More than 8,000 visitors attended the “Researchers Night”, breaking every previous record since its inception. This year’s event was held for the 13th consecutive year by the Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) and was the largest to date, both in terms of visitors and participation of research, scientific and business bodies.
Approximately 30 public and private bodies joined forces with RIF, resulting in the operation of more than 90 kiosks at the Filoxenia Conference Centre in Nicosia and the participation of around 400 researchers in the “interactive experiments’’ exhibition.
The “Researchers’ Night” was held under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades and was dedicated to Life Sciences. The Minister of Finance, Harris Georgiades, visited this great celebration of science, research and innovation and described the event as one of the most important and promising happenings in our country.
The results of the “Students in Research – FOITO” Competition – which is part of the “RESTART 2016-2020” programme for Research, Technological Development and Innovation – were announced in framework of the event. The winners of the Competition were awarded Prizes as well as a cash prize of €9,000. The awards were presented by the Minister of Finance, Mr Harris Georgiades.
It is worth noting that all winners are students at the University of Cyprus, who completed their work with the help of experienced researchers in subjects related to their scientific and technological research achievements. In the undergraduate students category, the following students won first prize:
Social and Humanitarian Studies – Andreas Antonopoulos – “How Cyprus’ accession to the European Union affected Cypriot trade flows”
Physics and Engineering – Katerina Ioannou – “Absorption of hexavalent uranium in biocarbon fibers that are oxidized and modified with Mn02” and
Agne Michaelidou – “Composition and characterisation of manganese varieties combined with the substitutes Di(2-pyridyl) ketone and Triethanolamine”
In the postgraduate students category, the following students won first prize:
Life Sciences – Maria Kyriacou –“Displacement of FAK from focal adhesions: A new strategy for the creation of FAK suspensions aiming to target the development of cancer and metastasis”.
Social and Humanitarian Studies – Giorgos Demosthenis – “Machine-learning approach with a view to predict how emotions are handled by using psychophysiological sensors”.
Physics and Engineering – Constantina Varnava – “Standard amphiphilic polymer networks: predicting their capacity for oil solubilization”
“Researchers’ Night is a European Commission initiative and is held simultaneously in more than 370 cities across Europe. The event aims to promote a culture of research and innovation as well as recognize the research activities of universities, research centers and innovative enterprises.
