The ICMM Hosts Four 'Scientists in Training' for a Week

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From June 17 to 21, the Materials Science Institute of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC) and, within it, the Nanostructured Hybrid, Biohybrid, and Porous Materials Group, hosted four 9th-grade students thanks to the Científic@s en Prácticas (‘Scientists in Training’) program.

During this time, the students, who earned their places by conducting scientific research on a topic of their interest, engaged in practical activities related to various aspects of the group's research: “preparation of hybrid materials and processing of alginate microspheres, preparation of bionanocomposites and processing using 3D printing, synthesis and purification of organic compounds, preparation of zeolites, and material characterization using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and UV-visible spectroscopy,” explains Pilar Aranda, the group leader.

She, along with Miguel A. Camblor, Margarita Darder, Eva M. García Frutos, Bernd Wicklein, Javier Perez Carvajal, Alexander Misol, and Vanessa Sánchez, taught these students some fundamentals of their daily work.

The students who had the fortune to experience this were Adrián Ene (from IES Miguel Catalán, Coslada); Aitor García (from IES Tirso de Molina, Madrid); Daniel Durán (from IES Alto Jarama, Torrelaguna), and Sarah Bermúdez (from IES Iturralde, Madrid). “They are showing a lot of interest in everything we teach them and ask them to do, they ask about everything, take notes, and volunteer to do it,” says Eva M. García Frutos after spending a full day with the students.

“I love it, I don’t want to leave,” adds one of the students when 4:00 PM arrives and their 'workday' ends. Fortunately, they are still halfway through their week of training and will return the next day: “I’m looking forward to it.” “What I like most is seeing people work happily; I want to be like that,” mentions their classmate. "I love it when they explain things to us, I am fascinated," adds another student. “This is a vocation,” García Frutos tells them just then, when they ask admiringly if her workday is always in the lab.

Científic@s en Prácticas

The 'Scientists in Training' program aims to provide young students from disadvantaged areas the opportunity to participate in research groups and laboratories, engaging in their work and interacting with their members. It is intended for 9th-grade students and 1st-year students of the Curricular Diversification Program (PDC) who demonstrate interest and effort.

Now in its fourth edition, the program includes over 60 research groups from CSIC and hospitals and 16 secondary schools from Madrid, Asturias, Galicia, and the Balearic Islands. The students have the opportunity to spend a week with one of the research groups, and they also receive visits from researchers at their schools and visit the laboratories throughout the school year.