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IRB Barcelona, in collaboration with the PCB, will be participating in three activities in the 19th Science Week.
Given in the facilities of the centre and in premises of the building “La Pedrera”, the educational activities will be guided by PhD students at IRB Barcelona.
This year the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) is once again participating in Science Week in Catalonia (14-23 November), this time through three activities undertaken by the institute’s researchers in collaboration with the Barcelona Science Park (PCB).
Science Week in Catalonia, which enters its 19th year, is an initiative in which various research centres, universities and public bodies organise hundreds of activities with the aim to bring science closer to the general public and to strengthen scientific vocation. With this goal, this year IRB Barcelona will be participating through three activities, namely the “Express PhD!”, the workshops “Do Research” at “La Pedrera” and a guided tour entitled “Biomedical Research in the Primary School.”
“Express PhD!
”The “Express PhD!” initiative invites secondary school students to participate in a small research project that covers the entire process of undertaking a doctoral thesis through a range of activities organised as a game of clues and done in IRB Barcelona labs. This activity will be held on 19 November and will be headed by Clara Morral and Gemma Turón, two pre-doctoral students working in the Colorectal Cancer Lab. This year the project will address the differences between the stem cells of a healthy tissue and those of a tumor. The “Express PhD!” is aimed at more than 200 students.
Do Research!
The second activity is the “Do Research” workshops organized by the PCB in collaboration with the Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera. The two hands-on workshops given by IRB Barcelona will be held in the building “La Pedrera” on Saturday 15 and Saturday 29 November. In these workshops—which are free of charge but require previous registration—IRB Barcelona researchers will move part of their lab to “La Pedrera” with the aim to promote interaction with the general public and to give people the opportunity to participate in experiments. The researchers involved in these sessions are Ignasi Castrillón, Alba Sabater and Monserrat Romero, who work in the “Complex metabolic diseases and mitochondria” lab, and Pol Arranz, Sònia Ciudad and Josep Garcia, from the lab devoted to the “Design, synthesis and structure of peptides and proteins”.
“Biomedical Research in the Primary School.
Finally, for younger children, there will be the activity “Biomedical Research in the Primary School.” Today, Friday 14 November, researchers from the institute will explain IRB Barcelona’s mission using language that such a young audience will understand and will accompany them in a guided tour of the facilities and laboratories. The tour will also involve a theatrical workshop to present simple concepts, such the cell, DNA and genes.
The participation of IRB Barcelona in such diverse activities is once again a clear indication of its engagement in science education and its commitment to maintaining fluent dialogue with society and to promoting scientific vocation among young people.
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
