OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

We seek to raise public awareness of chemical research as a key factor in the progress of our society. ICIQ is also committed to engage and encourage youngsters to pursue a career in chemistry research. To this end, in 2016 we carried out several outreach activities to audiences of all ages as a way to get chemistry closer to society.

  • Química en Família

    16th and 17th of November (ICIQ Auditorium)

    “Química en Familia” is a chemistry workshop that has established itself as one of the most popular activities in the Science Week in Tarragona. In 2016, more than 140 children attended the event divided in two days. They came to ICIQ to become little scientists and they had the chance to perform different and simple experiments, by using every-day materials.

    Video

 

  • Chemistry Summer Camp

    The ICIQ’s chemistry summer camp was designed to make visible the chemistry that surrounds us. It is a week-long introductory course to the world of chemistry, addressed to children finishing 5th and 6th year of primary education. Students had the chance to carry out experiments in our learning laboratory, doing group work and learning how to present their work and results obtained in public.

 

  • Science at School

    Ciència a les escoles

    Three ICIQ researchers delivered talks in Tarragona area schools on November 16th. “Ciència a les Escoles” is organized by FCRI and Departament d’Ensenyament. Here’s the list of the researchers and their talks:

    • Ángel Mudarra: “Del átomo a la estequiometria” (From the atom to the stoichiometry) INS Priorat, Falset.
    • Cristina Rodríguez: “Aprovechamiento de la energia solar y día a día en un laboratorio” (Using sunlight and everyday life in a laboratory) INS Móra d’Ebre
    • Ignacio Funes: “¿Se puede ser químico sin bata de laboratorio?” (A chemist and not wearing a lab coat?) INS Martí l’Humà, Montblanc.

    My first experiment

    We visited five primary schools to show chemistry to the little ones. Classrooms were turned into laboratory benches to perform experiments. Boys and girls from 12 different courses did their first chemistry experiment with us.

 

  • Crazy about Chemistry

    In 2016 we carried out the third edition of our “Crazy about Chemistry” year-long course for high-school students. This training activity is funded by the “Crazy about Science” programme of Catalunya-La Pedrera Foundation. It is directed at students in their first year of high school, with a special interest and talent on chemistry and research, who want to expand their scientific knowledge through hands-on experiments in an excellent research centre.

    Video

 

  • From the Lab to the Classroom

    ICIQ provides secondary school teachers in Catalonia with the opportunity to participate in specialized courses or workshops. We want to bring teachers into a research lab for training workshops easily transferable to the classroom. Our workshops are designed to provide teachers with educational material and assistance to bridge the gap between research and schools.

    In 2016 we offered a course on catalysis in the frame of the “Professors i Ciència” programme of Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera. The course consisted of three sessions (April 29th and May 5th and 13th). We also made available to the teachers the following workshops: “How to separate a food additive from a sedative,“ ”Light as a source of energy” and “The synthesis of the aspirin.”

 

  • ICIQ Teaching and Learning Laboratory

    Every Thursday we welcomed high school students to participate in one of our experimentation workshops. Schools from Tarragona had the opportunity to pick one of our three specialized workshops and challenge their students to experience chemical research first hand. In 2016 we carried out 22 workshops for nine different high schools.

    Workshops:

    • First-aid kit chemistry
    • Food chemistry
    • Clean chemistry

 

  • BIYSC

    The Barcelona International Youth Science Challenge (BIYSC, July 11th to 22nd) aims to connect the most passionate science students with the best researchers. ICIQ participated with the research project entitled “ From Molecules into Electricity,” a workshop where participants learnt how to prepare organic molecules and devices that can be used to transform sunlight into electrical power.

 

  • Science fairs

    Science fairs are a good platform to reach all kind of audiences, especially kids and youths. In 2016 ICIQ participated in the following science fairs:

    Festa de la Ciència i la Tecnologia de Barcelona (Barcelona, June 18th-19th): Workshop on catalytic reactions (“Catàlisi Exprés”) and “Rompamos el agua” (Let’s split water) a talk delivered by Ignacio Funes and Pablo Garrido, ICIQ PhD students.

    Espai Ciència Saló de l’Ensenyament (Barcelona, March 9th): Home experiments in the CERCA ( Research Centres of Catalonia) booth.

 

OTHER ACTIVITIES TO SUPORT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Research projects: ICIQ opens its doors to students and secondary education centres that wish to do the experimental part of the research project (treball de recerca) in our centre. In 2016 we oversaw 22 research projects.