Researchers’ Night: That’s Edutainment!

“Factory and music: a perfect match!” commented Christian Bergmann, a Bolivian student at Maastricht University, about the location of the recent Researchers’ Night in Maastricht.

With its generous spaces, old brick walls and sturdy metal structure, the former factory “Timmerfabriek” on the Boschstraat near the Market square, was indeed very inspiring in itself.

Organised by the European Commission, the Researchers’ Night is a European project that aims to increase public recognition for researchers through a variety of activities bringing together education and entertainment, or “edutainment”.

This year, the Researchers’ Night took place on 26 September and the two Dutch host cities were Amsterdam and Maastricht.

For Prof. Dr. Gerard Mols, Rector Magnificus at the University of Maastricht, the Researchers’ Night is a perfect opportunity to introduce the research activities conducted at the university to the wider public. “You can even touch the researchers”, he joked, highlighting the fact that the event allowed everyone present to mingle and get to know each other better.
 

(photo: (C) MBT Shoots)

About 800 high-school students attended the event, proving its appeal to the younger generation as well.

The former factory was divided into three main interest zones, focusing on different activities: the Expo-zone, the Science Café and the Main Hall.

The Expo-zone presented research institutes, such as the International Centre for Integrated assessment and Sustainable development. The research centre was founded at Maastricht University in 1998, under the belief that science and education are able to greatly contribute to the sustainability of life on earth. For Akua Britwurm, the representative of ICIS, “society at large needs to be reminded of its own impact on the environment, in order to acknowledge the importance of sustainable living.”
 

Ms Akua Britwurm, ICIS Maastricht

With an eye-opening quiz also available online, ICIS promotes the idea of ecological footprints. Through challenging questions like “How many planets would we need if everybody lived like you?” participants are encouraged to take action to improve their way of life.

In a different corner of the factory, people were gathering around the Science Café stage to get a short English spoken “pre-taste” of the new series of lectures that will offered by Studium Generale at the Selexyz Dominicanen bookshop from October 2008 till April 2009.
 

The goal of these lectures will be to bring the public face to face with researchers and their topics of research.

The speakers during the Researchers’ Night were a number of researchers from Maastricht University, who presented a brief argument on what exactly determined them to choose an individual field of research and provided an general overview on the developments of their studies.

The organisers of the Maastricht version of the Researchers’ Night had chosen a sub-theme for the event, Beyond Borders, to convey the message that Maastricht is an international city and to show that the research conducted at Maastricht University doesn’t only have a local impact, but that developments in research are of universal help.
 
The audience, itself composed of various nationalities, took a deep interest in the researchers’ presentations. The high level of attention was also noticeable through the pointed questions that were asked.

Since science is never isolated from ethics, many of these dealt with issues of general moral.

Addressing the problematic question of how developments in science can be misused, researcher Bert Smeets, who spoke about Personalised Genomics, said that “genetic information should not be used for discrimination.” He contented that the public needs more serious education in order to perceive scientific breakthroughs correctly.

Prof. Dr. Corine de Ruiter, whose nickname is “professor Disaster” because she appears on television whenever there’s a criminal activity of great impact for society, was asked whether pathologic oriented psychology can be dangerous if it is used as a means to interpret the future. Her answer was straightforward: “I could have told there was a pattern between the recent school killings in Finland and the ones last year”.

 

Dr. Marco Jelicic and Prof. Corine de Ruiter
 

The audience also witnessed research that they can get involved into: this was the case with Prof. Leonard Hafstra who presented the Heart Attack Prevention Program for You, an internet based monitoring program of the Academic University Hospital Maastricht. “Our goal is to be able to monitor all the residents in Maastricht for heart conditions somewhere in the future”, said Prof. Hafstra.

The entertainment part of the night was provided by DJ Blue Tone, the Gypsy Ska Orchestra and the student band Paradogma’s. The Main Hall of the Timmerfabriek, with its dim lights, pleasant colors and post-industrial feel proved to be a perfect spot for a concert.
 

(photo: (C) MBT Shoots)

“It’s a pity that the event wasn’t promoted more like a party, because there was a lot of free alcohol,” said Iulia Anescu, a Romanian Master student at the International Business Faculty.

The Antwerp based Gypsy Ska Orchestra gave an energetic performance which heated up the spirits. On its website, the band describes itself as made up of “seven musicians from all over the world - each with a very diverse musical background – who have teamed up to combine the pure, raw energy of authentic Roma Gipsy melodies with the ultra-danceable ska groove”. And groove they did!

(photo: (C) MBT Shoots)

Their music was so inviting that not only the students enjoyed it, but also the lecturers and participants of the Science Café. “This band is very good for this event”, said Adriana Palánova who studies at the Law faculty. The exchange student from the Czech Republic added that she appreciated the band being so open-minded. With a strong social message in lyrics written in at least three languages - English, French and Roma -, everybody started moving to the beats almost involuntarily, as the lead singer was shouting that “If you have a racist friend, then it is the time for your friendship to end”.
 

(photo: (C) MBT Shoots)

The success of the first Maastricht Researchers’ Night made Prof. Mols confident that the event would stay on the University’s agenda for the years to come.

As for me, I left the party with three things on my mind:

- Researchers are not frigid scientists spending too much time in their books;

- Once again music proved that it is a universal language that draws people together and makes them feel good;

- I will definitely come again next year!

By Catalina Goanta

Photographs by Catalina Goanta and MBT Shoots

Catalina Goanta, a Master Student at the Law faculty in Maastricht, is fascinated by the biorhythm of Maastricht.