IDIBELL and the Bellvitge Institute have closed the ninth year of their Educational Tandem, Let’s Pedal Together for Science and Coeducation. And they have done so with the publication of a new issue of the journal Life & Science, which includes a wide sample of the activities carried out to bring biomedical research closer to students. Started in 2017, the Tandem involves, each school year, more than 200 students, the centre’s teaching staff and around thirty IDIBELL professionals – including researchers, technical staff and members of the Communication Unit – to carry out attractive educational proposals that also take into account the intersection between science and the arts.
New equipment and scientific creativity: two initiatives with a footprint
The last academic year has been marked by two unique milestones. First, IDIBELL purchased and loaned two optical microscopes and a digital whiteboard to the Institute, to improve the performance of its hands-on laboratory and expand the internship program that can be carried out there. The new equipment was presented during a visit made by the director of IDIBELL, Dr. Gabriel Capellá, to the center, and where he also met with 4th ESO students, who interviewed him.
Secondly, the students of the Scientific and Artistic Batxillerat, as a result of their participation in the 2nd edition of the practical workshop on scientific illustration, were responsible for carrying out the works of an exhibition that was installed, permanently, in the new facilities of the IDIBELL-HUB-ICO Biobank. Thanks to the activity, directed by the artist and scientist Isa Loureiro, the students of both itineraries learned to interpret microscopic images of samples from the Biobank itself and to transmit their concepts through the creation of illustrations.
Continuity of activities with the “Tàndem” brand
During the course, continuity was given to projects that are already part of the foundations of Tàndem. Examples of this are the workshop on histological techniques and observation of biological samples with various types of microscope, which took place at IDIBELL’s scientific and technological services, led by Saioa Mendizuri, Jaume Boix, José Llamas and Mireia Torres. Or the active participation of Tandem in the sLHam of IDIBELL scientists, which this year materialized with the intervention of the students Tanzeela Aslam and Salma Varo, who presented to the public their research work on the problematic use of screens, tutored by Lucero Munguía.
1. Tanzeela Aslam and Salma Varo, the juniors of this sLHam 2026
In the field of arts and sciences, for the fourth consecutive year, the Santa Jordina de la Ciència illustration contest, whose winning works became markers to congratulate the IDIBELL workers on the day. And the Scientific Literature Awards Life and Science during the Jocs Florals de Sant Jordi. The winning texts are published in the ninth issue of Tandem magazine, along with the illustrations of the project Women in Science of the Aula L’H program, carried out by second-year students of Artistic Baccalaureate, and which this year has represented the researchers Sara Martí and Montse Nacher. The magazine also includes interviews with the scientists participating in sLHam, chronicles of the workshops held at IDIBELL and other content on ethics or sustainability, much of it written by the 3rd ESO groups.
2. Winning drawing of the illustration contest “Santa Jordina de la Ciència” 2026, by Sofia Oseguera
The tandem’s longest-running activities have also continued. Such as the presentation visit of the Tandem at the beginning of the academic year, which included the participation of the researcher Marta Crous; the design of the new laboratory practice in audiovisual format, which includes an interview with Saioa Mendizuri; or the attendance at the morning mental health program From the head to the body, held in the auditorium of the Bellvitge University Hospital. Finally, and as usual, two first-year Baccalaureate students have begun their research work under the co-tutorship of IDIBELL researchers. They are Jiaqi He and Noa Guerrero, who this summer have carried out their training stay at the facilities of the research group of Drs. Paula Jakszyn and Gara Alías.
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a research centre created in 2004 and specialising in cancer, neuroscience, translational medicine and regenerative medicine. It has a team of more than 1,500 professionals who, from 73 research groups, publish more than 1,400 scientific articles per year. IDIBELL has the support of the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecanos Hospital of the Catallán Health Institute, the Catallán Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
IDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the HUBc of the University of Barcelona and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centres accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the European Union’s Excellence in HR Research programme and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Centre of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).