Meeting researchers and trying out future technologies at RSU Researchers’ Night

On 27 September 2019 visitors had the opportunity to get acquainted with different fields of science as well as themselves by exploring their own body structure or testing the limits of their physical strength during European Researchers’ Night at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU). This year’s theme was Science of the Future and the events took place at the Kleisti Science Hub (5 Rātsupītes Iela) and at the Medical Education Technology Centre (26a Anniņmuižas Bulvāris).

Visitors had the opportunity to explore these and other topics by meeting RSU physicians and dentists, physicists, chemists, nutritionists, health sports experts, psychologists, lawyers, and other professionals at the Medical Education Technology Centre:

• Molecule whispers and fingerprints: what are molecules trying to tell us?
• Virtual reality and the human body
• Writing with devices from the past, present, and future
• Challenge your mind to test your response speed and try to pass the false memory test 
• What is your body composition? How much fat, water, and muscle mass does it contain?
• How to identify medical substances and solutions without tasting them?
• To capture a criminal: crime scene investigation, identifying and visualizing footprints
• Are you stronger than you think? Learn what your maximum strength is by rowing, skiing or riding a bicycle
• Sports lab: test your aerobic capacity 
• The surprises of medical physics: smart plasticine, the large bubble sword and other miracles
• Could you become a surgeon? Learn the basics of laparoscopic surgery
• Critical care team: a chance to see a simulation of emergency care measures
• What’s actually on my hands? Check how effectively you wash your hands
• Learning the future of anatomy: explore human anatomy in 3D
• Learn about your back, posture, and the soles of your feet: asymmetry, scoliosis, and types of posture
• Save the mannequin! Test how well can you carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• Physiology through physics: interpreting physiological processes in the context of physics
• 3D technology in dentistry: put yourself into the shoes of a dentist and treat your first patient virtually

Visitors to the Kleisti Science Hub had the opportunity to extract DNA from strawberries, peas and saliva, learn about the body heat map or how daily activities change body temperature and how it affects our health, as well as get advice for improving working day efficiency.

European Researchers’ Night is an international event that takes place on the last Friday of September. The event is getting increasingly more popular and this year it took place in 30 countries and 300 cities. The event programme is funded under project NIGHTLV-2018-2019 of the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020.