Brilliant researchers impact on growth health and trust in research
The BRIGHT project aims at enhancing the visibility and the image of researchers among the general population in the Tuscany Region, simultaneously with all the European Researchers’ Night (ERN) initiatives. BRIGHT acronym means “Brilliant Researchers Impact on Growth Health and Trust in research”, it has been used in the previous editions of the ERN and is intended to underline the involvement of researchers in the enhancement of common people’s everyday life and their wellbeing. The project is planned for the years 2018 and 2019 and will last, each year, from Friday afternoon till Saturday at noon of the ERN scheduled date. In these “nights” are planned hundreds of entertaining and exciting activities that will involve the main Tuscan cities. The activities will be focused around the general theme of the pioneering activity of the researcher and will address some crucial issues such as migration (European Paths), food and climate, Cultural Heritage (European Year in 2018), The fascination of scientific discovery (What a Wonderful World), Public Health (Health 4 All) and New Technologies. Besides the organization of the nights’ events, BRIGHT will involve the population, and particularly young students of primary and secondary schools, all along the two years, through some citizen science’s project - that will have their public and crucial moments of presentation during the two ER Nights -, and through pre-events disseminated all along the period. This long period involvement is intended to create a strong tie among researchers (who will also attend a course on science communication), young students and general population in order to make researchers more “familiar” and to let people better understand how researchers work and live, and so why trust them.