The Science Museum of Valencia has hosted this Sunday, April 10, the XVII Fair-Contest of Experiments and Demonstrations of Experimental Physics and Technology, with the participation of more than 2,500 people, throughout the three-hour event (from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.). The event, organised by the Faculty of Physics of the University of Valencia, is a science festival that brings physics and technology closer to secondary school students and the general public in a creative and participatory way.
The groups participating in the XVII Experimenta fair-contest have begun to arrive at the museum at nine in the morning to prepare a total of 68 admitted projects, with the help of the collaborating staff, about 70 students from the Faculty of Physics. This year, 57% of the participating students and also winners have been women. The Experimenta fair-contest has the collaboration of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, among other entities.
At 10 a.m., when the fair opened to the public, a sea of yellow t-shirts with the blue Experimenta logo flooded the main street of the Science Museum. The girls and boys have explained their projects to the visiting public and to the 33 members of the jury who have passed by their places to decide the prizes in each category. At the same time, the Fisicalandia children’s workshop began, with four thematic tables differentiated by age. At 1:00 p.m., a round of applause ended the act and the public went to the awards ceremony, in the museum’s Santiago Grisolía Auditorium.
The awards ceremony began at 1:30 p.m. and included the short scientific show “Primary Colors” by the group of Physics students and members of the Photonets group: Adrián Cabrera, Roser Forment, Nadia Ghadban and Josu Sánchez.
At the institutional table that awarded the prizes and diplomas were José López, member of the Association of Technology Teachers of the Valencian Community (APTCV) and advisor to CEFIRE CTEM; Elena Pinilla, Vice President of the Royal Spanish Physics Society and member of the Physics Teaching Division; and Nuria Rius, director of the Institute of Corpuscular Physics (IFIC) joint centre CSIC-UV. Also present at the event were Myriam Atienza, content director of the Science Museum; Jordi Vidal, dean of the Faculty of Physics of the University of Valencia; Antonio Torres, general director of the City of Arts and Sciences, and Mª Isabel Vázquez, vice-rector for Studies at the UV, who presided over the event. The Autonomous Secretary for Education and Vocational Training, Miguel Soler, and the Second Vice President of the Government and Labour and Social Economy Minister, Yolanda Díaz, who sent a video in which she addressed the participants, were unable to attend.
After recognition of the international participation of several groups from Latvia, Belgium, Italy and Portugal, members of the Erasmus+ network “Science is all around”, the awards have been made public. The coordinator of the fair and host of the act, Chantal Ferrer, named the honourable mentions and prizes of the different categories of projects valued by the juries, as well as the public prizes, based on the 4,455 votes cast throughout the morning. The winning students and their teachers took the stage and received their prizes and gifts.
The event ended at 2:30 p.m. On May 28, the projects classified in Experimenta will be exhibited in Experimenta TOP, within the Expociencia conference organised by the Science Park of the University of Valencia. There, videos of the awarded students will be recorded where they will explain their projects, which will be published openly to disseminate the work.
Links to websites:
http://www.uv.es/experimenta http://www.uv.es/fisica
https://go.uv.es/experimenta/fira
https://go.uv.es/experimenta/feria
Links to photos:
https://go.uv.es/experimenta/fotos22
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