(Zaragoza. Wednesday, May 4, 2022). Next Friday, May 6, the Final of the VIII edition of the Crystallization Contest at the School in Aragon will be held in person, after two years in which health restrictions have not allowed it. Students from 43 secondary schools in the three provinces of Aragon will present their crystallization projects to a jury of experts. The presentation of the projects will take place from 10 am. in the University Sports Pavilion (SAD) and the awards ceremony will take place at 1:30 p.m. in the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Sciences.

The awards ceremony will be attended by the Vice-Rector for Scientific Policy, Rosa Bolea; the CSIC delegate in Aragon, María Jesús Lázaro; and the Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, Luis Alberto Morellón. The prizes of this edition will be delivered by María Martínez, director of the Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (IUCA); José María Fraile, director of the Institute of Chemical Synthesis and Homogeneous Catalysis (ISQCH), Violeta Delgado, vice-dean of Academic Organization and Teaching Staff of the Faculty of Education and Jorge Pérez of the IQE Chair.

Since last December, 1,550 students and 75 teachers from various educational levels have developed their projects in the laboratories of educational centers. In addition to the crystals developed, the participants will present their work, their laboratory notebooks, posters, blogs and scientific videos, in front of a jury made up of experts from the fields of Crystallography, Geology, Chemistry, Didactics and Scientific Popularization.

The Crystallization Contest at the School in Aragon has proven to be an excellent mechanism to develop the student’s interest in carrying out, understanding and improving a scientific experiment, such as the growth of crystals, and at the same time fostering interest in scientific disciplines.

 

The activity is coordinated by Blanca Bauluz (IUCA-Faculty of Sciences) and Fernando Lahoz (ISQCH-CSIC) and organized by professors and researchers from the Faculty of Sciences, Institute of Chemical Synthesis and Homogeneous Catalysis (ISQCH), Institute of Environmental Sciences of Aragón (IUCA) and the Faculty of Education.

The Crystallization at School contest in Aragon is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Students and Employment, the CSIC Delegation in Aragon, the University Office for Attention to Diversity, the Institute of Environmental Sciences of Aragon (IUCA), the Institute of Chemical Synthesis and Catalysis Homogénea (ISQCH), Department of Didactics of Experimental Sciences, Department of Earth Sciences, Spanish Society of Mineralogy, Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry-Territorial Section of Aragon, IQE Chair and the Specialized Group of Crystallography and Crystal Growth.