EGO and Virgo are taking part in the European Researchers Night with Bright Night and PICO

We’ll be announcing all the upcoming events shortly, but in the meantime:

The European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) in Cascina, home to the Virgo interferometer, will take part on September 25th in the European Researchers’ Night, an initiative promoted by the European Commission to promote scientific culture. EGO and Virgo will be present in various Italian cities, including Pisa and Milan, with a wide range of activities, including booths, shows and, of course, the Big Bang Machine van. The activities offered will be organised as part of the Bright Night and PICO – New Horizons projects, funded by the European Union, of which EGO is a partner.

Bright Night is the project for the European Researchers’ Night, promoted by the entire research community in Tuscany with the support of the Tuscany Region, as part of Giovanisì, the regional project for youth empowerment. The 2026 edition will be dedicated to the theme of ‘caring’, understood as a responsibility towards people, communities, relationships and the environment. In a context marked by profound social, environmental and technological transformations, research is called upon to make a tangible contribution to collective well-being by promoting knowledge that is thoughtful, ethical and accessible. Tuscan towns and cities will come alive with workshops, experiments, demonstrations, talks, exhibitions, performances and guided tours of museums and laboratories. Researchers will meet local residents to talk about their work and show how research helps tackle the major challenges of our time on a daily basis.

The PICO – New Horizons project, funded by the Horizon Europe Programme, Grant Agreement No. 101305391, building on the success of the previous PICO project, aims to connect cutting-edge physics with society through public engagement and outreach activities. EGO, already a partner in PICO, continues its commitment alongside scientific institutions from ten European countries in this project, which connects society to innovations in physics through concrete global challenges such as climate change, extreme natural events, the green transition, sustainable construction and eco-sustainable solutions.

Prossimamente annunceremo tutti gli eventi in programma, ma intanto: save the date, Friday Semptember 25th!