CREF positions itself as a dynamic bridge between the scientific heritage of the past and future challenges, making science accessible and relevant to new generations.

It makes research findings accessible through its website and social media channels, particularly LinkedIn, where it publishes a bi-weekly newsletter featuring articles about the institution’s publications.

It promotes direct contact with research work and methodology through interaction with researchers and lab visits, which are integral to school museum visits.

Extracurricular Programs

It organizes transversal skills and orientation programs (PCTO). In 2025, CREF launched a PCTO in collaboration with the Sapienza Physics Archive and Library, allowing high school students to conduct archival research on a topic related to the history of the Royal Institute of Physics. They then present their research in a creative way (video, lab, graphics, story) through an approach that integrates museums, archives, and libraries (MAB). For the 2025-2026 academic year, a PCTO on Physics for Cultural Heritage is also planned.

The Extreme Energy Events (EEE) — “Science in Schools” project is an innovative program for spreading scientific culture focused on measuring and analyzing ground-level cosmic radiation. Launched as a pilot project in 2005, it involves about 80 Italian high schools in a cosmic ray physics experiment. Students and teachers participate in all phases, from building muon detectors (telescopes based on Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers) installed in the schools to analyzing the collected data. EEE constitutes a national cosmic ray observatory that studies the flux at a local level and investigates large-scale correlations. In 2018, the PolarquEEEst Mission was launched, with the 2019 installation of three compact scintillation detectors in Ny Ålesund (Svalbard) to study cosmic rays at extreme latitudes in collaboration with the CNR.

Events and Public Engagement

“Santa Lucia Brain Week” Open Day: In 2024, for Brain Week, the Enrico Fermi Research Center and the Santa Lucia Foundation organized an Open Day for high school and university students. This offered a valuable opportunity to see firsthand how neurosciences are applied to rehabilitation and to discover new frontiers of medical research on the brain.

STEAM and Gender Balance: CREF actively contributes to the discussion on STEAM disciplines and the importance of gender balance through conferences on the presence of women in science throughout history. Specifically, conferences cover topics like the presence of female researchers at Via Panisperna between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Laura Fermi, Lise Meitner, Marie Curie, and a study day dedicated to Ginestra Amaldi, one of the first people to popularize science in Italy using mass media.

History of Science Conferences: It organizes lecture series on the history of science to encourage open and critical reflection on the implications of scientific choices in today’s society. For the 2024 series of “Open Lessons: Intersections between Physics and History,” CREF offered four conferences titled “The Manhattan Project: A Story Told in Multiple Voices.” The Manhattan Project was discussed from a scientific and historical perspective during these conferences, including its human and ethical implications. To do so, we relied on the voices of exceptional witnesses, offering a perspective on events that are all the more interesting because they are less official and celebrated.

Participation in Events: CREF participates in scientific and cultural events and festivals. In particular, it engages in the Researchers’ Night at the Città dell’altra Economia (Rome). This “special night” is dedicated to science, with numerous free events, including live scientific experiments and demonstrations, exhibitions and guided tours, lectures and public seminars, and shows and concerts. This project was initiated and promoted by the European Commission since 2005 and is funded by HORIZON-MSCA-2023-CITIZENS-01-01 through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions. CREF is also a partner of the Genoa Science Festival, where it participates every year with workshops for children, conferences, and exhibitions.

New Methods for Communication and Knowledge Dissemination

CREF is currently engaged in multi-channel communication strategies to broaden the dissemination of scientific knowledge and reach a diverse audience. This includes articles on LinkedIn and graphic carousels on Instagram. It also participates in documentaries, radio, and television broadcasts, offering editorial and scientific consulting. The commitment also extends to creating initiatives to experiment with new, engaging teaching approaches that maintain high scientific rigour.

Interactive Scientific Games: These games are inspired by standard game formats (like bingo and memory) and adapted for different age groups, starting from preschool. The goal is to make learning the basic concepts of particle physics a direct and engaging experience through movement and the reproduction of experiments. The materials produced are available for reproduction, loan, and export to science festivals.

Diversified Museum Tours: These tours are tailored for different age groups with specific modes of interaction and play (treasure hunts, the Winterthur model for object analysis, the “Fermions and Bosons” interactive installation).

“Science and Art” Exhibition: In May 2025, in collaboration with institutions like Città della Scienza, CNR-INO, and the University of Florence (UniFI), an exhibition was organized that used artistic and design installations to explore fundamental concepts of optics, offering a unique perspective on science.

“The 1934 Experiments” Multimedia Installation: To mark the ninetieth anniversary of the experiments that led to Fermi’s Nobel Prize, CREF created a multimedia and immersive installation. Through testimonies, narratives, documents, and 3D reconstructions, visitors can explore this fundamental discovery’s scientific and human journey, connecting personal memories with a rigorous historical and scientific reconstruction. (Watch a special report on Rai Cultura)