Open Day of Ruđer Bošković Institute – #scihill

On Friday, 17 May 2026, we took part in the joint open day of three research institutions located on “Science Hill” – Ruđer Bošković Institute, Institute of Physics and Faculty of Science.

Our station, “Step into a living anthill”, was part of Route B, intended for primary school grades 1-3. Our Lara, Toni and Dario spent the day explaining the ants’ life cycle and colony life to the children. They could also see a real harvester ant (Messor wasmanni) queen tending to her eggs as well as entire colonies with queens, worker ants, eggs and larvae.

We believe that the participants enjoyed our workshop and learned something not only at our station but also at other stations designed by colleagues from the Institute. Even though we already participated in numerous educational events, we were once again left pleasantly surprised by children’s curiosity and the questions they asked. Who knows, we might end up sharing a lab with some of the participants in the near future.