PRESS RELEASE
 
150 PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS DISCOVER THE MIYSTERIES OF THE SENSES AND PERCEPTION

The Centre for Genomic Regulation has organised a new workshop 'The senses and the brain, conflicting information?' for children aged between 8 and 12.

In the lab, the children are able to observe actual animal models such as zebrafish or fruit flies in order to try and answer questions about hearing and smell.

Each year, over 750 primary and secondary school students visit the centre and get to see the research carried out at first hand.

Around 150 primary school students discovered that there are scents that not everyone can perceive, that we need both eyes to see in three dimensions, and that fish 'listen' with their whole body, thanks to the new workshop by the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) which opens this May with the name 'The senses and the brain, conflicting information?' This is an addition to the other educational activities for young people already offered by the centre. This activity has been funded by the Fundación Española para la Ciencia y Tecnología - Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.
 
The children who visit the CRG this May can put on a white coat, become researchers for a whole morning and explore the world of the senses and perception, all through different experiments that they themselves can do in a real lab. In addition, they will also have the opportunity to visit the centre's facilities, and to discover many aspects of science and research.
 
The new workshop 'The senses and the brain, conflicting information?' adds to the educational program 'Science at the CRG', which has been running for a couple of years and is constantly evolving, as is the centre itself. "Just as we have been consolidating in the field of research, incorporating new research groups and generating high-level knowledge, we have also been gradually expanding our educational programme," explains Miguel Beato, director of the organisation.
 
That is why this year the CRG has incorporated this new activity for 8 to 12 year-old primary school students. "The aim is to awaken an interest in science and discovery in young people and also to let people know what research is being done both at the centre and in Catalonia", says Beato.
 
A range of activities for the scientists of tomorrow
The ‘Science at the CRG’ programme is aimed primarily at children in the second and third year of primary education and raises the possibility of a whole series of activities focused on an aspect of biomedicine, from experiments to questions, crafts, and even a play.
 
Up to now, the workshop ‘The Cell, a well organised factory’ has been offered, where students learn about, do experiments and reflect on various aspects of the cell and its function while learning about the current state of research in this field.
 
But this May the CRG is launching the workshop ‘The senses and the brain, conflicting information?’ which delves into the world of the senses and perception through several classic experiments which reveal both what we currently know and what research is being carried out today by the CRG research groups.
 
Each year more than 500 children take part in these activities. Schools can book a place using the Programa d’Activitats Escolars de Barcelona website, www.bcn.cat/educacio/pae, an initiative of the Educational Coordinating Council, led by the Institute of Education of the City of Barcelona, and which the CRG has been part of since 2010.
 
For secondary school students, the CRG also provides the opportunity to participate in experimental workshops, as well as organising guided tours and talks about science.
 
The workshops for secondary school students are unusual in always being different as they take place in a real lab over an entire morning, while guided tours and scientific talks allow secondary school students to look in more depth at a topic from their school curriculum, always from an up-to-date perspective and related to a real research project being carried out by scientists from the CRG.
 
Every year about 250 students from various schools throughout Catalonia attend the activities for secondary schools. Bookings are made via the website www.escolab.cat, an initiative of the Cultural Institute and the Institute of Education of Barcelona City Council.
 
The CRG also organises other activities aimed at students, such as the residential workshop on biomedicine and genetics in E2C3-Centre de Natura CatalunyaCaixa or stays at a research centre in E2C3-Centre de Reserca CatalunyaCaixa. For teachers there are also interesting possibilities, such as ongoing training and refresher courses for secondary school science teachers.
 
An educational programme for everyone
For the public and society in general, there are also lectures, conferences, science cafés, science fairs and other activities with the aim of promoting scientific culture and to publicising the research being carried out in Catalonia.
 
The educational activities and scientific dissemination are supported by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), the Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Barcelona's Culture Institute, the "la Caixa" Foundation, the CatalunyaCaixa Foundation and the Ministry of Universities and Research of the Department of Knowledge and Economy of the Catalan government. They also collaborate with the Barcelona Institute of Education and the Department of Education of the Catalan government, as well as being given material by Biorad and Invitrogen.

--About the CRG
The CRG is a pioneering centre in Spain, based on a non-bureaucratic organisation research model, devoted to promoting basic research about fundamental life sciences, particularly in the areas of genomics, proteomics and biomedical research, and to attracting and producing outstanding scientists at all levels, as well as to promoting the research which is done to the wider society.
 
The CRG is in the unique position of being a top-level institute not belonging to a large corporation. Instead, the CRG is a compact and versatile research centre, well-funded and featuring cutting-edge technology and first-rate scientists from all over the world who are keen on pushing back the frontiers of science. At the same time, the centre seeks to motivate and encourage scientific culture among the future generations of both scientists and the population in general.
 
For further information, interviews o visits to workshops: Laia Cendrós, Press Office, Communication and Public Relations Dept., Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG). Tel. 93 316 02 37