European Researchers‘ Night 2023

On 29 September 2023, the European Researchers' Night took place in 26 countries.

This year, the theme of the evening and night in Vienna was "exploREsearch".

The main goal of the event was to give everyone the opportunity to actively participate in science. Children and young people in particular were to be encouraged to experience and understand science during the event. The event was open to everyone without admission.

The rooms of the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, where the event took place, provided a beautiful setting for the European Researchers' Night. At various stations and workshops, visitors could take a look behind the scenes of research departments and get in touch with scientists.

Our Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Hydrometry was able to give about 100 interested visitors an insight into its work or current projects at its scientific station entitled "Living Rivers - Habitat and Danger". Among others, these are two EU-funded projects. One is about the joint development of solutions for disaster prevention during extreme weather events (Interreg project LOCALIENCE) and the other is about the development of an innovative systemic approach for the restoration, protection and conservation of ecosystems throughout the Danube catchment (Horizon Europe project EcoDaLLi).

A special attraction was our model river. Here, visitors who were keen on experimenting could try out for themselves how to make a river livelier again, which paths the water takes, how to direct the water flow and what happens during floods.