HR4RS stamp
Irene Vega
Eleven candidates from different educational centers in the Community of Madrid have staged their scientific works in the final phase of the tenth URJC 'Science Monologues' competition.
The students, who have previously received training on the characteristics of a monologue and how to prepare the text, have had to demonstrate the results of all this work at the final gala of the contest, which has taken place in the Assembly Hall of the Library of the Madrid Campus.
During the opening speech of the event, the academic director of the Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit (UCC+I) Carmen García Galera highlighted that this year marks the tenth anniversary of this competition: “Ten editions in which the contestants , every year, they have taken to this stage to talk about science, to disseminate science in a friendly, approachable and easy-to-understand way for all audiences. Here, in this room, we have seen monologues about ants, about water, about Rosaline Franklin, about food or planets.”
At the end of the event, the jury awarded different prizes in four different categories: 'Best monologue' to Daniel Raso Peiró (IES Valdebernardo), 'Best scientific content' to Marcos García Risco (IES Villablanca), 'Best staging' to Bruno Sanz Gómez (Colegio Ábaco) and 'Best communicator' to Laura Galiano Sanz (IES Alkala Nahar).
The jury was made up of César López García, head of the Science Dissemination and Participation Unit of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT); Cristina Delgado González, member of the Deputy Vice Presidency of Scientific Culture and Citizen Science of the CSIC and coordinator of the Science in the Neighborhood dissemination project; Pilar López Gallo, vice director of Communication and Scientific Culture of the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC); Pablo León Cruz, professor of Biology and Geology at IES Tirso de Molina in Madrid; and Gema Díaz Gil, academic director of Promotion, Promotion and Monitoring of Research of the Vice-Rector's Office for Research, Innovation and Transfer of the URJC.
The gala was presented and conducted by Juan Carlos Sánchez, professor at IES Joaquín Rodrigo, and featured musical performances by professors from the same center José Carlos Pino and Juan San Isidro, along with musician José Manuel Simón. During the jury's deliberations, the wait has been livened up with the performances of Saniclown (National Association of Non-Profit Hospital Clowns) and the URJC professor Francisco Molina Rueda, who will compete in the national final of the Ibero-American scientific monologues contest “Just about Science.”
Training in communication skills
This initiative is part of a training and collaboration project between the educational centers IES Joaquín Rodrigo, IES Villablanca, IES Valdebernardo, IES Alfredo Kraus and IES Alameda de Osuna, and the URJC, through the UCC+I and the Vice-Rector for Research , Innovation and Transfer. In addition, the competition has the collaboration of the FECYT-Ministry of Science and Innovation within the framework of the Call for aid for the promotion of scientific, technological and innovation culture.
This project uses the monologue as an educational resource to promote the acquisition of the basic skills proposed for the curriculum of ESO and Baccalaureate students. Through this format, students learn to present their research projects while fostering their interest in science and scientific dissemination.
Since the beginning of the 2023/2024 academic year, several training phases have been carried out: characteristics of a monologue, writing the text, developing creativity, scenic resources and body expression. To carry out the training part, we have had the collaboration of several teachers from the participating educational centers and associations such as Big Van Ciencia and Alioth, Arte y Ciencia.