The International Campus of Excellence in Marine Science CEI·MAR and the University of Cadiz will run the Summer Science Campus Activities from 2nd-29th July 2017 for the second year running after a successful previous experience. This initiative was set up by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology together with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports with the support of La Caixa’s Community Engagement department.
The project has a clear aim of attracting students in their final year of secondary education and first year of post-secondary education to Science, Technology and Innovation pathways. Facilities belong to the University of Cadiz and will accommodate 120 students who will participate in four scientific projects designed by university lecturers. It will take place in CEI·MAR laboratories and research facilities.
This Summer Science Campus aims to encourage scientific vocations among young people and therefore offers its participants the opportunity to directly experience the daily life of a researcher in a university and multicultural environment in the hope of helping them define their future study path. In addition, participants will be able to enjoy complementary scientific and cultural activities as well as leisure activities which will allow them to get to know our city and its surroundings.
The program is aimed at students who have chosen a Science and Technology route and who are currently pursuing studies in Spanish schools – both within the national territory and abroad- and who have obtained at least an 8 on average in their marks over the last year, 2015-2016.
In the CEI·MAR Summer Campus, the sea and everything that surrounds it, is studied and used as a source of knowledge for these students. Thus, the projects which have been designed are: Marine Waste, the environmental problem of this century for our oceans; Marine Biodiversity of our Coasts, Introduction to Oceanographic Research and New Technologies applied to marine and coastal research.
In this first project, students will conduct a variety of activities related to sampling marine and floating waste in the vicinity of the Guadalete and San Pedro rivers, as well as at Cortadura beach. The aim of this project is to show them first-hand the issue of marine waste and introduce them not only to the theoretical aspects; the sources, destination and associated problems; but also with sampling techniques used on the beach and in water streams. It also includes characterisations in the laboratory and in determining what is in marine sediments, marine waste in general and more specifically plastics, both macro and microplastics.
This project, Marine Biodiversity of our Coasts, will focus on introducing students to the enormous wealth of species and marine habitats that exist in the Bay of Cadiz area. The aim is to cultivate an interest and fascination for the coastal marine ecosystem by feeding and satisfying their curiosity for this and revealing the sea as a leading ecosystem and a source of resources that goes beyond just fishing.
The third project teaches them how to develop an oceanographic research project, applying methodologies currently used by scientists on board an oceanographic vessel such as the UCADIZ. To this end, the activity involves a number of practical workshops, some of which are also held in the laboratories.
This project will help introduce students to new technologies used in coastal and marine research, practising deep water diving in the swimming pool, using drones as aircrafts and using other highly interesting tools for research whilst working with 3D ground-penetrating radars to explore underground.
The secondary students who will participate in this CEI·MAR Summer Science Campus will enjoy five days of contact with scientific research through their active participation in one of these scientific awareness projects. Each will have a total of seven or eight participants at the same time. There will be four sets of participants taking each course but staying at different times in July.
In addition to the planned program for the four projects already mentioned, those inscribed to this scientific awareness program will also participate in a series of complementary scientific and cultural activities (conferences imparted by prestigious scientists and visits to museums, scientific centres and companies in the area) and several sporting and leisure initiatives such as a guided tour of the historic areas of the city of Cadiz or windsurfing and surfing.
The VIII edition Summer Science Campus will offer 1920 places in 2017 for students from all over Spain to participate in scientific projects designed by university staff and held in research departments across 16 of the 32 International and Regional Campuses of Excellence.
