CSI at ICIQ, the award for the winners of the outreach programme Repte experimenta

The 5th edition of the programme Repte Experimenta comes to an end with the solving of a fictional crime at the ICIQ outreach laboratory. The crime scene investigation was carried out by the winners of this edition, students from the first courses of secondary school

Repte Experimenta is a FECYT project, led by Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) in collaboration with ICIQ, that aims to promote scientific vocations among middle-school students by challenging them to design an experiment with the help of a scientific mentor.

In this edition, a total of 205 teams designed an experiment focused on answering an everyday question, as “Can you get electricity from food?” or “How does a water mill work?”. Of all these teams, 32 were selected for a final competition, the Fira experimenta, where the teams presented their experiment to the public and to a jury.

We had a great time, both doing the experiment and with the Fira experimenta. We didn’t expect the science fair to be like this. It was a lot of fun because people were passing by, we could have the kids do the experiment, and that excited them a lot

Lucia and Daria, from one of the winning teams.

There were selected two teams for their scientific rigour and communication skills, and their everyday questions were “How can we create oxygen easily?” understanding the function of a catalyst in a chemical reaction; and “How bulletproof vests work?” thanks to the characteristics of non-Newtonian liquids. There was a third winner, selected by the audience, a team that launched a rocket with water, understanding the principle of action-reaction known as Newton’s third law.

The jury of the Fira experimenta was coordinated by Dr. Laura P. Hernández Eguía, manager of the impact, communication and strategy unit at ICIQ, and it was formed by teaching staff and researchers from URV along with members of the chemical companies in the region

After three years, I have been able to take part in the Repte Experimenta in three different ways: as a scientific expert, as a mentor, and as an organizer of the Premi Experimenta. I have greatly enjoyed it from all perspectives of the project, and I truly believe that it is a very well-designed initiative to bring experimentation into the classrooms, stimulate scientific learning, and generally bring science closer to society.

Dr. Joan Guillem Mayans, outreach officer at ICIQ

The Repte experimenta programme concludes with this award organised by ICIQ. The winners of the scientific fair were invited to the ICIQ outreach lab to solve a fictional crime using their minds and the equipment there. In addition to participating with the Premi Experimenta and organising the jury, the ICIQ has also contributed by creating capsules of scientific concepts that were distributed to the participant schools.

About Repte Experimenta

Repte Experimenta is a scientific education programme based on inquiry and experimentation, drawing from the scientific method and the “learn by doing” approach to spark young people’s curiosity in science and technology. The programme has been promoted by the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and collaborates with Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia, the Institute for Agrifood Research and Technology, and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology – Ministry of Science and Innovation for its public sector involvement. On the private side, it is supported by ELIX Polymers, BASF, DuPont Water Solutions, Messer Ibérica, Ercros, URAIS, Gomà-Camps, BioTech BioSecurity, and the Tarragona Water Consortium (CAT).