A morning event full of activities for high school students was held at the UAB on April 25 to make them discover the world of nanoscience and the numerous and diverse applications of nanotechnology. This was part of the 10alamenos9 Festival, held every year to inspire young students to pursue a career in nanoscience, as well as to disseminate research in this field to the general public.
On 25 April 2023, a special day of activities for high school students was organised at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), in the framework of the 10alamenos9 Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Festival. The programme included visits to a few research centres in the campus (ICN2, ICMAB, IMB-CNM and the UAB itself) and a roundtable with young non-scientists.
During the tour of the centres, the pupils could visit laboratories, discover advanced scientific equipment, talk directly with researchers, do some hands-on activities, and learn about the amazing research carried out in the various institutes. At the ICN2, the students and accompanying teachers visited the Electron Microscopy Unit, the laboratory of the Nanobioelectronics and Biosensors Group —where Gabriel Maroli talked about electrochemical biosensors, their fabrication and applications—, and the Atomic Force Microscopy laboratory (Atomic Manipulation and Spectroscopy Group) — where Dr Markos Paradinas explained how we can see and manipulate matter atom by atom.
All the schools met in the UAB Seminar Hall for the roundtable, which was introduced by Prof Gemma García (UAB), in which five young nanoscientists —spanning from a Master’s student to postdoctoral researchers and a technology transfer officer— shared their experience and replied to the numerous questions from the pupils interested in discovering more about a career in nanoscience and nanotechnology.
The participants in the roundtable were:
- Lluís Casabona, a student of the Master in Nanoscience of the UAB, currently carrying out his Master’s thesis work at the ICMAB
- Dr Catalina Coll Benejam, a postdoctoral researcher at ICN2
- Raü Ramos, a doctoral stundet at IMB-CNM
- Sara Miguez, a doctoral student at UAB and ICN2
- Carlos Rubio, Business Developer at IREC
The ICN2 would like to thank the organisers of the Festival and the colleagues at UAB and the other centres on campus who made this event possible and successful.