Communications and outreach: Educate and enthrall What actually are the nanosciences and why is it worth taking a clos- er look at this world of tiny structures? These are just two of the questions that the SNI communications and outreach team is always ready to answer. On visits to schools, at science festivals, at markets or at the museum, the SNI team has the opportunity to talk to a wide audience about these kind of questions, to provide people with infor- mation, and to share its fascination with and enthusiasm for the nat- ural sciences. These interactions work best in the form of exciting, small-scale ex- periments that encourage people to participate and reflect. Informa- tion about the various areas of the SNI’s work is also distributed in print materials, while electronic formats such as videos also provide information on the SNI’s various activities. At the same time, the SNI is reaching a growing audience through its various social media channels, whose followers now number over 4,300 people and organizations. Various channels blimärt in Aarau and informed people about the nanosciences Personal contact and interaction as part of the SamstagsUni course series offered by the VHSBB, via social media a Basel educational institution. Teaching staff and various school classes had the opportunity to familiarize themselves directly with examples of nanoresearch on visits to laboratories associ- In early 2022, one of the highlights for the SNI team was the ated with the SNI — or to perform fascinating experiments in inauguration of the special exhibition “Voller Energie” (Full of various subject areas as part of school visits or the Science Days Energy) at Museum Burghalde in Lenzburg. The SNI helped to at Europa-Park. make this exhibition such a huge success by setting up a water People with an interest in the SNI who were unable to find laboratory with various explanatory videos and by contributing out more at one of the numerous events could also access var- a chapter to the accompanying book. Subsequently, several ious social media channels. With this in mind, the SNI team workshops offered by the SNI team were a chance to demon- produced posts and videos on various subjects, including events, strate the special properties of water to elementary school pu- the course of studies, the PhD School and specific research top- pils with the help of various experiments. ics. In 2022, the SNI YouTube channel was visited over 110,000 During tunBasel, numerous children and young people vis- times — with the SNI videos clocking up a total viewing time ited the joint stand of the SNI and the Department of Physics, of 2,600 hours. where they could try their hand at making their own soaps as The SNI website represents another key source of informa- well as undertaking various soap-related experiments. tion. SNI staff spent the second half of the year working on a The second half of the year once again featured a busy cal- new website, which was launched in January 2023. In addition endar of events, offering ample opportunities to engage with a to redesigning the website, the SNI team also worked in collab- wide audience and inform them about the SNI’s activities. For oration with the agency STUDIO NEO to modernize and stream- example, the SNI team talked to numerous visitors at the Rüe- line the SNI logo and to give the print materials a fresh look. 52 SNI Annual Report 2022