Public Engagement
We seek to raise public awareness of chemical research as a key factor in the progress of our society. ICIQ is also committed to engage and encourage youngsters to pursue a career in chemistry research. To this end we carry out several outreach activities to audiences of all ages as a way to get chemistry closer to society.
New projects
In 2018 we carried out two new activities: “Científiques: Passat i Present” and “Fotosíntesi Artificial: Imitant la Natura”. Both activities received funding from Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT-Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades).
«Scientists: Past and Present” connects the biography, research and discoveries of women scientists of the past with their peers in the present. A journey through the life and discoveries of women who have worked and work in the fields of radioactivity, catalysis, crystallography, programming, DNA, light and geometry. This project is directed to primary school teachers to help them give visibility to female scientists. The education materials also include experiments to better understand the field of research of the scientists.
Web page: http://cientifiques-stem.cat/
“Artificial Photosynthesis: Mimicking Nature” consists of two teaching materials. A game that recreates a car race where the vehicles use fuel produced in a reactor from artificial photosynthesis. And an interactive online game in which, through three screens (macroscopic, microscopic and artificial photosynthesis), you can choose different variables to optimize the process of photosynthesis.
Other Projects
ICIQ has a very solid and successful strategy in science education and communication. We want to maintain our status as a reference point on topics related to science communication and education. In this regard, we continued reaching out to the educational community by offering our already established workshops (‘From the lab to the classroom’; Chemistry workshops for high school students and ‘My First Experiment’ directed to primary school students), courses (ICIQ Summer Camp) and open access educational material for ICIQs educational platform (ICIQ Virtual Laboratory) to better support teaching and learning chemistry methodologies.
We also maintained our alliances with science education foundations (‘Crazy About Chemistry’; BIYSC and ‘Youth and Science’ programmes from Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera), the ‘Science at School’ programme from Fundació Catalana per a la Recerca i la Innovació and “Chemical workshops” as result of our participation in the Rambla Science project, promoted by other research institutions and the Tarragona City Hall.
Media Relations and Social Media
We bring to the general public the results of the research that the ICIQ has achieved through the media. In 2018, ICIQ appeared 175 times* in many media outlets. Most of the appearances were in online platforms (133), followed by written press (30), radio (8) and television (4). In addition, ICIQ was present in social networks, betting on the channels Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn
*We only count articles where ICIQ and its researchers is the main subject.