Friday 30th september

UNEXPECTED

Dock des Suds, 12 rue Urbain V 13002 Marseille

What does it mean to be a researcher? From hypotheses to results, a whole series of key elements follow one another, nested like gears. This machinery of knowledge can only work if all these elements are brought together and are functional. As seen from the outside, it looks like creating knowledge is a complicated but smooth process that the non-scientists would rather not bother try to understand. The European Researchers’ Night is the moment in which thousands of scientific facilitators and researchers across all of Europe roll up their sleeves to create a real encounter between researchers and citizens. By engaging in a dialogue, research can be perceived in a realistic way: fascinating but challenging, and made up of an incredible sum of small discoveries. These are the daily life of the people working in a research lab, treading softly, step by step, into the dark.

In 2022, the European Researchers’ Night in France will show you how in the face of the unknown, of discovery, the unexpected is the norm, rather than the exception. By talking directly to the actors of research, you will discover the daily work that leads to knowledge, through a labyrinth full of dead ends and twists.
How can we predict the climate in several years’ time, but more difficultly the weather in a week? How can we anticipate all possible hazards in order to land a robot on Mars? How can a chance encounter change a researcher’s entire career and lead to new discoveries?
Sixteen cities invite you to come and meet these persons, who work daily in order to advance collective knowledge. Through our theme UNEXPECTED, they will share their anecdotes of surprises, the emotions they felt, while confronted to results way better than they thought, or to unexpected obstacles that took years to understand. Various interactive activities will allow you to meet researchers face to face or in the dark, with games, objects, and many surprises.