Showcase your research at Science is Wonderful! 2027

What is in it for you

Science is Wonderful! is a unique event that allows you to meet like-minded researchers from all over the world and engage in this once-in-a-lifetime adventure together. This year, the science fair will run for three short days, leaving the afternoons for networking, training or working.

You can expect

• new communication skills through training (communication workshop) and practice
• networking with other MSCA fellows and alumni and other researchers

• an ERC helpdesk to help plan your next career steps

• unexpected insights from a young audience
• that warm, fuzzy feeling when you do something meaningful in life.

The European Commission will cover the travel, accommodation and meals of your team (up to 3 people; up to 4 nights). If you need a bigger team, please make sure to request and justify this in your proposal.

The Commission will also help you purchase or ship any approved material you need to present your work. Although we encourage you to be creative and challenge us, note that we cannot pay for "goodies" or giveaways. That being said, teams are welcome to bring their own materials.

What we expect from you

To guarantee the quality of Science is Wonderful! we would like you to take the following to heart

• You will be asked to attend a communication workshop on 4 November 2026 and a science show workshop (if applicable) on 9 November 2026. It is an important moment for you to get to know the organisers and understand the next steps.
• You will have to attend the entire event (16-19 March 2027). This includes set-up the day before and the three days of the science fair. We want all pupils to have a wonderful experience. For this to happen, booths should always be staffed so that schools who travel from far and arrive late get to see the same experiments as schools who arrive early.
• All applicants and researchers attending the fair should speak English fluently. Since our visitors will speak mostly French and Dutch, language assistants will be there to help deliver your message in these languages when needed. Whenever possible, we encourage you to recruit Dutch or French-speakers in your team, but this is not a prerequisite.
• Try to come up with activities for all age groups. Children are curious by nature, so we invite you to think of interactive experiments and activities involving manual work and the use of all senses. This year, we will allow pupils of all ages to come to your booth so be ready for anything.

Apply by 6 October 2026

If you are ready to join the next edition of Science is Wonderful!, complete the application form by 6 October 2026, 12.00 CEST, where you will also find more details about the fair.

Our evaluation team will check and appraise each application regarding its

• feasibility (can the idea be executed),
• suitability (does the proposal match the audience, is it interactive and does it communicate the research well),
• impact (is the research presented relevant and interesting for the age group).

Note that good proposals should explain your work and take school knowledge to the next level. They should not only explain what children already learn in school. So our golden tip is: your research should be at the core of the proposal – it’s what makes it unique and it’s what will open little and big hearts to the world of science.

Additionally, the jury will carefully check a balanced representation of research fields, nationalities, and genders is reached.

We will inform you on 28 October 2026 via email whether your application was successful or not.

A note on Artificial Intelligence

It is permitted to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to work on your proposal. We have seen, however, that this can create a big gap between the proposal and its delivery. To help identify this gap, we now ask for the submission of a very short video as part of the selection process, which shows the lead researcher.

Timeline