CiTIUS is right on time for its appointment with “Ciencia Singular”, the annual open day at USC’s singular research centers
On Saturday 20 November, USC’s Singular Research Centers accredited by the Xunta de Galicia (CiQUS, CiTIUS, CiMUS and IGFAE) will open their doors to showcase their most unique and cutting‑edge spaces, projects and experiments, as well as to talk with some of their research staff
Chemistry, physics, intelligent technologies and molecular medicine will open their doors on the 20th to showcase the highlights of their research activity at USC’s singular research centers. CiQUS (Singular Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials), CiTIUS (Singular Center for Research in Intelligent Technologies), CiMUS (Research Center in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases) and IGFAE (Galician Institute of High‑Energy Physics) will offer visitors the chance to discover their facilities in situ, talk with some of their research staff, enter the laboratories and play at being scientists for a day in this open day for society, where participants will have the opportunity to get to the very heart of science. The goal is to awaken scientific vocations among the youngest and to help society feel closer to scientific activity, respect it, value it and contribute to its development.
The main novelty at CiTIUS in this fifth edition of Ciencia Singular will be its commitment to aligning the day’s demonstrators with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With this premise, the event will show how CiTIUS research is contributing to the master plan, guided by the center’s staff across multiple areas: from the development of techniques that promote ethical and transparent Artificial Intelligence (AI), to the presentation of algorithms for automatic object detection and tracking, through to the design of machines that understand human language or how to integrate AI into an integrated circuit. The visit will also bring robotics closer to children, by programming a robot, operating a robotic arm like those used in industry, or competing against a Scalextric car equipped with Artificial Intelligence.
Outreach talks
Throughout the day, CiTIUS will host several talks presenting the research carried out at the center to all audiences, covering topics such as the relationship between Artificial Intelligence, imaging and health (María José Carreira); the automatic clustering of hydrographic conditions in the Galician estuaries (David Losada); a reflection on the end of an era with the arrival of ‘Exascale’ supercomputers (Juan Carlos Pichel); and the crucial importance of chip development (Paula López).
CiQUS, for its part, will open the doors of its laboratories to hold close‑up meetings with visitors. During the activity “Conversas cos nosos investigadores” (Conversations with our researchers), Diego Peña, María Tomás, Moisés Gulías, Rebeca García, Francisco Rivadulla, Ester Polo, Eddy Sotelo and Manuel Ortuño will allow attendees to learn first‑hand about the work they usually carry out at the center and the latest advances in their respective fields.
The CiMUS program includes outreach talks on the keys to gigantism and new approaches, led by Clara Álvarez; a session with Ángel Carracedo explaining what personalized medicine is and why it matters; a talk by Fernando Domínguez answering the question of whether cancer is a hereditary disease; and a session with Olga Barca on why we sleep. These activities can be followed in person, live, or via streaming on the center’s YouTube channel.
The IGFAE program will feature several outreach talks by Cristina Cabo, Xabier Cid, José Edelstein and Verónica Villa, covering topics from the origin of the universe to the recent detection of gravitational waves, via the birth of nuclear physics and the discovery of particles in accelerators such as CERN. The talks will be broadcast live on IGFAE’s YouTube channel for those unable to visit the center.
A day to play with science
Xogando coa química (Playing with chemistry) is the CiQUS activity aimed at the youngest members of the family, through workshops where they will discover the chemistry of polymers and the importance of color changes in Chemistry. They will also be able to observe different luminescent phenomena and understand how they occur, as well as carry out some of the most entertaining experiments with their own hands. Meanwhile, in the Infiltrados no Laboratorio (Infiltrated in the Laboratory) adventure, visitors will get first‑hand experience of commonly used techniques and learn how some of the center’s most representative equipment works.
Learning how to make a natural toothpaste or finding out more about pH through what red cabbage can tell us will be possible thanks to the Fun Science workshops offered by CiMUS. For older participants, CiMUS will run outreach workshops on sensory illusions, “Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde” platelets and “highways of life” in the vascular system. There will also be opportunities to load samples into agarose or yeast gels. For the most curious visitors wanting to see fieldwork from the inside, CiMUS will open the doors of the Innopharma platform, dedicated to early drug discovery, and will also offer a virtual tour of its facilities.
Workshops and demonstrations at IGFAE will provide a hands‑on understanding of how its scientific facilities work. For younger visitors, IGFAE will run a workshop where they can experience gravity in interstellar space and learn concepts such as space‑time through the “Einstein Rocket” video game developed at the center. Older participants will build their own detectors using Lego bricks and use cloud chambers to observe the cosmic particles that constantly bombard Earth. The day’s program will be rounded off with an exhibition featuring a nuclear chart built with Lego bricks to visualize isotopes of chemical elements in three dimensions.
