade, in cooperation with the Centre for the Promotion of Science, the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Novi Sad, the Institute for Medical Research of the University of Belgrade, and the Provincial Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Petrovaradin.
The European Researchers’ Night science adventure was held simultaneously in Niš, Vranje, Leskovac, Kruševac, Čačak, Pirot, Kladovo, Svilajnac, Smederevo, Ranovac, Šabac, Sremska Mitrovica, Inđija, Nova Pazova, Sombor, Bačka Palanka, Kikinda, Vršac and Pančevo.