Come along to Valencia's big science festival!

The Viveros Gardens will once again be filled with science with a Valencian flavour this coming Friday, 25 September. This will take place as part of a new edition of the European Research Night, the great Valencian science festival and event that promotes scientific dissemination, which this year will feature nearly 40 free workshops where you can learn, have fun, and enjoy science. This major Valencian science fair will be open from 10.00 am to 1.30 pm and from 5.00 pm to 8.00 pm, and is aimed at people of all ages.

The morning workshops will be for primary and secondary school pupils. In contrast, the afternoon sessions will be open to the general public with free admission. They will cover areas such as microbiology, nutrition, chemistry, materials and magnetism, anatomy using augmented reality, archaeology, biomaterials, civil engineering, 3D design and aquatic fauna, amongst others.

This year, the European Research Night is organised by the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), the University of Valencia (UV), the Catholic University of Valencia (UCV), the regional office of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in the Valencian Community, the INCLIVA Institute for Health Research, the Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research in the Valencian Community (Fisabio), the Research Foundation of the General University Hospital of Valencia (FIHGUV), the Valencian Institute of Agricultural Research (IVIA) and in collaboration with the Palaeontological Museum and Museum of Natural Collections of Valencia City Council.

Five UPV science workshops

The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) will present a total of five workshops

· Science is cool. Anyone attending this workshop organised by the UPV's Communication Area and Social Action Area will be able to discover the new card game from the 'Women in Science' project, paint and colour in drawings of various murals, or try to solve the project's puzzle cube. They can also have their photo taken at the UPV's fun photocall under this workshop's slogan

· Draw, create, paint in three dimensions. Experimental workshop with 3D pens. Those taking part in this workshop, organised by the School of Industrial Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering, will have the chance to give free rein to their artistic side, creating new shapes with 3D pens

· Discovering the biomaterials of the future, led by the Research Centre for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (CBIT). The workshop will demonstrate how biomaterials capable of recreating tissues and modelling diseases in in vitro models are developed; these are useful for studying their mechanisms and testing new drugs. Common techniques for obtaining and carrying out histological analysis of these models will also be presented.

· Aquatic wildlife under threat!! Help us to conserve it. Organised by the Research Institute for Animal Science and Technology. In this workshop, you'll discover the main threats (climate change, pollution, invasive alien species and many more) that endanger biodiversity in the Valencian Community. The round-table discussion will feature the "participation" of iconic species such as the samaruc, the fartet, the European eel, the gallipato, and even sharks. In this way, attendees will understand the importance of protecting them and the role we can all play in conserving our aquatic ecosystems.

· From Da Vinci to 21st-century bridges. This workshop, organised by the School of Civil Engineering at the UPV, takes participants on a journey through the history of bridges and their evolution to the present day, using experiments. Participants will have the chance to build a very simple yet ingenious bridge designed by Leonardo da Vinci.

And tomorrow, 'Science and Beers' is back!

Meanwhile, also as part of the European Research Night activities, 'Science and Beers' returns tomorrow, Tuesday – a series of monologues and scientific talks that bring research closer to citizens in a friendly and informal setting. The first session of this new season will take place tomorrow, Tuesday 22 September, at 7.30 pm, at La Fábrica de Hielo (C/ José Ballester Gozalvo, 37, Valencia).

"From scrap to catalyst: a chemical 'glow-up'", "The antidote to the chair: the 12-minute science", "Adventures in the brain's bridal suite", "The race to save the Mediterranean pearl oyster: species conservation and marine ecosystem restoration", "Two Minutes of Darkness" and "Doctor, my plant is ill. The medicine that feeds the world". These are the titles of the monologues for the ninth season of this initiative, to be presented by researchers from the UPV, the UV, Fisabio, INCLIVA, the Catholic University of Valencia and the IVIA.

Both initiatives receive support from the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.