PICO - Physics for all

Brief description

The EU-funded PICO project aims to bridge the gap between physics and society, by increasing citizens’ awareness of fundamental, cutting-edge physics and of the impact that discoveries in these fields have on their everyday lives. 

Our Role

In PICO, Trust-IT is responsible for implementing the awareness campaign, coordinating the organisation of several face-to-face and online activities, both at national and international levels. All these activities will be scheduled and implemented on the project website, which will be designed by Trust. The website will be the main interface for the organisation of webinars and podcasts, together with the showcase of visual stories of researchers. The most relevant moments and good practices from the European Researchers’ Nights will be collected on the website, which will also provide information on ongoing activities in associated research infrastructures. The main aim is to engage more than 250K citizens through the communication and dissemination activities of PICO. 

Additionally, Trust-IT will be responsible for implementing the visual identity of PICO, with the design of the project logo and the online and offline communication tools to ensure effective communication and dissemination actions. 

Impact

PICO aims at reducing the gap between research and society/education by bringing together  major European research institutions in the fields of frontier Physics and Science Education, as well as partners with high expertise in communication, media and marketing. 

For reaching this goal, PICO will:

• Enhance engagement with citizens on R&I;
• Increase awareness among the general public of the importance and benefits of R&I and its concrete impact on citizens’ daily lives;
• Contribute to the diffusion and promotion of excellence research projects across Europe;
• Raise the interest of young people in science and research careers;
• Contribute to a better understanding of the European Union policies and programmes among the general public;
• Support school teachers and educators in developing a scientific approach around priority topics.

Results

1. European Researchers’ Night events: these events will be hosted in 4 countries (Greece, Italy, France and Spain) and will have the common goal of bridging the gap between cutting-edge research in Physics and society.
2. PICO community engagement portfolio: a repository of PICO visual stories, lessons learned and recordings of the online activities. 
3. PICO educational portfolio: the portfolio will include a set of resources and services for the educational community - namely students, and researchers at schools. 
4. Effective ways of introducing Equity, Diversity, Accessibility and Inclusion (EDAI) in the Researchers’ Night
    

Funding

PICO project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe programme under Grant Agreement n. 101162413.