Escolab

Yesterday, the Escolabers meeting took place at the Martorell Exhibition Centre, the event that closes this year’s edition of the Escolab project. During the active months, 50 research centres, 131 educational centres and 6,844 students have participated, as well as more than 150 activities. In addition to presenting the results of this year’s course, the new features of the next edition were presented and the key ingredients to take into account when organising an educational activity within the project were shared. 

The day brought together 30 students, representatives of research centres and educational centres, to share the experiences lived throughout a course full of science. In addition, a review was made of the progression of the programme over the years, from its origin in the 2006-2007 academic year to the present. The graph showed the increasing evolution in the number of places available, activities and centres involved, with a drastic drop during the pandemic and the current progressive recovery. On the other hand, the three Escolab video reports were presented (From archaeological excavation to the laboratory; Human-machine interfaces. The communication between our brain and a computer; and The “DefeNsA” of plants) that illustrate what an activity in the framework of this programme is like and give a voice to the students, teaching staff and research centres involved. 

A large part of the meeting focused on analysing, in a participatory way, what your ideal Escolab activity would be like, where the key ingredients for achieving the ideal educational activity in the field of research were pooled.

Forthcoming publication of the updated Escolab website

Following the closure of the 2023-2024 academic year, the new configuration of the website and the booking platform was presented, in which work has been done to make the system easier and more intuitive in terms of user experience, as well as to expand content that may be of interest to both research centres and educational centres. These new features will be updated on 8 July, coinciding with the publication of the programme of activities for the 2024-2025 academic year. Schools will be able to submit their applications to participate in the draw for the activities from that date until 13 September. The draw for the activities will take place on 14 September and, subsequently, schools will be free to register for those activities for which there are places available.

About Escolab

Escolab is an initiative of Barcelona Science and Universities of Barcelona City Council, with the participation of the research centres that offer the different activities. The project opens the door to the country’s leading laboratories and research centres and offers the opportunity to dialogue with research staff working to advance society.

With more than 8,000 places for free scientific activities for students in secondary school, baccalaureate and vocational training, the project offers proposals in experimental sciences and technology, social sciences and humanities, architecture, business innovation, journalism, children’s education and sports science, among others. All of them consist of talks, face-to-face workshops or visits that allow you to see the great diversity of laboratories that exist today in Catalonia and come into direct contact with the multidisciplinary teams that work and the lines of research they follow.