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Pedro Rodríguez, María Sagrario Millán and Jordi García Ojalvo, researchers based at the Terrassa campus of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)-UPC Barcelona Tech, are world-renowned experts in the fields of renewable energy, medical and industrial optics, and synthetic biology, respectively. These three researchers will be addressing 200 high-achieving students from 11 different Catalan high schools to share the details of their work, their careers, their main projects, and the importance of research to the development of society.

The dialogue will be led by Marc Boada, a popular science writer who hosts the science program Quèquicom on Canal 33. During the session, the students will participate in a group experiment, pose questions to the three researchers, and participate in what is sure to be an interesting and entertaining debate. Res Sense Recerca will be broadcast live on Canal UPC TV.
This group experiment, led by Jordi García Ojalvo, is designed to demonstrate the spontaneous synchronization that is found in nature. Each of the 200 students will be given a small flashlight. When the researcher gives the signal, the lights will be dimmed and the students will be asked to turn their flashlights on and off. After just a few seconds, all of the flashlights will be flashing simultaneously.
More then 200 baccalaureate and third- and fourth-year secondary-education students, selected by their teachers, will be coming to Res Sense Recerca from different parts of Catalonia. These students have prepared for the session by visiting the website www.terrassa.upc.edu/rssr, where they have learned about the three researchers and submitted questions for them. During the session, Marc Boada will ask the researchers the ten best questions submitted by the students. Also on the website, the students have answered questions posed by the organizers, such as: What is research? What is the purpose of research? What does a researcher do?

In addition, the students have learned about the 17 virtues of a good researcher and have chosen three virtues that they believe they possess personally. The website also offers a series of videos, produced by the UPC-Barcelona Tech Institutional Communication Service, that highlight research projects carried out by young researchers at the UPC, as well as science and technology topics that have made the news lately.

Res Sense Recerca forms part of the “young talent” section of the Research Communication Plan of the UPC’s Terrassa campus. It aims to inspire and motivate young students to pursue scientific and technological knowledge, as well as to educate them about the importance of research and innovation in today’s society. The students who will attend the session have been selected by their teachers for their high degree of motivation and excellence. As part of the Research Communication Plan of the UPC-Barcelona Tech’s Terrassa campus, Res Sense Recerca is being jointly organized by representatives of the campus, the Terrassa City Council’s University and Knowledge-Society Service, and Aulatec-CESIRE, an initiative of the Education Department of the Catalan Government.

Students from Terrassa will be among the 200 participants, representing the following schools: Tecnos, El Cim, Petit Estel–La Nova, Vedruna, Santa Eulàlia, Can Jofresa, Torre del Palau and Montserrat Roig. Students from El Cairat in Esparreguera and Domènech Perramon in Arenys de Munt will also be participating.