THE 2026 SCIENCE WEEK UNDERWAY BY FRASCATI SCIENCE IS BEGINNING AMONG COATS, MUSIC AND ASTROMONKEYS: THE PARTICIPATION OF UCBM WITH "IGNITE CURIOSITY AND LIGHT UP THE FUTURE"

From September 21st to 27th, 2026, the major science festival returns to 12 Italian cities, culminating on September 25th with the European Researchers' Night. Featuring installations, lecture-shows, virtual reality, and comedy, the rich, entirely free program is supported by partners, sponsors, and citizens through crowdfunding.

From the water we drink to the food we eat, to everyday technologies, to the secrets of space and the human brain: scientific research leaves the laboratory to meet the public. Science Week 2026 kicks off on Monday, September 21st., promoted by the association Frascati Science to accompany the public towards the long-awaited European Researchers' Night on Friday

September 25th, extending with many events until Sunday 27 September.

Even in the absence of traditional European funding, the passion for dissemination does not stop: the 2026 edition is made possible by a large mobilization of partners, sponsors and the crowdfunding campaign "Becomes supporter", created to ensure that events are free and accessible to over

5.000 students and 10.000 visitors participate in the event every year.

Frascati: from morning activities for schools to afternoons at the Valadier Walls

Throughout the week, Frascati mornings at the Valadier Walls and Aldobrandini Stables They are reserved for schools of all levels. This year's large turnout meant that almost all the workshops for students sold out in just a few hours.

• From the 21 to the 24 SeptemberEvery afternoon from 5pm, the Valadier Walls will open to children, families and the curious with a packed program of free workshops: The Science of Music: What happens when individual melodic lines come together in a vibrant harmonic embrace? Together with The Strange Attractor we will witness a live musical experiment.
• Everyday science and nature: interactive experiments with Eridania Italy

Spa e DTT Scarl; the laboratories branded ACEA and led by Gecko, where the little ones can build bug hotel, plant seeds for pollinators, observe small animals live and challenge each other with the Ecosystem Tower.

• Immersive experiences and space: on Monday there is space for space exploration and model rockets with the SkyLab RocketryEvery afternoon, strolls through the "Brain Garden" with the spectacular installation by the EBRI Foundation "Rita Levi-Montalcini"
• Climate, art and technology: TheSay, Do, Change Association e Journalists in the Grass They will also present interactive exhibitions The Art of Changing the World (with focus on Art and Women Changing the World). Thursday will be dedicated to the climate crisis with the intervention of the councilor Valeria Chiozza and virtual reality thanks to the stations of the Department of Engineering of Tor Vergata.

The great shows on the stage in St. Peter's Square (September 25 and 26)

The event will reach its peak in the evenings of Friday 25th and Saturday 26th September, when St. Peter's Square in Frascati It will be transformed into a large scientific stage open to the public and broadcast live on social media:

• The disseminators on stage: great anticipation for the live show “To tell the whole story” de Forced Science, 60 minutes of irony, memes and anecdotes strictly in Roman dialect; the teacher and juggler Federico Benuzzi with the show “Dreaming Physics”; the astrophysicist and writer Licia Troisi between science and science fiction; Alessio Perniola (Multiverses APS) with a journey through puzzles, experiments and Artificial Intelligence; the biologist Jacopo De Luca with a performance on animal climate adaptations and the sounds of nature at risk of extinction; the astrophysicist Alessandro Coletta with the story of “Cosmodogs” and "Astromonkeys”, the four-legged pioneers of the space race.

And many more curiosities to discover together

• Large institutions and research: the scientists of DTT Scarl

they will reveal how the nuclear fusion reactor works; Eridania Italy

Spa will illustrate the journey of food from the earth to the table; Little Genius International will present the interactive station Coral Reborn between sustainability and creativity; Acea Ato 2 e Gecko will offer environmental workshops.

• Healthcare, genetics and VR: Department of Biology at Tor Vergata and CREA will accompany us to the discovery of DNA, while the Department of Experimental Medicine will delve into the secrets of viruses and biomedical research.Unitelma Sapienza University It will allow visitors to travel with virtual reality headsets through archaeological, naturalistic, and neuroscientific settings, also focusing on children's professional aspirations.
• Special events: scheduled forESA Open Day at the European Space Agency and theOpen Day at the Donato Menichella Center of the Bank of Italy, which will also host a tribute concert to 883 on Thursday 24 September.

