The Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation promotes the scientific vocation of young people

To propel scientific vocation and talent through immersive research experiences. This is the objective with which the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera promotes a new edition of its summer programs aimed at Secondary students with scientific curiosity. Through programs that include alliances with research centers, hospitals, and universities, this summer's edition will offer 415 places, for young people who will participate in projects linked to diverse fields, from bioscience to quantum physics, passing through aerospace engineering and medicine.

The programs, some of which have already closed their application phase for this summer, are aimed at young students who are in their fourth year of ESO up to their second year of Bachillerato. The more than 400 places offered by the foundation are distributed among several programs: the Barcelona International Youth Science Challenge (BIYSC); the Scientific Stays in Món Natura Pirineus and Món Sant Benet, and the stays of the Joves i Ciència program, which includes an international phase.

Through these programs, the entity aims to articulate meeting and learning spaces among young people, and at the same time generate relationship opportunities among these potential scientific talents. Specifically, the design and creation in the field of video games and their application in the field of health will be the central axis of this summer's scientific stay in Món Sant Benet, scheduled from July 7 to 12. With 45 places that can be applied for until May 5, the program will delve into how gamification can be applied in the field of health through the development of a video game, starting with the design and ending with playtesting, without forgetting artistic creation and programming.

With a trajectory of more than 15 years, the Joves i Ciència program is the most complete of the foundation

Programs with an international outlook

The BIYSC, with closed applications, is aimed at young people between 16 and 18 years old from all over the world and will take place from July 2 to 12, with the aim of promoting vocations for research in a two-week coexistence full of activities such as scientific and technological challenges. This new edition expects to bring together more than 150 young people from 30 nationalities, around a total of 17 research projects.

Also with the application submission phase closed, the Joves i Ciència program selects 60 fourth-year ESO students and accompanies them for three years to foster their vocation for research, an objective it pursues through three phases.

The first of these phases consists of a stay at Món Natura Pirineus with six research projects, which ends with the writing of a scientific article by each participant, essential to move on to the second phase. This will take place the following summer, when the students who continue in the program will join a research team in a national scientific laboratory, before a third phase in which they will participate in an international center or program in the summer after finishing Bachillerato.

With a trajectory of more than 15 years, Joves i Ciència is the foundation's most complete program. It is an itinerary that, combined with the rest of the programs, aims to accompany and foster scientific vocations to channel this talent and turn it into the future of the science sector not only in Catalunya, but internationally.