“Ciência et al” in the month of Science and Technology
In the month during which the National Science and Technology Week and the National Day of Scientific Culture are happening, i3S researchers made a major contribution to improving scientific literacy in schools. In November, the i3S Educational Program, “Ciência et al” (“Science et al”), reached 1,000 primary and secondary school students.
In their role as i3S Science Ambassadors - the researchers Ana Magalhães, Ana Baião, Bruno Pereira, Carolina Lemos, João Cabral, Nuno Ribeiro, Paulo Oliveira, Pedro Madureira, and Rui Pedro Moura visited the schools ES Filipa de Vilhena, ES da Boa Nova, AE Carolina Michaelis, ES da Maia, ES Afonso Sanches and ES Eça de Queirós; and were online with students from ES Santa Maria Maior (Viana do Castelo), AE Camilo Castelo Branco (V. N. Famalicão) and S. José de Bairros College (Lousada). These lectures, which reached around 500 students, addressed topics as diverse as cancer, antibiotics, vaccines, genetics, and cell biology (cell membranes) or the therapeutic potential of nanoparticles.
The facilitation of workshops by our researchers has also been welcomed by participating schools. In November there were several sessions for students from the 4th year of the 1st cycle, within the scope of our partnership with the Municipality of Porto – Porto de Crianças. Researchers Márcia Liz and Marina Silva introduced the children to the nervous system, from the neuron to the brain, and Eurico Sá and Lígia Tavares introduced basic concepts of genetics and heredity using the fruit fly as an example of a research model.
As part of a collaboration with the Centro Ciência Viva in Vila do Conde, Christiane Salgado and Joana Barros showed 5th year students how it is possible to regenerate bone with biomaterials. There were also two workshops for secondary school students focused on the discussion of integrity in Genetic Testing and Animal Experimentation led by Igor Lopes; a workshop on Cognitive Improvement with Teresa Summavielle, Filipa Terceiro and Ana Isabel Dias; and two sessions of the workshop “A Herança d'Os Maias”, developed by Filipe Monteiro and Ana Filipa Dias.
At the i3S facilities, we also received seven 11th and 12th grade classes from the following schools: ES Rodrigues de Freitas, EBS Vale d'Este (Barcelos), AE Nr. 1 of Gondomar, Colégio Luso-Francês, ES Almeida Garrett, and ES João Gonçalves Zarco. Each class visited an i3S Scientific Platform and was received by a research group - Cytoskeletal Dynamics, Tumor and Microenvironment Interactions, Immune Regulation, Phenotypic Evolution, Genetic Diversity and Molecular Neurobiology. This way students had the opportunity to get to learn a little about the work that is developed at i3S and to talk to researchers.
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