Two hundred high school students participate in Science on Demand

Irene Vega

The activities scheduled for the eighth edition of the conference science on demand Around 200 high school students from the Science program will participate. The scientific community of the School of Experimental Sciences and Technology (ESCET) will showcase different areas of knowledge taught at the school and the scientific projects it is working on to pre-university students on April 1, 2, and 3.

During these three days, dynamic activities will allow students to interact with researchers. Students will be able to participate in various workshops, experiments, and escape rooms where they will have to put their knowledge to the test. They will also visit laboratories and workspaces to learn about different lines of research being developed at ESCET. “This year, we will receive visits from nearly 200 first-year high school students from different schools in the Community of Madrid. More than 20 different activities will be carried out, distributed across twelve programs. Each student will participate in a program designed with two or three different activities, thanks to the commitment and collaboration of the researchers and teachers involved,” explains Gemma Vicente, Deputy Director of Research, Teaching Infrastructure, and Economic Affairs at ESCET and coordinator of the conference.

The main objective of these sessions is to allow participants to experience firsthand the work of scientists and their workspaces, as well as to choose "à la carte" activities that are most attractive and beneficial to their training. "It is essential that the university continues to organize Science on Demand. Not only does it offer institutes the opportunity to gain a closer look at the university environment, but it also brings scientific and technological research closer to society, making it more accessible to the general public," emphasizes Gemma Vicente. "Furthermore, these types of initiatives allow researchers and teachers to share their experience in their respective areas of specialization, which is key to sparking interest in science and technology among high school students and fostering vocations in these fields," she adds.

These conferences are part of the calendar of events to promote scientific culture that the Vice-Rectorate for Research, Innovation and Transfer carries out through the Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit (CCU+I). Carrying out these activities is possible thanks to the call for aid to promote the scientific, technological and innovation culture of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) – Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

In addition, this initiative is part of the activities Researchers at Schools within the European Researchers' Night (MADRIDNIGHT) project, a consortium coordinated by the madri+dy Foundation funded by the European Union within the Horizon Europe Program, under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (with grant agreement no. 101.162.110) .