At the ESET Science Arena, together with scientists, experts, and science communicators, we launched discussions about the world we live in today and what it might look like tomorrow. Topics included artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, adolescence, space, aging, and how scientific knowledge impacts everyday life. The ESET Science Arena program at Pohoda featured lectures and discussions with speakers such as Samo Kováčik, Lenka Hrobárová, ESET Science Award laureate Martin Kahanec, and experts from ESET.

For the ESET Science Award, making science accessible to the public is an important part of our mission. We believe that science belongs not only in laboratories, universities, and scientific journals, but also in the public sphere and especially where people, ideas, questions, and inspiration come together. That is why it makes perfect sense for us to bring scientific topics to a festival like Pohoda: an open, values-driven, and culturally vibrant space where knowledge has its natural place.

At the same time, we believe that supporting culture is just as important as supporting science. Culture helps society think, feel, ask questions, and seek understanding. Science gives us the tools to understand the world, while culture creates a space in which we can talk about this world in a human, sensitive, and understandable way. We consider this connection to be particularly important, especially at a time when society needs more trust, critical thinking, and open dialogue.

We’d like to thank everyone who came to the ESET Science Arena for the science program, as well as those who visited the ESET Zone, where they could relax, learn more about a safer digital life, practice critical thinking while playing chess, or take a virtual tour of the future ESET Campus. If you missed any of the lectures or discussions at the festival, you can watch the recordings on the ESET Science Award YouTube channel.

Thank you, Pohoda. It was an honor for us to be there.