"Científiks en Joc" is an educational program of the Department of Research and Universities of the Generalitat de Catalunya, aimed at primary schools in Catalonia. During the course, students have to design a video game about an active Catalan researcher. This year, the subject of energy is discussed from several points of view.
The Program aims to:- Promote a taste for science and knowledge among 5th grade students.
- Promote creativity, multidisciplinarity and teamwork, through the design of a video game.
- Promote knowledge of Catalonia's research institutions, the research carried out there and the people who work there.
- Give more visibility to women researchers.
- Get closer to the world of research with the help of active female researchers.
M. Rosa Palacín and battery research
For this year's edition, the program has the participation of Maria Rosa Palacín Peiró, researcher at ICMAB-CSIC. M. Rosa Palacín, ICMAB researcher expert in batteries, visited on Friday, 2 December 2022, the Pompeu Fabra School in Parets del Vallès. The students got to know her and her research. Rosa showed them some experiments to understand batteries, including the well-known "lemon batteries".
With this information, the boys and girls will get to work on their video game design about energy and batteries.
Now the students are creating the video game. In April 2023 they have to deliver the final version proposal, and on 25 May 2023 there is the Final Awards Ceremony, in which the video games will be presented and the winner will be chosen.
In total, more than 500 boys and girls from schools all over Catalonia are collaborating with researchers in the field of energy to design their scientific video game.
This educational program is coordinated by the Department of Research and Universities and the Cooperativa Nusos and aims to bring scientific research closer to 5th grade students in Catalan schools through the design of a scientific video game.