Thursday, 02 July 2020
The Catalan final of the nanostories competition is celebrated with a great success of participation
The contest is part of the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Festival, 10alamenos9, which aims to bring this science closer to young audiences. A jury formed by specialists in science and dissemination chose the winners and read their stories in an online ceremony.
The Festival of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 10alamenos9, in which a large number of research centres, universities and other social entities participate, including the ICN2, has organised an online competition of nanostories aimed at secondary school students with the goal of disseminating nanoscience and nanotechnology among the young public.
The competition, held state-wide, has received a total of 131 works, of which 85 (65%) correspond to students from Catalonia. These stories correspond to 43 ESO students and 42 BATX students.
The nanostories are evaluated in three phases, the first two to decide the winners at the Catalan level, and the third to decide the winners at the state level. The jury of the first phase was formed by members of the organizing entities: the University of Barcelona (UB), the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), the UB Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), the Catalan Society of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (SCN2), the Vil·la Urania Civic Centre and the Casa Sagnier Youth Space in Barcelona.
The jury of the second phase was composed of experts in science and scientific dissemination: Laura Morrón, physicist and editor of Next Door Publishers; Miquel Duran, chemist, disseminator and professor at the University of Girona; Anna Morales, pre-doctoral researcher at EPFL (Switzerland) and youtuber of nanoscience (SizeMatters); Elsa Velasco, science journalist and illustrator, and Marga Pradas, coordinator of the DivulCat blog.
They were all present in the online event held on Thursday 25 June to announce the winners. The jury read the awarded nanostories, in an online event that combined reflections on science and literature both by the jury and the participants. The Catalan winners were Mireia Rivero Sallent (ESO) with a story called “Nano, el meu món” (Nano, my world) and Lucía Iglesias (BATX), with “Petites superheroïnes” (Little superheroines). They will have to compete with other finalists from Spain in the last phase of the contest. ICN2 Group Leader Pedro Gómez (Novel Energy-Oriented Materials Group) will be part of the final jury. Good luck!
Read more about the organisation of the contest here: