Science at La Pedrera

Amongst the areas of activity of the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera, science occupies a prominent place. With the aim of awakening scientific vocations, promoting research and bringing knowledge closer to society, several programmes of activities, many of which can be enjoyed from our homes, are being offered to the public through their website. The playlist Knowledge, Education and Research includes numerous videos of these activities, such as the Science Afterwork meetings and the Conversations in La Pedrera. On the entity's social networks, some interesting proposals to enjoy during the confinement can also be found, such as the international research fair in virtual format Science Zapping, which can be followed from its Instagram profile.

These meetings have allowed us to discover great personalities of knowledge. The Science Afterwork sessions, for example, have featured the Austrian physicist Günther Dissertori, who reviewed the most surprising discoveries of the universe at all scales, from the fundamental particles that form matter to the great cosmic distances. The American botanist Joanne Chory also took part, presenting her innovative research on how new genetic editing techniques would increase the capacity of plants to capture carbon dioxide, mitigate the greenhouse effect and climate change.

Likewise, the Conversations at La Pedrera have created numerous opportunities to meet leading personalities in the culture, with special emphasis on science. Within this series, chef Yotam Ottolenghi has talked with gourmet Toni Massanés about the challenges of food and cooking; doctor Siddhartha Mukherjee and the journalist Milagros Pérez Oliva have talked about stem cell research and other advances in the science of genes; physicist Lisa Randall and astrophysicist Eduard Salvador have updated us on knowledge around particles, cosmology and space-time; historian and writer Yuval Noah Harari looks to the future of humanity together with the physicist and popularizer Jorge Wagensberg. The collection of conversations is extensive.

In the playlist you will also find a lot of videos from the Barcelona International Youth Science Challenge, an initiative to promote scientific talent amongst students aged 16 to 18 through creative and innovative ideas. You can see all the videos here.

Within the framework of the Covid-19 pandemic, the foundation has organized the international research fair Science Zapping through its Instagram channel. This is a pooling of scientific projects in a virtual format with the participation of young researchers and students from different levels: from high school to doctorate students. The fair has scheduled for May 21 and 25 the sessions of university degrees and masters, and on May 28 and June 1 will be the turn for the doctoral and postdoctoral students. Do not miss it!