The Night in Other Cities

Science Week 2026 involves a total of 12 Italian cities with a rich program of widespread initiatives:

• Rome: offers an excellent programme schedule with The Night in Rome Three; medical surgery simulations with Artificial Intelligence; the event Space for discoveries for families at Explore – The Children's Museum; the activities on skeletons and new medicine of theGeneral Pediatric Bambino Gesù and the program of theCampus Bio-Medico University concept-driven "Ignite curiosity and illuminate the future"The extraordinary opening of theINMI Spallanzani, which will offer immersive experiences “Inside the red zone” (management of highly isolated patients), “VITA Inside” (journey into the human body in VR) and “VITA Rescue” (first aid), accompanied by electron microscope laboratories, the observation of bacteria and biobanks, the escape room on data privacy, the simulation “Mosquitoes and viruses: Detectives at work!”, the play “Antibiotics on stage” and the show on disinformation “Believing the Incredible”.
• Ariccia (RM): meetings and local activities dedicated to bees, insects, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and archaeology.
• Cassino (FR): I'University of Cassino and Southern Lazio and ALACLAM Alumni will guide the public to discover the geological and environmental peculiarities of the area.
• Frosinone: the theme of care applied to social and financial education by theUniversity of Cassino and Southern Lazio and ALACLAM Alumni
• Gorga (RM): Lepini Mountains Amateur Astronomers Group will present “In Search of the Lost Sky,” an in-depth study on light pollution.
• Myrtle Crosia, Mongrassano and Rende (CS): CREA will accompany students and teachers on a study trip to discover Calabria's olive biodiversity.
• Cascine del Riccio (FI): special evening “CREATE at night: research beyond the twilight”.
• Potenza: the association PariMpari Onlus will offer the interactive workshops of “Matematica Allegra”.
• Palermo: LUMSA, with the project Sea Forum, will launch a laboratory vessel to explore the Mediterranean Sea with students.

Become a supporter of the Festival

This year, Frascati Scienza also needs its community. For the first time in our history, we have not received the traditional public funding that has always supported the festival. We wanted to continue offering quality workshops, meetings, performances, and activities to the 5.000 students who participate in Science Week each year and to the over 10.000 people who choose to share this experience with us. Therefore, we are asking those who believe in the value of scientific communication to become an active participant in the festival. Alongside the support of sponsors and partners, we are launching a crowdfunding campaign: a simple and concrete way to allow the festival to continue to grow, while remaining free, accessible, and independent. Every contribution counts. It's not the amount of the donation that matters, but the choice to participate. Because scientific communication is a shared heritage, and the future is built together.

Our sponsors and partners

This edition is made possible thanks to our supporters who have already joined the crowdfunding campaign, sponsors, and partners. Our valuable sponsors and their contributions: Acea Ato 2, Metropolitan City of Rome, DTT Scarl, Little Genius International, Eridania Italia SpA, Unitelma Sapienza University of Rome, and Osteria dell'Olmo.

Our Partners:

Academy of Fine Arts of Rome, European Space Agency (ESA), Alumni-ALACLAM Association of Graduates of the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Arpa Lazio, Astris, Bank of Italy, Responsible Bioscience, Frascati Historical Studies and Documentation Center, City of Ariccia, Municipality of Nemi, Municipality of Piacenza, CREA – Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of the Agricultural Economy, Dire Fare Cambiare APS, Spanish School of History and Archaeology in Rome-CSIC, European Brain Research Institute (EBRI), Explora – The Children's Museum of Rome, AIRC Foundation for Cancer Research ETS, Umberto Veronesi Foundation ETS, FVA New Media Research, G.Eco, Gruppo Astrofili Monti Lepini, IFO – Regina Elena National Cancer Institute and San Gallicano Dermatological Institute – IRCCS, Italian Rocketry Society, ISTAT, Italian Institute of Germanic Studies (IISG), Institute National Institute for Infectious Diseases “Lazzaro Spallanzani” IRCCS, JA Italia, Le Muse di Archimede, Le Nuvole, Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta (LUMSA), MindSharing.tech, OMNIUM, On Air – Voice to Science, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, PariMpari Onlus, ScienzImpresa, Seed Science, Sistema Castelli Romani, Skylab Rocketry, Sotacarbo, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Guglielmo Marconi University, University of Rome “Tor Vergata” – Department of Biology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata” – Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome “Tor Vergata” – Department of Civil Engineering and Computer Engineering, University of Rome “Tor Vergata” – Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata” – Department of History, Cultural Heritage, Education and Society, University of Roma Tre, University of Parma, European University of Rome, Universitas Mercatorum.

The LEAF project is an associated event of the European Union MSCA and Citizens initiative, funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (HORIZON-MSCA-2025-CITIZENS-01).