York Researchers’ Night
York Researchers’ Night (YorNight) began as part of European Researchers' Night, a mega event taking place every year simultaneously in several hundred cities all over Europe and beyond. Having been enormously successful in 2014 and 2015, YorNight returned as a University-event in November 2018, maintaining its original aims to show that research is fun, diverse, and influences daily life for all of us. The 2018 event attracted an audience of over 3000 people to the event, in 2020 YorNight attracted over 4000 people to the York Barbican Centre. Find out more about YorNight 2020 in our Impact Report.
The event is comprised of a wide range of hands-on, research-based activities aimed at a general audience, with a particular focus on families. Short, 15-minute research talks also run consecutively.
YorNight provides an opportunity to showcase your research to a general audience, to engage groups in a dialogue with your research, and to inspire the next generation of researchers.
The date for the next YorNight is to be confirmed. Keep an eye on the staff pages and Staff Digest for any updates.
Target audience:
The key audience is the general public with a particular focus on school-age students and young people.
Aims:
The main aims of YorNight are:
- To encourage young people to consider research as a career, and particularly to inspire young girls and women
- To demonstrate how research improves our daily lives in a range of ways, and provides economic and societal benefits
- To show that research is varied and unexpected, and that being a researcher is interesting
- To convey the message to the public that researchers are everywhere, not just in the most obvious places eg laboratories
Date(s):
The date for the next York Researchers’ Night is to be confirmed
Value:
- Opportunity to communicate your research to a wide, public, audience
- Opportunity to inspire young people making their education and career choices
- Opportunity for PhD students to demonstrate their research to a wide audience
- Opportunity to contribute to the educational, social and cultural development of York and Yorkshire
What we provide:
- Logistical arrangements including venues, basic equipment eg tables, display boards, electricity point access etc
- Marketing to a broad public
- General event feedback mechanisms
- Final event report
What is required from you:
- An idea for an engaging, hands-on activity to explain your research to the public or a short, 15-minute talk explaining your research in an accessible way or an 8-minute long science cabaret act (story-telling, music, comedy, performance, art etc)
- Information on any requirements you will need eg display boards, tables, electricity points
- A risk assessment for your activity
Quotes:
- “I thought that tonight was amazing!”
- “Inspirational”
- “Loved this event – researchers very friendly and knowledgeable”
- “Great evening, just too much to see”
- “Cool. So much. So little time”
- “Science is wonderful”
- “So many cool things- not enough time”