The present proposal is relevant to the organization of the 27th edition of EUCYS-European Union Contest for Young Scientists, to be held in Milan from September 17 to 22, 2015. FAST, the Italian National Organizer - based in Milan - has worked to put together the national and local institutions, as well as private and public entities, to collaborate at this important event sharing the EU objectives to support the best young students in EU, associated and invited countries. Moreover, considering the opportunity of EXPO 2015 due to be held at the same time, and thanks to the collaboration of the Steering Committee for the EXPO - EU Scientific programme, the contest will take advantage of a special initiative: the EU and associated countries will be encouraged to promote one extra project proposal linked to the themes of Expo 2015 "Feeding the Planet. Energy for Life". In this way, the contest will be enriched with more contestants and projects. This proposal is defined as the set of all the actions needed to prepare and organize the 2015 event with a maximum impact, in terms of: support to the National organizers, contestants, Jury, and all other participants, before, during and after the Eucys week; organization of the overall programme; choice of hotel accomodation and venues; communication plan and press conferences. A strong dissemination plan will be studied in order to meet public interest (especially teachers, students and scientists), as well as to attract media attention. Therefore, all the necessary elements and items to assess the feasibility of the project, including the draft programme, the objectives, impacts and financial provisions are included in this activity prepared by FAST. The final aim of EUCYS 2015 is the promotion of science and technology among young people, according to the scopes of the Science with and for Society Programme within Horizon 2020.

The role of science in our societies is strongly related to the creation of new knowledge to face the big challenges of our modern world, the improvement of education, and the increment of life quality. However, science and technology are often hidden from non-expert eyes, generating a gap between citizens and scientists. To thrive, science requires support, communication, and discussion. The Co.Science project aims to connect science to society by promoting the importance of research and innovation, by making science education attractive for youngsters, and by providing researchers with effective communication tools, bringing them closer to the citizens. The way to achieve these goals will go through 1. the implementation of public spaces where researchers and citizens meet face to face; 2. the empowerment of researchers in their communication skills; 3. the establishment of an ecosystem of people and institutions working together to engage citizens in science and 4. the public recognition's boosting of research and science education. The proposal is supported by a consortium of formal and informal learning institutions working together with institutional and civil stakeholders for effective and lasting public engagement and new and appealing opportunities to interact with citizens. The Co.Science project will specifically train researchers on the enhancement of their communication skills and it will organize two ERN editions, implementing educational initiatives in the schools. ERNs will be implemented in six important cities of Lombardy in Italy (Milano, Como, Varese, Busto Arsizio, Lodi, and Lecco) creating cross-disciplinary and multi-topic diffuse events on STEAM fields and promoting the European scientific culture. During the related school years, we will propose active learning actions in the schools owing to the presence of researchers among the students, thus re-building confidence, which is fundamental for our communities.