Chemistry, physics, intelligent technologies and molecular medicine will open their doors on the 20th to showcase the highlights of their research activity at USC’s singular research centers. CiQUS (Singular Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials), CiTIUS (Singular Center for Research in Intelligent Technologies), CiMUS (Research Center in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases) and IGFAE (Galician Institute of High‑Energy Physics) will offer visitors the chance to discover their facilities in situ, talk with some of their research staff, enter the laboratories and play at being scientists for a day in this open day for society, where participants will have the opportunity to get to the very heart of science. The goal is to awaken scientific vocations among the youngest and to help society feel closer to scientific activity, respect it, value it and contribute to its development.
The main novelty at CiTIUS in this fifth edition of Ciencia Singular will be its commitment to aligning the day’s demonstrators with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With this premise, the event will show how CiTIUS research is contributing to the master plan, guided by the center’s staff across multiple areas: from the development of techniques that promote ethical and transparent Artificial Intelligence (AI), to the presentation of algorithms for automatic object detection and tracking, through to the design of machines that understand human language or how to integrate AI into an integrated circuit. The visit will also bring robotics closer to children, by programming a robot, operating a robotic arm like those used in industry, or competing against a Scalextric car equipped with Artificial Intelligence.
Outreach talks
Throughout the day, CiTIUS will host several talks presenting the research carried out at the center to all audiences, covering topics such as the relationship between Artificial Intelligence, imaging and health (María José Carreira); the automatic clustering of hydrographic conditions in the Galician estuaries (David Losada); a reflection on the end of an era with the arrival of ‘Exascale’ supercomputers (Juan Carlos Pichel); and the crucial importance of chip development (Paula López).
CiQUS, for its part, will open the doors of its laboratories to hold close‑up meetings with visitors. During the activity “Conversas cos nosos investigadores” (Conversations with our researchers), Diego Peña, María Tomás, Moisés Gulías, Rebeca García, Francisco Rivadulla, Ester Polo, Eddy Sotelo and Manuel Ortuño will allow attendees to learn first‑hand about the work they usually carry out at the center and the latest advances in their respective fields.
The CiMUS program includes outreach talks on the keys to gigantism and new approaches, led by Clara Álvarez; a session with Ángel Carracedo explaining what personalized medicine is and why it matters; a talk by Fernando Domínguez answering the question of whether cancer is a hereditary disease; and a session with Olga Barca on why we sleep. These activities can be followed in person, live, or via streaming on the center’s YouTube channel.
The IGFAE program will feature several outreach talks by Cristina Cabo, Xabier Cid, José Edelstein and Verónica Villa, covering topics from the origin of the universe to the recent detection of gravitational waves, via the birth of nuclear physics and the discovery of particles in accelerators such as CERN. The talks will be broadcast live on IGFAE’s YouTube channel for those unable to visit the center.
A day to play with science
Xogando coa química (Playing with chemistry) is the CiQUS activity aimed at the youngest members of the family, through workshops where they will discover the chemistry of polymers and the importance of color changes in Chemistry. They will also be able to observe different luminescent phenomena and understand how they occur, as well as carry out some of the most entertaining experiments with their own hands. Meanwhile, in the Infiltrados no Laboratorio (Infiltrated in the Laboratory) adventure, visitors will get first‑hand experience of commonly used techniques and learn how some of the center’s most representative equipment works.
Learning how to make a natural toothpaste or finding out more about pH through what red cabbage can tell us will be possible thanks to the Fun Science workshops offered by CiMUS. For older participants, CiMUS will run outreach workshops on sensory illusions, “Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde” platelets and “highways of life” in the vascular system. There will also be opportunities to load samples into agarose or yeast gels. For the most curious visitors wanting to see fieldwork from the inside, CiMUS will open the doors of the Innopharma platform, dedicated to early drug discovery, and will also offer a virtual tour of its facilities.
Workshops and demonstrations at IGFAE will provide a hands‑on understanding of how its scientific facilities work. For younger visitors, IGFAE will run a workshop where they can experience gravity in interstellar space and learn concepts such as space‑time through the “Einstein Rocket” video game developed at the center. Older participants will build their own detectors using Lego bricks and use cloud chambers to observe the cosmic particles that constantly bombard Earth. The day’s program will be rounded off with an exhibition featuring a nuclear chart built with Lego bricks to visualize isotopes of chemical elements in three dimensions.