Climate change and extreme events, neuroscience and biomedical technologies, stargazing, linguistics and philosophy of mind: these are some of the topics that the Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS di Pavia will bring to Researchers’ Night, taking place on Friday, 25 September in the historic courtyards of the University of Pavia.
Promoted since 2018 by the Pavia Division of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) and organised together with the University of Pavia, the event returns in 2026 to bring research closer to the public and encourage dialogue and interaction with those who work in research every day.
IUSS will take part with workshops, demonstrations and interactive activities for children, young people and adults. The programme will offer an opportunity to explore different fields of research, experiment with and observe phenomena and technologies, meet researchers and discover the methods, tools and applications behind their work.
Climate change and extreme weather events
How are the frequency and intensity of extreme events changing, and how can we make cities and buildings more resilient? Through games, experiments and demonstrations using small-scale models, participants will explore phenomena such as tornadoes and thunderstorm downbursts and discover the principles of atmospheric science and wind engineering. They will also have the opportunity to test themselves in risk prevention and management, exploring the decisions that need to be made before and during an emergency.
Neuroscience and biomedical technologies
A journey into the brain and health technologies through hands-on activities, games and demonstrations. From neuroscience and neuropsychology to artificial intelligence and gene therapy, as well as biosensors and wearable and epidermal technologies, visitors will be able to try out tests and tools used in research and clinical practice and discover how data, biomedical images and biological signals can help us understand the mechanisms underlying health and disease.
Philosophy: what does it mean to “know”?
What does it really mean to know something? Through questions and short interactive activities, the Philosophy stand will invite visitors to explore different ways of understanding knowledge and to question ideas we often take for granted. It will also offer an opportunity to discover IUSS research on mathematics, mind, technology and risk.
Exploring the night sky
Telescope observations will offer visitors the opportunity to explore the night sky and get closer to astronomy. Together with researchers, participants will be able to observe celestial objects and discover some of the phenomena that characterise our Universe.
The event is completely free and open to the entire community and is made possible by close institutional collaboration between the organisers and the Municipality of Pavia, Municipality of Vigevano, Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS di Pavia, CNAO, Eucentre, Order of Biologists of Lombardy, Fondazione Policlinico San Matteo, Fondazione Mondino, KOSMOS Museum, Italian Alpine Club (CAI), ISTAT and Pavia nel Cuore.
The initiative is supported by Autoguidovie Spa, Palestra Shadow and RS Components S.r.l.