Looking over the Horizon - horizontal priorities in research and in everyday challenges of the researchers' career! The main objective of “FAWORIT 2014-2015” is to overcome the prevailing stereotypes about researchers and contribute to the enhancement of their public recognition through aspects of innovation, gender, mobility, international research and lifelong learning. We address the future generation and show the attractiveness of research career – with a special awareness campaign with developing „SciMotion” with our industrial and school partners. We focus on the target group from the age of 5 to 24, but we aim to address all age groups with attractive programmes. The series of events at 20 locations will focus on the Researcher through his/her career and the lively experiences of scientific life. The public will be “edutained” during the Nights: scientific presentations will be mixed with entertaining elements. There is going to be e.g. an „IQ obstacle race”, an exhibition of researchers’ hobbies, a laser show and HiTech Pubs. The target audience can thus discover that the life of the researcher is fascinating, cool and attractive. Our objective is to have around 20,000 visitors at the events, but a multiple of that number (around 500,000) will see, hear or read about the Nights. We are planning to raise awareness of the European engagement in R&D&I with the active participation of MC Fellows. In the European Corners and at each venue related programmes of the European Union and the Marie Curie Actions will be visible. The structure of the consortium (stakeholders from academia and industry, from non-profit and for-profit organizations, with the contributing participation of schools, a cluster, a multinational company and a media partner), the elaborated concept/workplan and the involvement of strategic media partners will guarantee the success of the project. We are also keen on to participate in the celebration of the10th anniversary of Researchers’ Night.

"The project of strategic partnership “Universe to reach? In planetarium!"" connected partners from 6 European countries who are dedicated to education in technical and natural sciences and who encourage interest in these disciplines and critical thinking in public. It buildt on previous projects of bilateral mobilities, Erasmus+, and focused on astronomy and space technologies. Each of the partners is a leader in its region for lifelong learning and the joint project enabled them to start international cooperation with a large outreach. Astronautics has a truly exceptional position among natural and technical sciences. Although it is actually fully rational, in its core it is very hardly understandable for the ordinary mortals, having a strong influence on the emotions and imagination. With a few exceptions, sky and space fascinate everybody: amateurs and professionals, the smallest and the oldest; looking at images from orbital stations or from the Moon has an obvious emotional charge. Space research is connected with a number of fundamental problems of human existence; it often extends into the philosophy and touches upon religious issues. The project fited into the ideas of the space strategy for Europe. In accordance with the horizontal priority of the Erasmus Open programme and innovative practices in a digital era, the subject of our project was extending and developing educators' competences and increasing the ability to provide supply for demand through effective outreach, guidance and motivation strategies. Specifically, the project had to increase the competences of planetarium employees. Partial focus of cooperation included getting to know the conditions and the process of creating innovative fulldome programmes in major planetariums (with a particular emphasis on dramaturgy and visual aspects of the programmes), the appearance and daily operation of interactive exhibitions, the digital projection technology including its technical aspects, further development, etc.; also getting to know the system of individual education in astronomy including the support of talented individuals and especially cooperation in the area of creating the first joint intellectual output - the programme for digitaria (the so-called fulldome format) named Satelix, on the theme astronautics and space technologies. The project was innovative: connecting the makers to produce a transferable and compatible programme for digitaria is an extremely challenging step in the field of ICT; but it is also efficient in terms of costs and resources. The resulting programme in several language versions, shared by dozens of planetariums, brought about considerable cost savings, while embracing tens of thousands of spectators. International cooperation was deepen among the partners, who are experts in this method of audiovisual projection in their respective states. Planetariums - as unique audiovisual facilities for the promotion and publicity of science - used to be financed by public funds in Europe. This project enabled them to have a superior programme for a wide range of visitors. Newly acquired information, knowledge and experience from visits to partner institutions (shadowing, professional discussion) and from the joint production of the digital programme will be used by the involved partners also in the creation of other new educational programmes for all age groups of their regular as well as random visitors. By this, they can contribute to the development of lifelong learning not only in the cities, where the involved planetariums are located, but also in entire regions, where these institutions have their exclusivity. The total of 7 project meetings took place to enable the transfer of know-how and good practice and during the preparation of the product according to the defined technical parameters; each time 2 educators from each partner country and 3 local experts participated in the meetings. We also implemented one big multiplication event with the participation of more than 150 people. 13 employees were involved in the product creation according to the above methodology; i.e. there are 98 supported experts, who participated in a unique mindset output and its international dissemination. The resulting synergies will be used in the creation of another joint output; after the project termination, we expect further networking and cooperation on production of portable fulldome programmes at the international level and networking in the future ahead."

The main objective of our FAWORIT proposal is twofold: 1) to show the public how researchers with their innovative solutions affect our daily lives; 2) to encourage the youth – with a special focus on girls – to embark on scientific careers by involving young innovators in our programmes. Our main target group is students between the age of 8-20, but we aim to address all age groups with attractive programmes. Some novelties of our project: offering challenge-oriented activities – each of our 18 venues will present their innovative solutions related to interdisciplinary societal challenges; focussing on the concept of Responsible Research and Innovation - the audience will be informed about key elements of RRI, thus creating better understanding and fostering future involvement; launching “Science in the City” – a flash mob like activity, involving the public in spectacular experiments. We will apply an integrated approach in our project in which interdisciplinary challenges, innovative solutions, (young) researchers, their work and hobbies will be presented in an interactive, educating and entertaining way. The target audience can thus discover that being a researcher is cool and creative; researchers, but and young innovators are amongst us. Our objective is to have around 30000 visitors at the events, but a multiple of that number (around 500000) will see, hear or read about the Night. We intend to raise awareness of the European engagement in R&I; in the European Corners and at each venue related programmes of the European Union (FP7, H2020, especially MSCA) will be visible. The structure of the consortium: an innovative SME, a state-owned applied research institution, a highly innovative large company, a scientific association with a broad network of local member institutions all over Hungary and an independent think tank established by economists and sociologists together with numerous contributing partners of all kinds will ensure the success of the project.

