Portuguese researchers are preparing to divulge the universe of scientists to the public at large through theatre. “Scientists on the Stage” is the name of an event organized in partnership by seven research centres, a company and a science museum for this year’s holding of the Researchers’ Night, which will take place on the 25th of September in four Portuguese cities simultaneously.

Researchers’ Night is an event that has been promoted by the European Commission since 2005, with the aim of bringing researchers closer to the general public, demystifying some strange ideas that have been created about the profession of being a scientist.

Lisbon, Oporto, Coimbra and Olhão are the cities where the events will take place, and which have been under preparation by the scientists since April, and in which the scientists themselves will take the stage in several different performances aimed at a public of all ages.
Besides the shows, the afternoon and evening of the 25th will be filled by interactive activities with the public such as speed-dating with scientists, innovative communication installations, scientific cafés and exhibitions of art-science. The events are focused upon public involvement with the scientist, and on the two major scientific celebrations of 2009: the 400 after the use of the telescope by Galileo and the 200 years celebration of Darwin’s birth.

In Lisbon, the scientists will be spread around the gardens of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and will take the stage in stand-up comedy shows and other theatre events. The Praça Gomes Teixeira square, or, as it is also known, the Praça dos Leões, was chosen as the site for the Researchers’ Night in Oporto. In Coimbra the scientists will take the applause in the Museum of Science of the University of Coimbra. In the south, in Olhão, the scientists will meet the audience with their Researchers’ Night in the Ria Shopping mall, where the shows and events will take place among shops, cafés, restaurants and cinemas, in an everyday, informal atmosphere.

The institutions participating in the organization of “Scientists on the Stage” are: the Gulbenkian Science Institute, of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Chemical and Biological Technology Institute, the Institute of Molecular Medicine, the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, the Centre of Astrophysics of the University of Oporto, the University of Oporto Innovation, of the University of Oporto, the Regional Centre for Innovation of the Algarve, the Natura Algarve and the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra. The “Viver a Ciência, a C.q.D – Ciência que se Desfruta, a Marionet, a Miau e a Te-Atrito” are the associations that organize this.

More information on www.cientistasaopalco.com

Communication and Training Unit,
Institute of Molecular Medicine
marta-elisa@fm.ul.pt