A summer camp full of scientific challenges for young students

IRB Barcelona is to participate in the second edition of the Barcelona International Youth Science Challenge (BIYSC), organised by the Catalunya-La Pedrera Foundation in collaboration with first-class research centres all over Catalonia, including BIST centres. To be held from 10 to 21 July, BIYSC aims to stimulate scientific talent among young students from all over the world.

During this summer camp, IRB Barcelona will host students for a research project on the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) as a means to model and study human disease. The registration period for BIYSC is now open (until May 1^st).

BIYSC is a two-week international summer camp that offers the participants the opportunity to work (in English) in small groups on different scientific and technological challenges proposed by ten international research centres based in Catalonia, who are involved in cutting-edge research, including IRB Barcelona.

The programme also offers participants the possibility to mix with peers that share the same passion, to attend scientific lectures given by leading researchers, and to debate and discuss with them the most relevant discoveries and scientific advances that are taking place worldwide.

IRB Barcelona’s project: Discover what flies are used for and how to work with them

The project proposed by IRB Barcelona is called “Drosophila melanogaster: a model to study human disease” and includes aspects of biology, genetics, medicine and biomedicine. During the research project, students will be able to use this model to study the main mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases.

During the two-week summer camp, students will mimic the long process from basic research to clinical application of the knowledge gained. First, they will learn about the many tools researchers use to study the putative genes involved in neurodegenerative diseases. Second, based on the published literature, they will form hypotheses about the genes and processes involved. And finally, they will propose a working model and search for a way to decrease the phenotypes of these disorders.

Lada Murcia and Celia Santos, PhD Students with IRB Barcelona’s Development and Growth Control Laboratory, headed by ICREA Research Professor Marco Milán, will coordinate the project.

Meet Our Scientist Marco Milán, expert on the use of Drosophila melanogaster: 

 ‘BIYSC Be Passionate With Attitude Award’

The student Míriam Condeminas, who participated in the IRB Barcelona project on computational biology during the first edition of BIYSC in 2016, has been awarded, together with Jordi Jumilla, the “BIYSC Be Passionate With Attitude Award’, recently announced by Catalunya-La Pedrera Foundation and the Fundació Víctor Grífols i Lucas. This award seeks to inspire and encourage students from all over the world to believe in themselves, as well as to live and share their passion for science.

This recognition provides Míriam and Jordi the opportunity to be sponsored to participate in the international programme London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF), to be held 26 July to 9 August 2017.

About IRB Barcelona

Created in 2005 by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia) and University of Barcelona, IRB Barcelona is a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence, a seal that was awarded in 2011. The institute is devoted to conducting research of excellence in biomedicine and to transferring results to clinical practice, thus improving people’s quality of life, while simultaneously promoting the training of outstanding researchers, technology transfer, and public communication of science. Its 23 laboratories and seven core facilities address basic questions in biology and are orientated to diseases such as cancer, metastasis, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and rare conditions. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts more than 400 employees and 36 nationalities. It is located in the Barcelona Science Park. IRB Barcelona forms part of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) and the “Xarxa de Centres de Recerca de Catalunya” (CERCA).