On Monday 1 March, the JRC’s Ispra site in Northern Italy hosted 1000 young guests from 23 different schools. The day’s programme, tailored according to the needs of each school and age category, included 18 laboratory visits, from vehicle emissions to the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment and 11 seminars, on topics such as the traceability of animals or or radioactivity in the environment. The pupils and students were between 10 and 18 years old and their feedback indicates that the day was a real success. Quite a few of the young visitors even indicated they may be seriously considering a future career in science and technology.