This May, fourth-year high school students from the Sadako School in Barcelona and third-year Biomedicine students from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) had the opportunity to visit the facilities of the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), as part of its educational activities to bring science closer to young people.

Cristian Tebé, head of the Biostatistics Unit of the IGTP, welcomed the students from the Sadako school who visited the centre on Thursday 15 May. They had the opportunity to learn first-hand about the work of the Heart Failure and Cardiac Regeneration (ICREC)  IGTP's research group guided by Carolina Gálvez, established researcher and deputy director of the group. Afterwards, they went in groups to learn about some of the different scientific platforms of the centre as well as the strategic project of the institute, the Comparative Medicine and Bioimaging Center of Catalonia (CMCiB). Joan Puñet, Josep M. Hernández and Eugeni Aregall -heads of the Cytometry, Proteomics and Metabolomics, and Cryobiology platforms, respectively- explained the relevance of their services within scientific research and showed them the day-to-day of the different professional roles that are developed in this field.

On the other hand, UAB students visited the IGTP on Monday 19 May. The visit was opened with an institutional welcome talk by Dr. Julia Garcia-Prado, scientific director of the IGTP. Afterwards, they went in groups to visit the different scientific platforms and the CMCiB. Students from both centres were accompanied by Sara Capdevila, technical director, and those from the UAB were also accompanied by Miriam Gironès, head of business development, who presented the centre and showed them the biocontainment areas, operating theatres and bioimaging rooms.

Throughout the two visits, students had the opportunity to ask questions and receive guidance whether to help the fourth-year high school students shape their future academic paths or to inspire final degree projects for the third-year Biomedicine students. The success of this type of initiative highlights the centre's commitment to science communication and its dedication to sparking scientific vocations among the younger generations.