The scientific culture event is back for its second edition. © Anne Defreville/Inserm

“Cultivate your health with Inserm! ” InScience is back from June 1-15, 2022, with numerous events in which you can meet and talk to our researchers. In cities across France, discover our exhibitions, participate in escape games, conferences, film-debates… Not to mention online videos and podcasts, accessible to everyone, everywhere. The objective of this event? Give citizens the keys to play an active role in their own health and participate in debates in line with Inserm’s motto:  “Science for health.”

InScience is a unique event in France in the field of medical research and human health. This scientific culture event is the fruit of significant mobilization by Inserm researchers who, keen to share high-quality and reliable information, wish to promote scientific discourse and show the general public what their roles involve.

Coming to a city near you

For this second edition, Inserm scientists are delighted to be able to reach out to the general public across France, thanks to this packed program.

Here is a glimpse of what we have lined up:

• In Toulouse, as part of an original and friendly get-together at Eurêkafé, called “Du charabia au limpide”, Inserm researchers will face the challenge of presenting their research project in 180 seconds[1] using language that can be understood by many people as possible.
• In Lyon, scientists working on multiple sclerosis will present the advances made by research into this autoimmune disease, in the presence of patient associations[2].
• In Paris, come and attend a conference led by Inserm scientists on the subject of endocrine disruptors. Where do they come from? What can we do to protect ourselves?[3] These questions will all be addressed in an educational way, helping the public to gain a deeper understanding of this complex subject.
• In Lille, Bastia, and Rennes, discover the video game ViRal and be transported inside the human body thanks to virtual reality.
• And then in Strasbourg, Inserm will present its book “Fake news santé” and the efforts made to fight health misinformation thanks to the mobilization of researchers since the start of COVID-19[4].

Part of the program will also be dedicated to emerging viruses. In a novel exhibition, Inserm will revisit the major epidemics of the past, the lives of viruses, the weapons our body uses to fight them, and the various measures taken by scientists to combat the epidemics they cause. This exhibition will be held in Mulhouse[5] until June 30 and is also accessible in digital format.

Other original activities include: an escape game in Nantes[6] in which you are locked inside a laboratory with a team of scientists, one of whom has kidney failure and needs help. Or the sound installation hEARt[7], an evolving musical journey in which each heartbeat resonates as a poetic element. This composition by Christophe Ruetsch, produced in collaboration with artists, technicians, and scientists, will be held in the cities of Toulouse and Corte.

InScience 2022 will also be available in digital format with a comprehensive program of online conferences, podcasts, plus unprecedented videos, such as the “Science dans tous les sens” series, presented by an Inserm researcher in Montpellier, and aimed at discovering the senses. Online visitors can immerse themselves in Inserm’s universe of fundamental and applied research into subjects as varied and topical as women’s health[8] and post-traumatic stress disorder[9].  

[1] June 2, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Eurêkafé in Toulouse

[2] June 8, from 6.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. at Lyon City Hall

[3] June 2, at 7 p.m. at the Benoite Groult library in Paris 14th

^[4] June 2, at 7 p.m. at the MAIF Etoile Space in Strasbourg and broadcast to all MAIF centers in France

^[5] At La Nef des Sciences association in Mulhouse

[6] June 4, at the Librairie Ludique Portails bookstore in Nantes

^[7] June 9-12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Eurêkafé in Toulouse – June 1-5 at the Corte Citadel

[8] June 14, at 7.30 p.m. on the Inserm YouTube channel

[9] June 15, at 6.00 p.m. on the Inserm YouTube channel