Science Comes To Town features a diverse programme including science festivals, competitions, and outreach events across Kiel, Brest, and Split, three vibrant university cities with strong town-and-gown relations. Over the course of the project, we will raise awareness for science across Europe.
The project aims to foster long-term partnerships, enhance science engagement, and showcase European collaboration through the SEA-EU university alliance and satellite events. Ultimately, Science Comes To Town will strengthen community bonds, inspire future scientists, and promote a shared European identity through science.
Promoting trust in science and the social responsibility of research by supporting participatory formats such as citizen science projects and community initiatives, communicating scientific topics with a local relevance, and expanding science education through school programmes, teacher training, and European science competitions.
Enhancing local innovation capacity originating from science by establishing a transnational network of innovation actors, intensifying exchange between science and industry, fostering entrepreneurial skills within research, and raising public awareness of measures that promote innovation.
Developing evidence-based political decision-making processes and administrative action at the municipal level through building an international stakeholder network, evaluating scientific advisory structures for cities, and illustrating the contribution of scientific knowledge to local development.
Sea & Water
As coastal cities, Kiel, Brest and Split are inseparably linked to the sea. This focus area dives deep into the world of marine science: we shine a spotlight on research relating to our coasts and oceans and highlight their importance as climate regulators, sources of food, and habitats essential to our society. Here you can experience how marine research on our doorstep is developing global solutions for the future of our waters – from the shoreline to the deep sea.
Health & Wellbeing
How do we stay healthy in a changing world? This theme places physical and mental wellbeing at the centre. We show how modern medicine, sports science and psychological research can improve our everyday lives. From new therapeutic approaches to healthy urban design: discover how science can make life not only longer, but better.
Talents
The future of science lies in the minds of tomorrow. That is why Science Comes to Town specifically engages with young people – from preschool children to early-career researchers. With formats such as “Rent-a-Scientist” in schools or the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS), we create platforms for fresh ideas. We invite young talents to turn their curiosity into a profession and help strengthen Europe’s innovative power.
Cultural Heritage
Science helps us understand where we come from and who we are. In this thematic area, we connect history with research to preserve and reinterpret our cultural heritage, both past and future. Whether maritime traditions, historic buildings or societal change – we demonstrate how research keeps past and present alive and shapes cultural identity in a European context.
Cross-Cutting Themes: Sustainability & Europe
Sustainability is not an abstract objective but the foundation of all our actions. This theme runs like a common thread through all projects: we ask how science provides concrete solutions for climate protection, resource efficiency and green urban development. Science Comes to Town shows how research can help us safeguard our living environment for future generations. At the same time, insights and successful formats are intended to outlast the project itself.
Science knows no borders, and Science Comes to Town embodies the European spirit. Together with our partner cities and regions Brest and Split, as well as the SEA-EU alliance, we build bridges between countries and cultures. This cross-cutting theme stands for international exchange, shared values, and the conviction that we can only address the major challenges of our time as a united Europe.
FScience Comes to Town emerges from a compelling conviction that research should be visible, celebrated, and democratised. Scientific knowledge and innovation will step boldly into public spaces - town squares and town halls, schools, cultural and innovation centres, and community hubs - where they can resonate with diverse audiences and spark genuine dialogue.
By uniting three cities simultaneously, the project creates a powerful network of collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and cross-border partnership that strengthens the European Research Area and reinforces Europe's commitment to evidence-based decision-making and societal engagement with science.
Throughout 2026, the three cities will collectively host over 1,000 science-related events, each meticulously designed to make research tangible and meaningful to everyone - from curious children to seasoned researchers, from enterprising entrepreneurs to policy-makers shaping the future.
The initiative explores science in all its forms, spanning disciplines from oceanography to human health, social sciences to cultural heritage. Yet beneath this diversity lies a unifying thread: demonstrating how science permeates every facet of our collective existence and shapes the decisions that define our shared future. By highlighting cross-cutting themes such as European cooperation and sustainable development, the project illuminates the profound interconnectedness of scientific endeavour with contemporary challenges and aspirations.
What distinguishes Science Comes to Town is not merely its scale, but its collaborative architecture. This is fundamentally a partnership endeavour, woven together by leading research institutions, universities, cultural organisations, businesses, municipal authorities, and civil society actors.
Through innovative event formats developed collaboratively across the three cities, Science Comes to Town will create profound connections between research institutions and their communities. Successful formats from previous years such as Rent-a-Scientist programmes and Children's Universities will be revitalised, reimagined, and shared among the partner cities. Citizen science initiatives and co-creation projects will invite citizens to engage directly with the research process, fostering understanding of scientific methodology and building public trust in evidence-based knowledge.
Beyond conventional lectures and exhibitions, the programme will embrace diverse formats: live experiments, hands-on workshops, cultural performances that celebrate scientific achievement, competitions that inspire young talent, and intimate conversations between researchers and community members.
Science Comes to Town aspires to be transformative in multiple dimensions. By strengthening dialogue between science and society, the initiative works to rebuild public confidence in scientific knowledge at a time when this trust is increasingly vital. By providing platforms for interaction between research and policy sectors, it seeks to enhance evidence-informed governance. By nurturing younger generations through tailored programmes and competitions, it cultivates future scientific leaders and innovators. By demonstrating the contributions of science to tackling global challenges it reaffirms science's central role in building a more sustainable, equitable European future.
In essence, Science Comes to Town represents something remarkable: a moment when three European cities, its six satellite cities and more than 70 partner institutions, guided by shared values and mutual commitment, unite to celebrate human curiosity, scientific achievement, and the transformative power of research. Throughout 2026, Brest, Kiel and Split will collectively transmit a powerful message across Europe: that science belongs to everyone, that discovery can thrive in community spaces, and that when we bring science to town, we bring hope, inspiration, and possibility for a better future.F