This Friday the twenty-eighth edition of Science Week in Catalonia, SC'23, was inaugurated, whose common thread will be the centenary of the birth of the biochemist Joan Oró i Florensa. Between November 10 and 19, the entire Catalan territory will host more than 400 free activities, including talks, workshops, guided tours, exhibitions, routes and conferences, distributed throughout 36 regions.
The objective of SC'23, organized by the Fundació Catalana per a la Recerca i la Innovació (FCRI) with the support of the Government of Catalonia, is none other than to awaken interest in science among the youngest and encourage vocations. scientific. To this end, more than a hundred institutions related to the field of science, from universities and research centers to schools and libraries, propose varied activities with which to awaken curiosity among the attending public.
The Catalan event also commemorates with its activities other notable figures and anniversaries, such as that of the astronomer and astrophysicist Cecilia Payne, who demonstrated that the Sun is basically composed of the gases hydrogen and helium; the centenary of the visit of the physicist Albert Einstein to the city of Barcelona; or the 200 years since the death of the English doctor Edward Jenner, father of the smallpox vaccine.
Science week is an event celebrated on variable dates throughout the Spanish geography. Murcia was the earliest riser, celebrating its events between October 20 and 22, while the rest of the communities - except Catalonia - kicked off on November 6, and will extend the offer of events until the 19th of the same month. In addition to the activities organized by each territory, the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) offers 250 proposals spread throughout Spain.
The Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), with the support of the FCRI, will carry out an experiment in 164 educational centers, reaching 6,000 students in 5th and 6th grade of primary school, and 1st and 2nd grade of ESO. The entity will bring to schools a new experimental material that it has developed to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), with the double objective of raising awareness among young people about the implications of this gas for the future of the planet, and of collecting environmental and changes in the material to study it further. The idea of ICN2 is to publish the results of the citizen science experiment in a scientific journal.
The most emblematic activity of Science Week will include the intervention of a team of scientists, which thousands of students will follow remotely throughout the morning from all over the territory, through the FCRI YouTube channel. The participating students, from 3rd and 4th years of ESO, will compare the solutions they have found to a challenge previously proposed by the researchers themselves, asking them questions through digital platforms.
Observing the night sky is an almost obligatory activity in every scientific communication event, especially when it is aimed at young people. Astronomical activities, which include guided visits to observatories, planetarium sessions and sky observations, have an almost central role in SC'23.
Among them, on November 11, the nocturnal sky of Cadí Moixeró Natural Park, at the Pedraforca Astronomical Center and Viaja por las galaxias, in Alt Àneu; on the 12th the guided visit to the Ebro Observatory, in Roquetes, or the night visit to the Fabra Observatory, in Barcelona; and on the 17th Discovering the Universe from Montsec, in Coll de Nargó.
The Victor Siurana room at the University of Lleida hosts on November 17 the final of the Science Club Monologues competition, an activity that promotes new formats in scientific communication in Catalan. The eight finalists, who will compete for first place from 12 noon, will have three minutes to quickly communicate a fact or scientific advance through a monologue. The fifth edition of the competition has been the result of the collaboration of the FCRI and the Xarxa Vives d'Universitats, with the coordination of the monologists of Big Van Ciencia.
The researcher from the University of Girona Josep Duran will tour the city on November 18, with the aim of showing attendees how chemistry is present in the daily lives of citizens. At 11 a.m. a tour of 11 stops will begin, including the city wall, the Platería, the Plaça de la Independència or the Pujada de Sant Feliu, where you will take the opportunity to get to know Girona from a different point of view. scientist.
Other notable activities of the program are the Walk with Einstein through Barcelona, the special activities organized by the CosmoCaixa museum, the Crystallized Light talk, in Girona, the Family Workshop: paleontology, dinosaurs and other creatures, in Cambrils, or the visit to the Biobank of Lleida. The complete program, which includes more than 400 activities, can be found here.
