More than 150 talented secondary school students experienced research first-hand with scientists across the BIST Community during the 2025–2026 academic year and the summer of 2026.
Catalunya La Pedrera BIYSC fellows at IRB Barcelona (left) and ICFO (right)
For many years, the BIST Community and Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera have shared a common ambition: to inspire talented young people to pursue careers in science by giving them the opportunity to experience research first-hand.
Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera —one of BIST’s institutional patrons— has built an internationally recognised ecosystem of programmes that support scientific talent from secondary school through to university. Admission is highly competitive, with participants selected on the basis of academic excellence, motivation and teachers’ recommendations. The programmes provide a unique opportunity for students to engage directly with cutting-edge research and to discover what a career in research looks like. The BIST Community centres have collaborated with these programmes for many years.
Becoming “crazy for science” during the academic year
Throughout the 2025-2026 academic year, six BIST Community centres opened their laboratories to the “crazies” —16- to 18-year-old students selected for the Bojos per la Ciència programme. Across a series of Saturday sessions, they immerse themselves in chemistry at ICIQ, bioengineering at IBEC, physics (through a collaborative programme involving ICN2, IFAE, ICFO, ALBA Synchrotron and ICMAB-CSIC) or biomedicine at IRB Barcelona.
“This is a much-loved programme at IRB Barcelona because it was devised by our founding director, Joan Guinovart. Our Crazy for Biomedicine participants take part in ten workshops, each combining a theoretical session with hands-on laboratory work,” explains Mariona Esquerda, Science Education and Outreach Officer at IRB Barcelona. “The workshops allow students to experience first-hand different aspects of biomedical research, from working with animal models such as Drosophila and exploring the role of mitochondria to using machine learning to tackle drug resistance,” she adds.
Summer programmes
During June and July 2026, the centres participated in two further programmes: Joves i Ciència (Youth and Science), for local secondary school students who take part in a three-year programme with research experiences over three consecutive summers, and the Barcelona International Youth Science Challenge (BIYSC), an intensive two-week programme for international secondary school students.
The international students chose from the BIYSC research projects on offer and immersed themselves in a particular scientific topic. For example, 15 students were hosted at IFAE, where they worked on a project on cosmic ray detection, while others at ICFO explored quantum physics and cryptography, and participants at ICIQ focused on photochemistry and drug synthesis.
“The students who join our programmes are highly motivated and curious about science. One of the most rewarding parts of my job is introducing these young scientists to research through realistic and stimulating experiences. The unique atmosphere created during the different sessions helps them grow both scientifically and personally. Today, three former participants are continuing their professional journeys at ICIQ, highlighting the lasting impact these programmes can have on their scientific careers,” explains Joan Guillem Mayans, Science Education and Outreach Officer at ICIQ.
BIYSC fellows at ICIQ (left) and at IFAE (right)
A growing community of La Pedrera Science Fellows across the BIST Community
The centres have also taken part in the Foundation’s newest programme, aimed at its Science Fellows—former participants in its scientific talent programmes who are now pursuing undergraduate studies. Through the initiative, fellows can undertake research placements in selected groups across most BIST Community centres and others. CRG, ICIQ, and IRB Barcelona have hosted some of this fellows in recent months.
Maria Quintana at the BISYC opening ceremony
One person who embodies the long-term impact of these initiatives is Maria Quintana. Ten years ago, she took part in the first edition of BIYSC as a secondary school student. After completing her undergraduate studies, she joined the Master of Multidisciplinary Research in Experimental Sciences (MMRES), before undertaking her PhD at IRB Barcelona, which she successfully defended last December.
This year, Maria returned to BIYSC—not as a participant, but as the presenter of the programme’s opening ceremony at La Pedrera. The motto of this tenth edition was “That moment when it all clicks.” For Maria, that moment came a decade ago. For many of this year’s participants, the moment may have come this summer.
