The premiere of the Coffee with Science, the new activity framed in the Science Week that cicCartuja held on November 7, had a very positive balance according to the impressions of the protagonists of the day: the sixty students from the two Secondary Schools of Seville who visited our center.
Specifically, the students from IES Gerena and IES Galileo-Galilei enjoyed a close and dynamic meeting with three members of cicCartuja’s research staff: Gisela Arzac, scientist at the Institute of Materials Science of Seville (ICMS), Javier Rojo, Research Scientist at the Institute of Chemical Research (IIQ) and Federico Valverde, Senior Scientist at the Institute of Plant Biochemistry and Photosynthesis (IBVF). These researchers shared an hour and a half with the students -most of them high school students- with the aim of maintaining a fluid dialogue on such hot topics in the current scientific scene as the fight that has been going on for three decades against the HIV virus, the lights and shadows of plant transgenics and its applications in modern agriculture, and the possibilities offered by electron microscopy and nanotechnology.
Relaxed atmosphere
Fulfilling the aim of making these meetings a space for debate and joint reflection, the cicCartuja researchers were able to capture the attention of their audience from the first minutes, in which they took the opportunity to tell in a didactic way the steps to follow in the scientific career and to listen to the ideas that children have about science.
The participation of the students took place during the course of the interventions of the scientists, who were progressively awakening the interest both in their area of study and in the personal evolution of the researchers in this professional career.
Option for the future
Lola Vega, Manager of cicCartuja, took the opportunity to welcome the students of IES Gerena and Galileo-Galilei to highlight the relevance of science outreach activities, and stressed that science is an option for the future in that it generates resources and knowledge that advance society.
The Andalusian Society for the Dissemination of Science (SADC) was also present yesterday at the day of Café con Ciencia through Fernando Morales, its coordinator. His words at the welcoming ceremony were directed to the opportunity that this type of action represents for young people, who do not usually have the option of speaking personally with a researcher with whom they can exchange views in such a close way.
The activity Café con Ciencia has been organized by the Andalusian Foundation for the Dissemination of Innovation and Knowledge (Descubre Foundation) in collaboration with the SADC and the main research, innovation and dissemination centers of Andalusia, and is part of the program of activities organized for the celebration of Science Week.