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On Friday 9 January in a ceremony held in Mont Sant Benet, the Catalunya la Pedrera Foundation welcomed the 172 students enrolled on one of the seven “Crazy about Science” courses, in which eight research centres in Catalonia are involved.
Forerunner of the “Crazy about Science” Programme, “Crazy about Biomedicine” enters its third year and seeks to stimulate scientific talent among secondary school students.
Tomorrow 17 January, 24 baccalaureate students participating in the year-long "Crazy About Biomedicine” (CAB) programme will begin to work shoulder to shoulder with scientists at IRB Barcelona. Including these new students, a total of 72 students will have taken part in this course—an initiative designed to satisfy the curiosity of 16- and 17-year olds for biomedicine who show strong aptitude and predisposition towards science.
“They are youngsters who are interested in and fascinated by science and they can still be surprised by what they learn in this field,” explains Joan Guinovart, director of IRB Barcelona and promoter of the programme. These qualities are revealed by the letters of motivation that they send and what they say during the selection process. In the presentation of the new course in Món Sant Benet (Sant Fruitós del Bages) last Friday and in front of a packed audience of students, their relatives, and scientists from the centres participating in this initiative, Guinovart promised, “You will not be coming here to work but to have a good time!”. The Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation, which organised this gathering, promotes the “Crazy about Science” Programme, which includes seven scientific disciplines, among them biomedicine.
CAB 2015’
The 17 girls and 7 boys participating in CAB’15 will have the opportunity to delve into the theory and scientific techniques used in biomedicine. Under the guidance of 12 PhD students from around the world, the participants will receive practical training in laboratories. The aim is to give these youngsters an insight into how science is developed in an international research centre, to familiarize them with cutting-edge techniques, and to allow them to position themselves for a potential career in the life sciences.
Students were selected on the basis of their academic grades, motivation letter, two letters of recommendation from teachers, and a personal interview. Given in English, the course will be held on 18 Saturdays spread over the year (from January to December 2015). The programme includes 12 hot scientific topics, ranging from cell and molecular biology to structural and computational biology and chemistry.
For more information about the course content and tutors for Crazy About Biomedicine 2015
More information about Crazy about Science 2015 –Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation
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).
