The UA Encourages Scientific Vocation Among a Thousand Secondary Students

The University of Alicante (UA) opens its doors to welcome over a thousand students participating in the "Come and Do Practices at the University" programme throughout January. This activity, initiated in 2011, aims to bring science closer and foster scientific vocations, while offering young people the opportunity to work in well-equipped spaces and experience some of the daily tasks of a scientist.

In this 2025 edition, which will run until January 23, 1,130 students from various centres across the province visit the laboratories and classrooms of the Faculty of Sciences to undertake one of the 22 guided practices led by UA's teaching and research staff.

Specifically, there are activities related to Biochemistry; Biotechnology; Marine Sciences; Earth Sciences and Environment; Physiology, Genetics, and Microbiology; Optics, Pharmacology, and Anatomy; Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition, and Bromatology; Physical Chemistry; Inorganic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry.

The programme introduces new activities such as "Quicksand: Transforming Sand into a Liquid" and "This Water is Drinkable: Mineralisation and Taste of Natural Waters" in 2025, offered alongside successful activities related to sample preparation and DNA isolation, preparation of animal and plant cell and tissue samples, stages of scientific knowledge in marine biology laboratories, and introduction to aquaculture or molecular and environmental microbiology.

Additionally, traditional proposals on geometric optics and clinical handling of optical elements, chemical processes in fireworks and chromatographic analysis, molecular cooking, and the influence of pH on the colour and texture of vegetables stand out, as well as various practices with techniques used in essential oil distillation processes, water electrolysis, metal or other compound extraction such as lead iodide, paracetamol synthesis, or natural product extraction.

For visiting centres, which each year generate a long waiting list, the "Come and Do Practices at the University" programme is almost a mandatory event that allows students to explore different branches of science and can help them decide their academic future. Moreover, as noted by the teachers accompanying the participants, it helps "demystify" the transition to university and provides the opportunity to apply many theoretical aspects in facilities with more comprehensive equipment than they have in schools.