TYCHO BRAHE PLANETARIUM AS

Their core work

Tycho Brahe Planetarium is Copenhagen's principal public astronomy and space science museum, operating Denmark's only IMAX dome theater alongside permanent and temporary science exhibitions. Their core institutional work centers on translating complex scientific and technological topics into accessible public experiences — through large-format film, interactive displays, science cafés, and hosted public events. In H2020 projects, they contribute as a trusted science communication venue with direct access to broad public audiences, particularly relevant for pan-European engagement campaigns. Their H2020 track record places them in two Coordination and Support Actions: one on responsible research and public science engagement (SPARKS), and one on inspiring careers in the space industry (Our Space Our Future).

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 engagement (SPARKS, 2015-2018), TBP participated as a third party in a broad pan-European responsible innovation campaign covering topics as diverse as frugal innovation, open science, and health technology — typical of large CSA projects that recruit science venues as engagement nodes. By 2018, their second project narrowed sharply to space careers and the space industry, which maps directly to their core institutional identity as a planetarium. The trend is a return to specialization: from generic public engagement infrastructure to a focused voice in space education and workforce development.

TBP is consolidating around its natural home territory — space education and public astronomy — rather than continuing as a general-purpose science communication venue for any EU topic.

How they like to work

TBP has never led an H2020 project, entering once as a third party and once as a full participant — the profile of an organization that is recruited for what it is, not for what it can manage. Both projects were large CSAs with pan-European consortia, explaining their 39 unique partners and 28 countries from just two engagements. They are best understood as a valued outreach node: a physical venue and audience-access point that strengthens a consortium's public engagement credentials without taking on coordination responsibility.

With 39 unique partners across 28 countries from only two projects, TBP's network is wide but structurally thin — a consequence of joining very large pan-European CSA consortia rather than building repeated bilateral partnerships. Their connections run across science centres, universities, and public bodies throughout Europe.

What sets them apart

Few H2020 participants can offer what TBP does: a nationally recognized science institution with a built-in public audience, credibility as a cultural venue, and the physical infrastructure to host exhibitions and events at scale in Scandinavia. For consortia building public engagement work-packages — especially anything touching space, astronomy, or technology communication — TBP adds a dimension that universities and research institutes cannot replicate. Their weakness is the absence of research or technical output; their value is entirely in outreach reach and institutional legitimacy.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Our Space Our Future
  Direct participant role with EUR 151,712 in EC funding, focused squarely on space industry career inspiration — the clearest expression of TBP's core institutional mission within H2020.
• SPARKS
  Demonstrates TBP's cross-topic engagement capacity, as a third-party science centre host within a pan-European campaign covering health, frugal innovation, and open science alongside astronomy.