"Can You Hear a Mouse's Brain?": Finding a Scientific Vocation in the Teaching Hall

BarcelonaThey go in groups and loaded with tote bags, pens, and t-shirts with countless logos from universities, vocational training centers, and various schools. Once the raid to collect all the possible gifts is over, it's time to focus on what's important, and this is when the large class groups branch out into smaller groups of threes or pairs depending on what they "maybe" want to study. It's the only way to stay organized that the thousands of teenagers who visit the Salón de la Enseñanza find, seeking answers to their academic future among the more than 250 exhibitors—12% more than last year—and the 200 orientation activities offered.

"I don't know exactly what degree, but I do know that I'll opt for a science," says Ainhoa ​​​​from the biomedical sciences queue at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). While waiting to access one of the most popular stands in the Pompeu area, she is accompanied by two friends, Nil and Lucia, who have a clearer idea. "I want to study biology or a degree that combines it," says the boy. Lucia, on the other hand, is clear that she wants to study environmental sciences "both in part and incomplete." The three of them have also previously visited the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) to inquire about "cut-off marks and what they can do."

Although there is an increasing commitment to digitalizing guidance as well - the Autonomous University has installed panels to consult the characteristics of each degree and the Pompeu University does everything with tablets To avoid handing out leaflets that later end up on the floor, when it comes down to it, the one-on-one approach is what teenagers looking for answers end up requesting the most. "You'll study chemistry, you'll study mathematics, you'll study physics... So, it's okay if you haven't done it before, because first, they'll teach you the knowledge that they didn't teach you in the first year," explains one of the UPC biomedical engineering students to three teenagers. "In second year, you start specializing, and it's especially in third year that you already know everything and can choose the branch you want," she explains.

However, interest in science isn't only concentrated in the lines to inquire about degrees. In fact, universities and research centers have joined forces under the umbrella of the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI) to ensure that science at the Teaching Hall can literally be experienced and touched. In one corner, they've set up the Espai Ciència (Science Space), where they'll organize around thirty workshops to encourage students who, in one way or another, might be inspired by a scientific vocation. "They told us we could listen to a mouse's brain here," two young people tell researcher Bia Moreno, from the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). When she confirms and tells them they can also observe a real lamb's brain under a microscope, the two teenagers don't hesitate to drop everything on the floor and sit down to listen.

Neither of them plans to study science, but "just being able to see it is interesting," they admit. Beside them, three teenage girls, bags in hand, watch how a drug that reacts only with light works on a fragment of mouse brain. All three want to study chemistry and have previously conducted an experiment in which they can hear the sound of a brain's hippocampus when electrodes are applied to it. A little further on, the demonstrations are somewhat less tangible, but they also attract several teenagers. "I show them how the relationship between two waves in a generator changes depending on how you vary the frequency," summarizes Pedro, a student of telecommunications from the UPC. "I try to make them see that this has a real application," he argues.

Almost half of the show is already dedicated to vocational training.

This year, the show is already dedicating almost half of its space to vocational training (VT). The fact that these courses tend to be more practical also means that Hall 2, where they are located, is much busier, as the demonstrations are much more eye-catching. You can see everything from a completely disassembled, engine-less car at the Seat Apprenticeship School stand to a recreation of a sound studio where students can play electric guitar, and, With the help of two sound technicians and a mixing board, he ended up recording a song with different tracks.

However, one of the most popular areas is the armed forces. Featuring a military aircraft that students are allowed to board so a soldier can explain to them one by one how it works, it is one of the exhibits that generates the most excitement, but also one of the most controversial. In fact, around forty members of the Demilitarized Education platform and the group of teachers Sciences in Danger They have demonstrated and made a performance in front of the stand, shouting "It's not training, it's recruitment" and "Students are not cannon fodder" to demand that the presence of the armed forces not be allowed in an educational classroom.