PSIQUADRO SOCIETA' COOPERATIVA - IMPRESA SOCIALE

Their core work

Psiquadro is an Italian social cooperative based in Perugia that specializes in public engagement with science, organizing large-scale events that bring researchers and the public together. They are the driving force behind SHARPER — the European Researchers' Night across multiple Italian cities — designing interactive formats like street science shows, workshops, games, and performances that make research accessible and entertaining. Beyond event production, they work on responsible research and innovation (RRI) frameworks, helping universities and research institutions build genuine two-way dialogue with citizens and communities.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early period (2014-2017), Psiquadro focused on accessible, fun science engagement — street shows, carousels, games, and workshops aimed at bringing researchers into public squares. From 2018 onward, their work became more structured and mission-driven, incorporating STEAM education, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the European Green Deal, and themes of researcher responsibility and societal resilience. The shift reflects a maturation from pure entertainment-based outreach toward purpose-driven engagement tied to major European policy agendas.

Psiquadro is increasingly aligning public engagement activities with EU policy priorities (SDGs, Green Deal), making them a strong partner for projects needing impactful dissemination with societal relevance.

How they like to work

Psiquadro strongly prefers to lead — they coordinated 5 of their 7 projects, all under the SHARPER umbrella, which they clearly own as an initiative. Their 43 unique consortium partners across 15 countries suggest they build broad, pan-European networks for each Researchers' Night edition rather than repeating the same small group. This makes them an experienced consortium builder who knows how to manage distributed, multi-city event delivery across national and international teams.

With 43 unique partners across 15 countries, Psiquadro maintains a wide European network — likely including universities, science centers, and cultural institutions across Italy and beyond that participate in the distributed Researchers' Night events.

What sets them apart

Psiquadro is one of very few social cooperatives that have repeatedly won and coordinated the European Researchers' Night — a competitive EU-wide call. Their combination of event production expertise, deep understanding of EU science communication policy, and social enterprise status makes them an unusual hybrid: professionally run yet mission-driven. For any consortium needing a dissemination or public engagement partner who can actually deliver large-scale events in Italy and coordinate multi-city programs, Psiquadro is a proven choice with a continuous track record from 2014 to 2022.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SHARPER (2018-2019)
  Largest single grant at EUR 310,000 — the peak edition of their flagship Researchers' Night, introducing STEM responsibility themes and expanding to more Italian cities.
• Our Space Our Future
  Their only non-SHARPER project and only participant role, showing diversification into space sector outreach and career inspiration for underrepresented groups.
• NUCLEUS
  A multi-year (2015-2019) project on embedding public engagement in university governance — their most conceptual and research-oriented involvement, beyond event delivery.