IRBLleida researchers approach the rural school areas of Segrià

In 2024, the Institute of Biomedical Research of Lleida (IRBLleida) will promote the project 'Women in Lleida do research' in which researchers from the Institute will go to rural school areas (ZER) of Segrià to raise awareness of women in the scientific field, both current and historical researchers.

"We want the children of Lleida to be able to give the names of many women researchers when they ask them who they know," explained the IRBLleida researcher and promoter of the project, Sílvia Gras. "The aim of the project is for the children to have references of female researchers, women close to their environment, and who have studied in nearby municipalities," added the researcher, Alaó Gatius.

This project has received a grant of €12,600 from the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation's Call for Oró Grants for Scientific Culture in Catalan. "The project is focused on the rural school areas of Segrià, but our aim is to be able to reach all the ZER schools in the region," explained one of the researchers leading the project, M. Alba Sorolla.

The aims of the project are:

• To bring the figures of women researchers closer to the children of Segrià.
• To alleviate the differences in opportunities for bringing science closer to schoolchildren in rural and urban areas.
• To present science as an attractive field for the promotion of future scientific vocations.
• To offer scientific content that comes from reliable sources and is based on scientific evidence.

The activity will consist of a session in which we will first work on what references children have and then we will talk about different women scientists. The project team is currently working on the timetable and locations.

This is the second IRBLleida project funded by the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation's Call for Oró Grants for Scientific Culture in Catalan. The previous call funded the proposal 'IRBLleida en route', a project that brought biomedical research to the 11 county capitals of the region. The IRBLleida is aware of its responsibility to give greater visibility to the strategic role of women scientists in our country and to contribute to the creation of female role models.