IRB Barcelona participates in the 17th edition of Science Week

They include open house sessions entitled, “Come and do an Express Doctorate!”, and a series of scientific workshops, called “Do Research!”.

The open house sessions at PCB are scheduled twice daily on 22 and 24 November, at 10h and 15h. The activities, entitled “What is the Barcelona Science Park? What does it mean to do research?”, aim to give participants the opportunity to hear firsthand from a doctoral student how a doctorate thesis research project is carried out. The researchers will first explain what the thesis is about and then the participants will visit the IRB Barcelona laboratories and the scientific services where the doctoral student has been working on his or her project. At each stop on the tour, the visitors will turn in a scientific sample and receive a result, thereby retracing the steps the scientist takes to do the research project. The goal is for each of the visitors to obtain an “Express PhD” over the course of two hours. The visit to the PCB will be led by two IRB Barcelona researchers, Helena González and Oriol Marimón.

The topic of the project being presented during these open house days is “How do we identifying the genes involved in cancer?” and it focuses on the study of differences in the behaviour of malignant and benign tumour cells from the point of view of their genetic activity. This presentation is an adaptation for the public of various research projects and will be presented by Francisco Barriga, researcher in IRB Barcelona’s Colorectal Cancer Laboratory, led by Eduard Batlle. The activity is being run in collaboration with other researchers from IRB Barcelona and the National Center for Genomic Analysis (CNAG), located in the PCB.

Science workshops: Do research!

Now in its seventh year, the programme “Do Research!” sees scientists from IRB Barcelona and the University of Barcelona move part of their laboratories to the Pedrera building with the goal of fostering interaction with the public, and providing them with the opportunity to participate in scientific experiments, using the instruments and materials that scientists use on a regular basis.

This year’s edition includes four themes that will address a wide range of topics, including the stages of development of a new drug, how a crime suspect is investigated on the basis of DNA samples, a look at the techniques used in genetic engineering, and developing a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Though the activities are primarily aimed at students, the workshops are open to the general public. The workshops will take place the last three Saturdays of November and the first of December from 11h-13h in the Pedrera building, and are free of charge. The workshops are also offered during the week for the school community in the PCB’s OpenLAB.

Both initiatives are supported by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) of the Ministry for Economy and Competitivity; the Barcelona Institute of Culture of the Barcelona of the Barcelona City Hall; the Agency for Management of University Grants and Research (AGAUR) of the Catalan Government; the Biotechnology Reference Network (XRB); and the CatalunyaCaixa Foundation.

These activities are full. For more information: difusiociencia@pcb.ub.cat