About us

Building up on the ambitious goals set in 2022, the year of 2023 has allowed RAISE to spread its impact. From January to July this was achieved via the increased magnitude of the Researchers at Schools (RAS) educational programmes “Ciência di Noz Manera” (CNM) and “Cientista Regressa à Escola” (CRE). For the rest of the year this was achieved via the memorable 2023 edition of the European Researchers’ Night (ERN), that took place on September 29th at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon, and the impact evaluation of the RAS programmes.

Second editions of both CNM and CRE yielded more impactful outcomes. Both programmes have effectively engaged a greater number of students and scientists, while extending their impact to more municipalities in Portugal. Collectively, the RAS programmes reached over 1300 students and almost 100 scientists in 2023. Priority was given to students coming from TEIP (Educational Territories of Priority Intervention) schools, rural and ultraperipherical areas, and schools with high rates of underperformance and/or students on free school meals.

Diversity was key to the success of the 2023 ERN programme, with a wide range of free activities distributed across nine hours and six different spaces, that were broadcasted in the main media channels in Portugal, including primetime on the national TV. The 50 free activities were implemented with the support of 374 contributors and were extensively explored by >1700 participants, including the main audience of RAISE – members of society that continue to be left out or feel detached from science: 235 students from the underserved schools that participated in CNM’s 2nd edition, 50 kids from an ERN pre-event, the summer camp at the Associação de Solidariedade Social do Alto da Cova da Moura, 20 kids from Instituição Particular de Solidariedade Social Centro Doutor João dos Santos – Casa da Praia, five students who won the CRE awards, and other members from underserved communities.

Designing such a diverse programme, including immersive lab visits, scientific games, workshops, stand-up comedy, concerts, speed dating with scientists and various stations with experimental science activities, was only made possible via the partnerships established with scientists, artists, athletes, communicators and educators who share the will to have a positive impact on the future of different communities.

Feedback collected by the RAISE team for about 50% of the participants (878 responses, spanning multiple age ranges) supported the overall success of the event, with the experience at the ERN being, on average, classified as 4.5 on a scale of 1 to 5 stars.

As we move forward with the RAISE project, and start the 3rd editions of the two RAS programmes, we remain committed to expanding our impact, ensuring that every effort remains aligned with our mission. Together, we look forward to making science more diverse, inclusive and accessible to underserved communities.

Funded by the European Commission. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.