Science Night LIVE! at Heureka is an evening full of inspiring stories, fascinating research, and good vibes! The event takes place on Wednesday, 29 March 2023 from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm at Heureka, the Finnish Science Center in Vantaa with this year’s theme being “Science solving problems”. Science Night LIVE! is funded by Tieteen tiedotus and co-organised by E2 Research, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, and Heureka. The event supports media, decision-makers, companies, and third-sector organisations in discovering the knowledge and expertise of foreign academics working in Finland. Equally, it provides international academics opportunities for societal engagement with the general public and stakeholders.

The program features themes of artificial intelligence, sustainability matters, and topics related to equality and diversity in societies. One of the academics taking the stage is Sarah Schiffling, an assistant professor of Supply Chain Management and Social Responsibility at Hanken School of Economics. She is looking forward to making connections in her new home country Finland:

“I stumbled into media work during the pandemic and for the past two years I was frequently interviewed by the BBC explaining how COVID-19 vaccines were distributed, why stores were running out of products and all sorts of other supply chain problems. In October last year, I moved from the UK to Finland and now I'm keen to start to contribute my expertise in my new country.”

The event has generated wide interest among international scholars in Finland. “We were impressed by the quality and number of applications. For the pitching competition alone, we received 68 video submissions across the country and from various academic fields. We are positive the competition will be one of the highlights of the program” says Mari K. Niemi, Head of the Event Organising Team from E2 Research.

Pitching competition finalists and their topics:

• Kasra Alyon (junior researcher, energy systems, LUT University) “Using AI to facilitate energy transition”
• Eleanna Asvestari (postdoctoral researcher, physics, University of Helsinki) “Space weather modelling: Forecasting the dangers the Sun sends our way”
• Zhao Fu (doctoral researcher, electrical engineering, Tampere University) “Supercapacitor - An Efficient and Eco-friendly Solution to Energy Crisis”
• Guadalupe López-Íñiguez (Academy of Finland research fellow, Uniarts Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy) “Caring for Musically Gifted Children”
• Ropafadzo Mzezeva (doctoral researcher, clinical medicine, Tampere University) “How to model epilepsy outside the brain”
• Abigail Parker (postdoctoral researcher, computer science, University of Helsinki) “Learning from our ecological ancestors: fossil community trait structure and past climate”

The pitching competition cash prize (6 000 euros) will be allocated by a jury including event partner representatives from Business Finland, CGI Finland, Technology Industries of Finland and The Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers.

Co-organisers of the event are pleased to see how much interest the event has generated.

“Science Night LIVE! at Heureka has a lot to offer to diverse audiences. For journalists, it’s a great chance to find new experts to interview. Scholars will benefit from the opportunity to network with stakeholders. For the wider audience, it will surely be a fascinating night with people who do the latest research”, Mikko Myllykoski, Heureka’s CEO says.

“Finding new interviewees and improving in utilizing the expertise of international academics in Finland should be in the interest of Finnish media. Science Night LIVE! at Heureka will be an exciting opportunity to learn about the latest research and make new, fruitful connections,” says Anne Leppäjärvi, Journalism Degree Director at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences.

The full program of the event: sciencenightlive.com/program

Event Contact Person:
Venni Arra
venni.arra@e2.fi
Specialist, E2 Research

Chair of the Organising Team:
Mari K. Niemi
mari.k.niemi@e2.fi
Director, E2 Research

Twitter: @SciNightLive