News
02.04.2025The NanoEduca program ends after 10 years of bringing nanoscale science to the classroom
On the past April 1st, the closing ceremony and award presentation of the tenth edition, 2024-2025, of the NanoEduca program took place at the Paranimf of the historic building of the University of Barcelona, marking the end of this educational program.
PhD. Maria Feliu Torruella, Vice-Rector of Doctorate, Research Staff in Training, Talent Attraction and Dissemination at the University of Barcelona, welcomed the event to more than 100 students from the 10 schools that participated in this year's edition. To begin, a round table coordinated by Gemma Garcia, Professor of the Department of Physics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, reviewed these 10 years of the NanoEduca program.
Representatives from the institutions promoting the initiative, the Scientific and Technological Centers of the University of Barcelona, the Specific Pedagogical Resources Center for Support to Innovation and Educational Research (CESIRE) and the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2). J. Díaz, F. Guitart, and A. Argemí, respectively, highlighted the importance of collaboration between institutions to generate motivating projects like the one now ending, which require human and economic resources but, especially, a lot of enthusiasm to materialize.
Next, ICN2 communicator Chema Marcos interviewed researcher Esteve Ribas from the Atomic Manipulation and Spectroscopy group at ICN2, and the students were able to participate by asking questions about nanoscience studies, their applications, and the future of these new technologies.
A recognition for the teachers who have most helped to launch NanoEduca in schools, presented by Juan Fran Sangüesa, director of CCiTUB, preceded the award ceremony for the best research works of this year's participants. The Scientific Rigor Award went to the Institut Mediterrània de Castelldefels, and the Creativity and Quality Award went to the Institut de Sant Andreu de la Barca.
Finally, a small tribute was paid to the program's ideologist, Jordi Díaz, microscopist at CCiTUB and passionate about dissemination, who, thanks to his perseverance, shaped a program, National Scientific Communication Award 2018, which ends after 10 years, leaving a legacy of more than 300 schools, 15,000 students, and 500 participating teachers.
End of the NanoEduca program
Coinciding with the tenth anniversary of NanoEduca, the Scientific and Technological Centers and the other institutions that created the program, the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), the Institute for Professional Development (IDP), the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), and CESIRE of the Department of Education of the Generalitat de Catalunya, embark on new projects after ten years of bringing the knowledge of the world of nanotechnology to thousands of young people.
