Last 11 of February Irene Marc-Rius and Alba Herrera from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), researchers at BLoC Project, participated in the 6th International day of Women and child in Science. The main objective of this event, held wordwide simultaneously, is to normalize and encourage the participation of women in science. The idea is to contribute eliminating gender stereoptypes and long-standing biases that push girls and women far from science related fields.
To celebrate the International day of Women and child in Science, Irene and Alba gave an online talk, due to the pandemic restrictions, to students from the Gayarre Primary School at Barcelona. The event was part of the “Magnet Alliance”, a school outreach program that brings together excellence research institutes with schools that have an unbalanced social composition regarding the surrounding territory. On one hand, it counts with the participation of professors engaged with the development of innovative projects through the change and motivation, allowing the schools to have a high-quality educative model. On the other hand, researchers from excellence institutions perform practical activities and seminars at the school to transmit the forefront science to the students.
Both Irene and Alba are actively participating in the “Magnet” program with many activities, and this time they spent a relaxed moment talking with the students. They discussed about the research they are doing at BLoC project, to develop a novel way to study metabolic diseases as diabetes using tissue engineering and magnetic resonance technology. But it was a moment not only to talk about science, but also to talk about being a scientist, a female scientist! Students were very interested and motivated and for sure enjoyed this opportunity.