Outreach News

ICMAB's celebration of the "10alamenos9" Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Festival 2025

We say goodbye to the 10th edition of the 10alamenos9 Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Festival, now fully established as the main outreach and educational event in nanoscience and nanotechnology in Catalonia.

ICMAB's participants in 10alamenos9 at Campus UAB

During this month of May, we celebrated the 10alamenos9 International Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Festival. We joined activities at Campus UAB and CosmoCaixa, and participated in the Nanorelatos and Nanoinventum contests as jury members and by hosting the winners for a visit. In the following paragraphs, we give an overview of how everything went:

10alamenos9 at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

On March 8, more than 200 students visited the UAB Science Campus. Sixteen-year-olds from various high schools across Catalonia were introduced to the world of nanoscience, took part in hands-on activities, and visited UAB-based research centers working in the nano field: ICN2, CNM-IMB, and ICMAB.

María Ortiz (eMolMat) during her presentation

Guillem Wetherell (NN) presenting his research

At ICMAB, two young researchers welcomed the students and shared what it means to work in science, both the scientific part but also their personal experiences. The researchers were María Ortiz, who works on organic electronic devices at eMolMat, and Guillem Wetherell, who researches bacterial cellulose at the NN group. To finish the visit, Aleix Barrera from the SUMAN group gave a guided tour of the Clean Room Nanoquim and its equipment.

Núria Pujol (Nanomol-bio) talk in the central event at UAB Faculty of Sciences

The on-campus event also included a roundtable with Early Stage Researchers and other scientific professionals from the nanoscience field. Representing ICMAB was Núria Pujol from the Nanomol-Bio group. She was joined by Iker Uranga (IMB-CNM), Marta Delgà (ICN2), and Roger de Paz (UAB). The session was moderated by Eva Pellicer, Vice Dean of Academic Affairs, and Mar Puyol, coordinator of the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology degree.

Roundtable participants: Marta Delgà (ICN2), Iker Uranga (IMB-CNM), Roger de Paz (UAB) i Núria Pujol (ICMAB) | Credits: Daniel Ortega (IMB-CNM)

ICMAB at CosmoCaixa

On March 9, we offered a workshop and a talk at CosmoCaixa, this time aimed at a different audience: families and adults.

Workshops venue at Cosmocaixa | Credit: Jordi Díaz (10alamenos9)

Judith Oró (SCT-TEM) and Anna Drou (Communication and Outreach) conducted a workshop on electron microscopy, and Judit Morlà (Nanomol-Bio) gave a main stage talk titled "La nano, un factor clau decisiu per guanyar la partida a les malalties minoritàries", which you can see in this video:

Video by: Mercè Fernàndez, CSIC Delegation in Catalunya

“Nanoinventum” and “Nanorelatos” contests

Last but not least, Rossella Zaffino (FunNanoSurf) served as a jury member for the Nanorelatos contest, whose winners will be announced in the coming days. We will also host a visit for the winners of the Nanoinventum finale, which included more than 400 primary school students.

Nanoinventum prizes | Credit: Jordi Díaz (10alamenos9)

10 Years of the Festival

This multi-faceted festival has been running for ten years now, although its continuity for next year remains uncertain. For a festival of this size, with so many diverse activities, lasting a decade has been a true achievement that has managed to adapt to change over time. This success wouldn't have been possible without the dedication and coordination of Jordi Díaz all these years, and to Gemma García, who has coordinated the Campus UAB activities throughout. The participation of ICMAB, ICN2, IMB-CNM, ICE-UAB and Cosmocaixa has also been key for the outcome.

Xth edition of the 10alamenos9 Festival at Campus UAB