Our project of strategic partnership of planetariums „Scientists warn: Sufficient but not redundant lights!“ connects partners from 7 European neighboring countries. Planetariums - school, theater and film at once - are unique audiovisual facilities for the promotion and publicity of science. They are dedicated to education in technical and natural sciences, they encourage interest in these disciplines and critical thinking in public. With a few exceptions, sky, stars and space fascinate everybody: amateurs and professionals, the smallest and the oldest; looking at images from orbital stations or from the Moon has an obvious emotional charge. Space research and star observing are connected with a number of fundamental questions of human existence; it often extends into the philosophy and touches upon religious issues. Our project builds on previous cooperation and projects Erasmus+, and focuses on astronomy and on the sustainable development of a high-quality environment, friendly to both humans and fauna and flora. We would like to make the public sensitive and draw attention to the seriousness of light pollution. The project fits into the ideas of the Space Strategy for Europe.Each of the partners is a leader for lifelong learning in its region and the joint project will enable them to follow international cooperation with a large outreach. In accordance with the horizontal priority of the Erasmus Open programme and innovative practices in a digital era as well as environmental and climate goals, the subject of our project is extending and developing the competences of educators and other personell who support adult learners in planetariums - our operators, teachers, technicians, authors, media specialists, scientists. Partial focuses of cooperation will include getting to know the conditions and the process of creating innovative fulldome programmes in major planetariums, the appearance and daily operation of interactive exhibitions, the digital projection technology including its technical aspects, further development, etc.; also getting to know the system of individual education in astronomy, and especially cooperation on creating the joint intellectual output - the program for digitaria in the so-called full dome format, which will be transferable and compatible.The project is innovative in many ways: connecting the makers to produce a transferable program for digitariums is an extremely challenging step in the field of ICT; but it is also efficient in terms of costs and resources. The resulting program in seven language versions, shared by dozens of planetariums, will bring about considerable cost savings, while embracing hundreds of thousands of spectators. Innovative is also the use of synergies for a pan-European awareness campaign to save the dark sky. International cooperation will deepen among the partners, who are experts in this method of audiovisual projection in their respective states. European Planetariums are mostly financed by public funds. This project will enable them to share a superior program for a wide range of visitors - and share costs. Newly acquired information, knowledge and experience from visits to partner institutions (shadowing, professional discussion) and from the joint production of the digital program will be used by the involved partners also in the creation of other new educational programs for all age groups of their regular as well as random visitors. By this, they will contribute to the development of lifelong learning not only in the cities, where the involved planetariums are located, but also in entire regions, where these institutions have their exclusivity.The total of 8 project meetings will take place to enable the transfer of know-how and good practice and during the preparation of the product according to the defined technical parameters; each time 2 educators from each partner country and 3 local experts (together 96) will participate in the meetings. We also plan one multiplier event with the participation of 75 people at least. 15 employees will be involved in the product creation according to the above methodology; i.e. there will be a total of 186 supported experts, who will participate in a unique mindset output and its international dissemination.The resulting synergies can be used in the creation of another joint output; after the project termination, we expect further networking and cooperation at the international level and we intend to continue working together to protect the dark sky, not just for astronomers here and now, but for all mankind in the future.

Our project aims to foster closer ties between researchers and the general public, prioritising the engagement of youth, particularly girls, towards science careers. Adopting a mission-oriented impact focused approach, with our efforts we address global challenges and are committed to ground breaking solutions. We'll illuminate both the professional and personal aspects of researchers in an interactive style, enhancing public awareness, especially among students, regarding the nuances of research and innovation. A special focus will be given to co-creation, the role of R&I in the society and the economy, the societal pertinence of EU's research policies and the improvement of science communication. Key events like "Researchers to Schools" and "Students to the Labs" will recur over two years, feeding students' enthusiasm while enabling educators to infuse creativity into core subject teachings such as digital technology, eco-friendly practices, and health. Our inclusive approach, drawing expertise from diverse disciplines and sectors, is formulated to maximise impact and familiarise the public with the realm of research. Our main target group is students of age 6-26, but we aim to address all age groups with attractive programmes and demonstrate that both scholars and innovators can be discovered amongst us, and being a researcher is indeed cool and creative! Our venues cover the whole country. As the result of the awareness raising campaign several organisations will join the Researchers’ Night, thus contributing to the multiplication of the visitors. Our goal, both ambitious and achievable, is to attract 30,000 attendees to our venues, but even much more participants are expected at further venues of partners who join us year by year. The NIGHT is set to resonate with millions, either through direct engagement or media exposure. Crucially, each venue will spotlight the EU R&I commitment, with an emphasis on the contributions of EU projects, especially the MSCAs.