Last week, it was finally time again for Researchers’ Friday, Sweden's most widespread science festival. In Borås, the University of Borås and Navet Science Center offered a packed programme all week for pupils from Erikslund School to try out science experiments, as well as meetings with doctoral students from the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers, and pop-up research at Ica City Knalleland. Researchers from the University of Borås made about 15 school visits as part of the activity “Borrow a Researcher.” Many visits were made in and around Borås, but also to schools on Tjörn, in Vetlanda, Örebro, Mölndal and Jämtland's Stugun, to name just a few places, received visits.

Emelie Hultberg is a doctoral student in Textile Management at the Swedish School of Textiles at the University of Borås. Among other things, she met a high school class from Sigrid Rudebeck High School in Mölndal, who took the opportunity to combine the meeting with a visit to the Textile Museum of Sweden. Emelie Hultberg talked about her journey to becoming a doctoral student, about the challenges of the fashion industry, and how second hand and repair services can be the solution to a more sustainable industry. She asked the students a lot of questions; they were very engaged and asked her a lot of questions, as well.

A broader view of research

Getahun Yacob Abraham made three school visits and said the students had many questions.
"It was a positive experience. In one of the high school classes that I talked to, many people were interested in working internationally. Since I have experience of working for Save the Children and UNHCR and one of my research interests is interculturality, I tried to explain how to prepare to work abroad, about the need for curiosity about others and their situation and to have respect for other cultures,” said Getahun Yacob Abraham, who researches democracy and education at the Department of Educational Work.
Some middle school classes at Pops Academy Karl Johan in Örebro were visited by Ewa Carlsson Lalloo from the Department of Caring Science at the University of Borås. She conducts research on people living with HIV, in terms of their quality of life, care, and treatment.
"For me, it's really important to get out and talk about my research. As recently as Tuesday, I held a talk for newly trained HIV doctors, but this was the first time I spoke at a middle school. They thought it was fun to meet a researcher who did not just work in a lab. They told us that they had gained a broader view of what it meant to be a researcher," said Ewa Carlsson Lalloo.

Many stopped and listened

Ulla Lindberg, who defended her doctoral thesis at the University of Borås a couple of years ago, participated in a pop-up activity at ICA City in Knalleland, where she talked about how refrigerator doors affect consumers. At the same time, staff from Navet made ice cream from liquid nitrogen, which they invited passers-by to try.
“There were many people who stopped and listened, so it felt very much like our visit was appreciated, and several people asked questions,” said Fedoua Beckerman, Educator at Navet.

One morning, three classes from the Erikslund School visited Navet, where they met researchers Junchun Yu and Karin Högberg from the University of Borås and experienced various laboratory sessions on the theme of biomimicry and sustainable menstrual care products, respectively. They also got to try out Virtual Reality in the Retail Lab, do a fashion challenge at the Textile Museum of Sweden, and see cool textile innovations in the Smart Textiles Showroom.

A part of European Researchers' Night

 

ForskarFredag, or Researchers' Friday, is part of the European Researchers' Night, which is an initiative of the European Commission. In Sweden, the event is considered the most widespread science festival in the country, with activities from Lund to Luleå. The University of Borås has been a co-organiser since 2008, where over the years we have lent researchers to school classes and invited students to study visits, arranged researcher cafés, as well as the competition Forskar Grand Prix (Researchers’ Grand Prize). Researchers' Friday in Borås 2022 was a collaboration between the University of Borås, Navet Science Center, and the Textile Museum of Sweden. VA (Public & Science) coordinates Researchers' Friday nationally. Parts of Researchers' Friday in Borås are funded by the EU's research and innovation programme Horizon Europe, GA-no 101061464.

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Read more about Researchers' Friday nationally