“Die Lange Nacht der Forschung” (The Long Night of Research) is a biannual event, that takes throughout Austria, offering free access to experience science and research first-hand in all nine federal provinces. You can engage in discussions with researchers, uncover hidden and intriguing aspects of science, and be amazed by what is revealed. It is pitched at the general public and aims to get people more interested in science, inform them about interesting projects happening in their city and also educate them on subjects. It is aimed at all ages with some events specially for children.
The last edition took place on 24th May 2024, showcasing researchers’ achievements across a diverse range of fields, including society, environment and health, natural sciences, technology and energy, and business, digitalization, and culture. The event offered a dynamic program at over 270 locations with tours, workshops, talks, demonstrations, and interactive experiments to observe, participate in, and be amazed by.
With the intention of bringing science closer to the general public, BNN showed how and where to you discover nanotechnology in everyday life in their hands-on station. They had a blast bringing visitors closer to “nano”. Over 800 people of all ages came to their booth (shared with the Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering GmbH (RCPE)) on Inffeldgasse in Graz to learn about #nanotechnology in daily life – from the littlest guests experimenting with water droplets on hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces, to teens and adults matching nanomaterials with their real-life (and future!) applications.
Similarly, die Medical University of Graz and BRAVE Analytics performed similar activities. On May 24, BRAVE opened its laboratory to all interested visitors: Liquids used in medicine, such as vaccines or infusions, contain nanoparticles. These cannot be recognised with a microscope. In order to know whether the quality of the liquids is right, they have to be visualised – and this works with the laser technology from BRAVE Analytics. Doris Auer (BRAVE) informed and inspired 130 visitors from young to old about nanoparticles and their measurements using live measurements techniques, their OF2i technology.
Some highlights of the night:
