Science Week and European Researchers' Night (Frascati Scienza)

Science takes to the streets in Frascati

In the town of Frascati, in the province of Rome, in the heart of the Castelli Romani, one of the highest concentrations of research centers in Europe can be found. It is from this area that, every year at the end of September, the Science Week begins. This scientific outreach event, promoted by the Frascati Scienza Association, concludes with the European Researchers' Night, a continent-wide coordinated event celebrated on the same day in hundreds of European cities.

The idea is both simple and radical: take research out of the laboratories and into the squares, schools, museums, and courtyards. For one week, those who do science stop speaking only to their colleagues and make themselves available to anyone with a question—children, students, the curious, and families. No prior knowledge is required: you just walk in, watch, touch, and ask.

What to expect in the program

The schedule is intentionally diverse and changes every year, but some constants have remained for years:

• Live experiments and scientific demonstrations in public squares and spaces;
• Hands-on workshops designed for different age groups, from toddlers to adults;
• Extraordinary openings of research institutes, with guided tours led by the researchers themselves;
• Talks and meetings with Italian and international scientists on climate, energy, space, health, and artificial intelligence;
• Science shows, science-theater, astronomical observations, and evening activities;
• Projects for schools, with dedicated paths and orientation activities aimed at local students.

An event that has crossed the borders of Lazio

Born in Frascati, the event has progressively expanded: recent editions have involved dozens of cities throughout Italy, from Rome to Palermo, from Parma to Potenza, passing through numerous municipalities of the Castelli Romani and the provinces of Frosinone and Latina. However, Frascati and its surroundings remain the symbolic and organizational center of the initiative, which has grown to record tens of thousands of participants each year and hundreds of events on the calendar.

The value of the initiative has also been recognized at an institutional level: the event has received the Medal of the President of the Republic on several occasions, a recognition that testifies to the weight the project has assumed in the national landscape of scientific dissemination.

Why it's worth visiting

The Science Week is neither a fair nor a conference: it is a rare opportunity for direct contact with the profession of research. Those who arrive in Frascati during those days might find themselves handling a laboratory instrument, discussing particle physics over a coffee, or observing the sky through a telescope in the company of an astronomer. For families, it is a day trip that combines leisure and knowledge; for students, it is often the first moment when a scientific career stops being an abstraction.

Frascati beyond the event

The visit is perfect to combine with discovering the city: the Tusculan villas, the Cathedral of San Pietro, the view over Rome from the panoramic terrace, and of course the fraschette—the typical taverns where you can pair the white wine of the Castelli with porchetta and local cold cuts. The Lazio region offers here, in a few square kilometers, an unusual synthesis of cutting-edge research and popular tradition.