The beauty in science seen by ICIQ researchers

“One fine morning I found that a crystal had condensed accidentally on a round bottom flask and I thought of taking a picture because it looked really interesting,” that is the beauty of science! Dr. Aratrika Chakraborty is an MSCA Fellow Postdoctoral Researcher at the group of Prof. Julio Lloret-Fillol and her picture “Crystal Clear” was selected for the Art Exhibition “Beauty in Science” performed on February 23, 2024, in Barcelona.

“Beauty in science” is a Public Engagement activity organized by five BIST Master students within the Responsible Research and Science Communication (RRSC) subject. Among the organizers, there is Neus Munar, master student doing her Major project at the group of Dr. Katherine Villa. As Neus explains, “there are quite a few art enthusiasts among our group and we thought of doing this exhibition, showing both scientific images as well as painting and drawings, more of scientific illustration. We have had a very good reception, a lot of participation and we are very happy!“

The event gathered more than 60 people, that were also invited to vote for the best piece of art. The award went to Dr. Aswin Gopakumar, also from the group of Prof. Lloret-Fillol, for the picture “CO₂ vs Photoelectrochemistry”. This picture shows the future of electrochemistry, the reduction of CO₂ into useful chemicals such of methanol or formic acid, using light to run the reaction.

Last but not least, Dr. Damian Giziński, postdoctoral researcher from Prof. Lloret-Fillol’s group, participated in the Art Exhibition with the picture “RoboCo-op”, “a station for fully autonomous research on catalysis. This is our research assistant, and he will be helping us with screening many materials to find the ideal one for a reaction.”

Another cohort of BIST Master students with great ideas for public engagement activities, in this case to bring science and art together in a dynamic and interactive way. All the activities were coordinated by Communication experts from BIST centres, among them Dr. Laura P. Hernández Eguía head of the ICIQ Communications Department.