JRC Youth Programme

The goal of our Youth Programme is twofold – it boosts the Joint Research Centre's (JRC) effort in disseminating its scientific knowledge while encouraging public engagement in the European Union (EU).

The objectives of the programme are:

To raise awareness of the benefits of the EU by sharing information on how EU science supports citizens.
To provide an understanding of the role of science in policymaking and stimulate students to learn science.
To foster critical thinking, promote European collaboration and enhance citizen engagement with science.

Additionally, it tests and launches new ideas and methodologies for feedback mechanisms and content co-creation.

Onsite visits from 2023

Experiential visits

These experience-based school visits offer an interactive programme designed to deepen the students’ understanding of the JRC work in relation to their daily lives. The proposed format foresees one half-day visit per month, in which individual groups of about 50 students join thematic sessions, explore dedicated laboratories and engage 'do it yourself' activities, such as physical experiments but also in terms of critical thinking and evidence analysis experiments. In addition, meet-the-scientist sessions, in the form of seminars, show and tell activities or Q&A, could be planned ahead of the visit on scientific topics that are relevant to existing school projects, resulting in follow-ups and future collaborations.

The annual school day

A full one-day event of a higher capacity (500-800 students) is held at the JRC every year, typically between April and May. The planning of the event and selection of the schools relies on the networking strength of the JRC with programmes (e.g. DG COMM – Reps in member states). The format coincides with that of individual school visits, though 'meet the scientist' sessions, laboratories and collaborative spaces are arranged to accommodate the larger capacity.

Digital programme

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Every year, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) welcomes almost 10.000 visitors to explore its research facilities and experience how science benefits our daily lives and the life of our planet. Many of our visitors are students, for whom we organise dedicated programmes consisting of visits of our laboratories and discussions with our scientists.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged us to achieve more, hence we developed dedicated digital contents and tools to support the rise of e-learning and assist teachers and educators in their quest for new practices, online solutions and contents.

In particular, we have been working on the creation of a series of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) addressed to and designed in collaboration with teachers, who know the needs of their students and are already testing new approaches.

Courses are structured into stand-alone modules, following the path “Explore”, “Practice” and “Engage” to help reach the overall learning objectives.

These MOOCs focus on scientific themes, in line with the goals of the “European Green Deal”, which stresses the importance of environmental education and sustainability. They are freely accessible on our dedicated EU Academy platform.

To visit our courses on the EU Academy, please explore the area “Energy, Climate change and Environment”.

Online seminar cycle "Science is everywhere. Let’s talk about…"

After the success of the first edition of “Science is Everywhere”, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission's science and knowledge service, will host another monthly series of Digital School Seminars to tackle environmental issues.

In addition to Food, Health, Biodiversity and Energy, topics that featured in the first edition, the 2022-2023 sessions include Nuclear and Nuclear Decommissioning, Space and Disaster Risks Management.

In a simple, yet engaging format, these interactive meetings “Let’s talk about …” discuss the work our scientists carry out in support of EU policies related to the above cited scientific topics.

Each seminar is introduced by a general presentation of the JRC that puts into context the scientific undertaking of the European Commission, providing a glimpse of its future and the opportunities it offers to newer generations. The sessions then focus on ad-hoc presentations and/or case studies delivered by the scientists themselves, followed by SLIDO a session, an interactive tool prompting students to ask questions, raise concerns and share thoughts.

The seminars, held in Italian, will last 1 hour and a half, from 10.30 to 12, and here below you can find the calendar and the links for registrations:

07/10/2022 - Let’s talk about… Energy

07/11/2022 - Let's talk about...Nuclear

17/11/2022 - Let's talk about...Nuclear Decommissioning

17/01/2023 - Let's talk about...Space

27/01/2023 - Let's talk about...Disaster Risks

17/02/2023 - Let's talk about...Biodiversity

17/03/2023 - Let's talk about...Food

27/03/2023 - Let's talk about...Health