Awards ceremony for the 8th edition of the "There's Chemistry Here" contest organized by IQS

On 31 May, the awards ceremony for the 8th edition of the “There’s Chemistry Here” contest organized by IQS and aimed at first and second year secondary school baccalaureate students took place.

On 31 May, the awards ceremony for the 8th edition of the "There's Chemistry Here" contest organized by IQS and aimed at first and second year secondary school baccalaureate students took place. This year's edition featured participation with 76 total videos from 14 schools throughout Catalonia. The event was chaired by Dr Jordi Teixidó, Vice-Rector of Academic Organization and Quality at Ramon Llull University, who was joined at the head table by Dr Jordi Díaz, Dean of the IQS School of Engineering.

In the section featuring the award-winning videos, third place went the video  "How matches work", prepared by Pere Borrell Tatché from the Viaró Global School, who accepted the award in person. His video was made under the guidance of his chemistry teacher, Javier Pérez. Second prize went to Adrià Gardella Hugas, from the Montessori-Palau School in Girona, with the video "Why do our eyes sting in the pool?", who attended the awards ceremony online along with his teacher Mònica Rabert. The award for second and third place is a scholarship for 50% of the tuition for the first year of the Undergraduate Programme in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering, along with the possibility of earning the Academic Excellence Scholarship for subsequent academic years.

The first prize winner was Martina Serra Letang, from the SEK-Catalunya School in La Garriga, with the video "Soap: is it essential for hygiene?", produced under the guidance of her teacher Adrià Van Waart. Martina can take advantage of a scholarship for 75% of the tuition for the first year of the Undergraduate Programmes in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering at IQS, along with the possibility of earning the Academic Excellence Scholarship for subsequent academic years.

Paco Cardona Álvarez, from the Viaró Global School won the fan favourite award with his video "How does tobacco affect our lungs?", as the video with the most votes on YouTube. His video was supervised by his teacher Guillem Lisboa. The prize consisted of a FNAC gift card worth €300, which Paco accepted in person.

Finally, the €3,000 equipment prize for this year's edition, awarded to the school with the largest number of participants, went to the Viaró Global School which submitted 41 videos. Javier Pérez, a teacher at the school, accepted the award in person.

The winning videos were viewed during the awards ceremony and can be seen along with the other participating videos on the contest's website www.aquihayquimica.com.

The event ended with closing remarks from Dr Teixidó who welcomed the high level of involvement in the competition both in terms of the number of participating schools and their locations throughout Catalonia. Dr Teixidó also encouraged teachers to continue inspiring students to participate as a way to increase their creativity and interest in scientific dissemination issues and reaffirmed IQS's commitment to continue organizing this contest considering its highly-positive reception by secondary schools.

The 8th edition of the contest featured video submissions from secondary school baccalaureate students at schools throughout Catalonia. Specifically, the following schools in Barcelona participated: Jesuïtes Casp and Sagrat Cor Sarrià; and the following schools from elsewhere in Catalonia participated: Escola Pia de Sitges, Escola Pia de Terassa, Escola Sant Josep (Sant Sadurní d’Anoia), Hamelin-Laie (Montgat), Institució Igualada, IES Berenguer de Entença (L'Hospitalet de l’Infant), La Farga (Sant Cugat del Vallès), La Miranda (Sant Just Desvern), La Salle (Reus), Montessori-Palau (Girona), SEK-Catalunya (La Garriga), and Viaró Global School (Sant Cugat del Vallès).