SCIENCEHOTEL (SciHo)

Project summary

Science Hotel is a one-week hybrid (online and onsite) festival, where the general public in Rotterdam and its region meets with scientists and is introduced in their research and its relevance for our daily lives. ‘Humanimal’, this year’s theme of Science Hotel, features scientific aspects of the relation between human and animal nature. Understanding the scientific aspects of this relation will help society and individuals to develop strategies for resilience. Researchers participating in Science Hotel ‘Humanimal’ will reflect on these aspects: From the integrating the concepts of ‘One health’ and zoonosis, that explain the emergence of pandemic viruses, to the evolutionary origins of human stress mechanisms.

The program will show that funding of research is an investment that delivers benefits for society, including health, wellbeing, innovation, employment and careers.

It also shows that European collaboration has many advantages for researchers and society by pooling resources and bright minds, comparing research questions from the globalized, (European) context and joining efforts to apply research results in policies and innovations, which in turn generate prosperity, health improvement and employment. Personal meetings of researchers and the audience are central in all activities of the event. These personal meetings contribute to appreciation of researchers and their profession, combatting stereotypes.These personal encounters between researchers and the public make it easier for young people to imagine what it is like to be a researcher and to consider research and research driven fields as attractive and feasible career paths, regardless of gender or background.