by Direnis Erdinc

On 28^th of September, I attended an outreach activity by visiting a high school in Gothenburg with another colleague. The aim of this activity is to promote public awareness and understanding of science and research since school students and teachers are the main essential target group for the science outreach.

When we visited the school, we gave a small introduction about our PhD life, Remix programme and European Researchers Night. Then we described a typical day in the lab, advantages of being a PhD student in Sweden and why we are interested in science. Then we explained some important aspects of mitochondria and mitochondrial research.  Also, we discussed with students about mitochondrial diseases and asked them some general questions about mitochondria. At the end of the event we also talked with teachers. They asked some questions about publication process, lab life and main problems in our research.

I think this kind of activities such as researchers dating, science shows and debates can promote science awareness by building a relationship between high school student and university scientist. Specifically, this event can promote research careers of young people since it is a really interactive and engaging activity.