Science in the Face of Natural Disasters at The European Researchers’ Night in Madrid 2026
August 31, 2026
Science in the Face of Natural Disasters at The European Researchers’ Night in Madrid 2026
Friday, September 25, 2025 – Residencia de Estudiantes
Science is vital for preventing catastrophic situations or for mitigating their most damaging effects once they have occurred.
To explain how this works, researchers from the IMDEA Institutes and firefighters from the Community of Madrid will take to the stage together at the Residencia de Estudiantes de Madrid.
It will take place at the 17th edition of the European Researchers’ Night in Madrid (a project coordinated in Madrid by the Fundación para el Conocimiento madrimasd) in the activity Science in the Face of Natural Disasters.
The IMDEA institutes are seven research centres based in the Community of Madrid, working in seven scientific fields that are essential to our well-being: Water, Energy, Materials, Nanoscience, Networks, Nutrition and Software.
We have been taking part in the European Researchers’ Night for fifteen years, and at each event we have sought to bring researchers closer to the public and inspire future careers –which are the two main objectives of this European project– by showing that our researchers carry out very useful work: conducting science that helps to improve our lives.
We did this with Science in Your Living Room, Science and Sport, Your Car and an F1 Car and Make a Wish to Science – activities in which we focused on the things that science has created for us and that surround us in our daily lives.
We also did this with the three editions of IMDEA-CSIS, for which we received invaluable support from members of the General Commission of the Scientific Police. In these three events, we went beyond the everyday to demonstrate that science also plays a part in exceptional situations such as those faced by the scientific police when analysing a crime scene.
And at this year’s edition, we have taken this a step further, so that our visitors can see for themselves that science also underpins the work of firefighters, the heroes who rush to our aid in such extreme and tragic situations as a fire, a flood, an earthquake or a road traffic accident.
And to do this, as we have already mentioned, we are fortunate to have the incredible support of representatives from the Community of Madrid’s fire service. They will tell us how they work when responding to incidents, and researchers from IMDEA will explain how their scientific findings help the firefighters, or how they believe they might be able to do so in the future.
And, of course, we’ll be delighted to hear what firefighters need from science to be able to carry out their work as effectively as possible, work in which they save lives whilst putting their own at risk.
We hope that the audience joining us at the Residencia de Estudiantes de Madrid, or following us on their La Edad de Plata channel, will, once the event is over, count the IMDEA researchers amongst the unsung heroes who dedicate their professional lives to helping others. We know it’s difficult when firefighters are held up as an example, but… why not dream?
The activity can also be followed live on the Residencia de Estudiantes channel: http://www.edaddeplata.org/.
Friday, September 25, 2025 – 6:00 p.m.
Target audience: General public.
Venue: Residencia de Estudiantes. C/ Pinar, 21 – 28006 Madrid.
Organized by: IMDEA Institutes.
In collaboration with: firefighters from the Community of Madrid.
How to book: Please use the following form: https://tinyurl.com/ERN26-IMDEA.
Reservations will be available from 9:00 a.m. on Monday, September 15.
Contact information:
Telephone: 638 27 17 63.
Email: noche.investigadores@imdea.org
Webs: https://www.imdea.org/en/ and http://www.madrimasd.org/lanochedelosinvestigadores/
We will keep you fully informed at https://www.imdea.org/en/ and on the profiles of the IMDEA Institutes on X, Facebook and Instagram.
