HR4RS stamp
Irene Vega
La Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology has favorably assessed the work carried out by the UCC+I of the Rey Juan Carlos University, revalidating its accreditation as a member of the National Network. The UCC+I received its initial recognition in the FECYT registry in March 2012, so this renewal as a member of the Network comes almost a decade after its constitution.
“The Scientific Culture and Innovation Units (UCC+I) act as intermediaries between the institutions that host them and the citizens with the main objective of promoting scientific, technological and innovation culture, through activities of various types. : scientific communication, dissemination, training, etc.”, according to the FECYT.
In this sense, throughout this decade, the UCC+I has devoted itself to disseminating the work carried out by the URJC scientific community through the publication of more than a hundred news items annually about its research projects and results. of his research activity.
"We have an important challenge and that is to give a boost to training in scientific communication for all members of the university community", highlights Professor Carmen García Galera, academic director of the UCC+I. “We have started this year with a workshop for ESCET university students on communicating science, which has been a complete success and encourages us to continue on this path”, she adds.
In addition, each year the UCC+I encourages and expands the range of scientific outreach activities, promoting participation in events organized annually such as the 'European Researchers' Night' and 'Science and Innovation Week', as well as 'Science a la Carta', organized in collaboration with the Higher Technical School of Experimental Science and Technology (ESCET) and which will take place at the beginning of April, and 'Scientists from the URJC in the classroom', held on the occasion of the commemoration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11), which recently celebrated its fifth edition with a successful turnout: 39 researchers from the URJC, some thirty educational centers and nearly 2.000 primary school students up to high school.
“The university has the responsibility of transferring to society all the progress in knowledge that is generated within it. At UCC+I we know how important this is for making a much more empowered society and we work so that this knowledge is transferred to all possible sectors”, underlines Visitación López-Miranda González, Vice-Rector for Research.
Science dissemination in multiple formats
Recently, the program of activities of the UCC+I has also received the help of the call for the promotion of scientific, technological and innovation culture of the FECYT-Ministry of Science and Innovation.
Within the framework of this new project, the 'Science Monologues' contest is being organized, in which 14 institutes participate, whose finalist students will compete in the grand final on April 27 at the URJC Madrid Campus.
In addition, during the final stretch of the academic year, the UCC+I will support the celebration of the twentieth 'Chemistry, Environment and Intelligent Energy Contest', will convene the first edition of 'The Laureates of Science', in recognition of the work of dissemination carried out by the scientific community of the URJC, and will give continuity to the 'Robotic Games' initiative. In this online competition, the participants, ESO and Baccalaureate students, must program a robot using the Scratch programming language.
New bets for raising awareness of scientific issues
Each year the UCC+I projects aim to incorporate new activities that value the scientific activity carried out by the URJC research groups, as well as to bring their work closer to different kinds of audiences, going through all educational levels and attending to diversity.
For its part, the activity 'Sensory strategies to facilitate the participation of children with ASD in the family environment' will try to provide families with knowledge about sensory processing disorders through health education. This course will contribute to training parents with the tools to identify and understand the sensory characteristics of their children, being able to satisfy their needs to improve their quality of life.
In this scientific dissemination project, special attention will also be paid to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, specifically SDG 12 Responsible production and consumption. On the one hand, the activity 'Should I throw it or not throw it? With fruits and vegetables if you play' with the aim of promoting the reduction in the generation of food waste. On the other hand, 'My trash is worth its weight in gold!' will put the scientific community in contact with students from 4th grade to high school. This activity is scheduled to be held on June 5, 2022, on the occasion of the commemoration of World Environment Day, and will focus on goal 12.5 (SDG 12), focused on "significantly reducing the generation of waste through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse” until 2030.