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Researcher's Night 2016: Become a Scientist For a Day

For the ninth consecutive year The Cyprus Institute participated in the Researcher's Night, held at FILOXENIA International Conference Centre in Nicosia, an event which is part of the European Researchers' Night that took place - simultaneously - on Friday 30 September 2016, in over 250 cities across Europe and neighbouring countries, following the slogan: "become a scientist for a day".
Audiences of all ages had the opportunity to come into contact with Cypriot researchers and their work, in a festive and friendly atmosphere. CyI participated with five activities:

Νew Light on Coinage of Cyprus
The audience had the opportunity to explore the novel digital library of Cypriot Coinage collection and discover the collection through an advanced method of virtual examination. The illumination of the embossed side of the coins and the decryption of their coded iconography can be seen through an interactive re-lighting digital technique and advanced method of virtual examination. The audience can observe minor and morphological details on the coin’s surface, unseen with the naked eye.

Dig, Study, Discover: Bones and Bodies
The things we do, the food we eat, and the diseases we suffer from make our bodies and bones change in ways that can be detected by researchers called human bioarchaeologists. This means that we can learn and discover things about the past, and the people who lived in the past, through carefully looking at their bodies and bones, which we find on archaeological sites, ultimately, discover how the cultural becomes biological.

Virtual Flâneur in the Historic City of Nicosia
Historical inquiries and monuments of cultural heritage in the historic city of Nicosia were explored through digital reconstructions and immersive navigations of virtual territories. This methodology helps users to understand the building histories of monuments contextualised in their urban and social context, a process that will eventually unfold the palimpsest of the city’s cultural heritage.

The overarching goal of this work-in-progress is the development of a virtual laboratory of urban exploration that will test how the interaction with, and use of, cultural heritage monuments can affect the perception, appropriation and manipulation of social and cultural identity. In the long term, this research project will contribute, through the analysis of the data collected, insights and tacit knowledge regarding possible planning strategies and the impact of potential interventions in the future urban-scape of the historic centre of Nicosia.

High Performance Computing in Life Sciences, Engineering and Physics
HPC-LEAP teaches students how to apply High Performance Computing and computational methods to solve complex scientific problems in Life Sciences, Engineering and Physics. They are supervised jointly by two European Institutions and spend secondments in Industry and other research partners in the project.
The Marie Sklodowska Curie fellows outlined the methodology used their field of research and showed the results of their interdisciplinary approach from these scientific domains. Moreover, they highlighted career paths and prospects in their field and unveiled how important is to use simulations as ‘third mode of discovery’, bridging experimentation and theory.

The Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL) / Unmanned Aerial Systems
The public had the opportunity to see the unmanned flying platforms of USRL and some of the scientific equipment used during the flights. Photos and video material, as well as flight results were displayed. The Ground Control Station (GCS) which operates essentially as a control operation facility during the flights was also on display, and children had the chance to test fly UAVs on a flight simulator.
The Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL) provides unique opportunities for atmospheric research as well as for investigations of Earth-surface properties/characteristics and provides a link between ground observations and satellite remote sensing. The recent construction of a permanent runway and exclusive overhead airspace suitable for UAV test and operational flights represents the latest important development of the USRL. Currently the USRL is providing services for two European funded projects (FP7-BACHUS and H2020-ACTRIS II) by participating in UAV campaigns and regular (weekly) flights providing vertical measurements of key atmospheric components (gases and aerosols).