Schools

At the IGC we are driven to produce the best quality research and also to work with schools to share with them the wonders of cutting-edge research, for the benefit of future scientists, and future citizens. On these pages you will find out about specific activities and projects for students and teachers. If you would like more information please contact Ana Godinho.

Workshop Inspirar Ciência 2012 – O Ciclo Celular

The Workshop Inspirar Ciência 2012 – O Ciclo Celular, targeted at secondary education science teachers, will be held at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), Oeiras, from July 3-6, 2012, with support of the Centro de Formação das Escolas do Conselho de Oeiras (CFECO). Preliminary programme and further information (here), (in portuguese only).

To register, fill in the registration form (here) and send it to: inspirarciencia@igc.gulbenkian.pt until May 25, 2012.

This workshop is certified for teachers’ continuous professional development (CPD) by the national Conselho Científico-Pedagógico da Formação Contínua (2.0 course units).

Importante Dates:
Deadline for registration: May 25, 2012
Notification of selection: June 10, 2012
Participant confirmation: June 15, 2012

Online resources – the “Genes et al” website

(Only in Portuguese)

“Genes et al” brings together a range teaching resources and media for the Life Sciences, that IGC researchers and the science communication team have been developing over the last few years.

Activities cover all of pre-university education levels, from pre-school to high school. Resources include discovery and laboratory activities for the classroom, videos and animations and accessible reviews on cutting-edge research, as seen by our scientists.

Biology in Modern Times

Professional Development Seminars for Teachers

Over the last few decades, advances in the life sciences have seen an unprecedented increase in the amount of new data, ideas and knowledge. Keeping abreast of these new developments is a challenge, for scientists and educators. Targeted at secondary education science teachers, the Biology in Modern Times seminars aim to bring teachers up to date with current research questions, approaches, techniques and technology in life science research.

Each of the four sessions planned for 2012 will be organised into connecting blocks: an introduction to the topic, by an IGC researcher, followed by group activities aimed at exploring the concepts, applications and implications of the research field in question. Teachers will have the chance to discuss a scientific paper, analyse and interpret results, or plan an experiment, under guidance of IGC researchers and science communicators.

The schedule for 2012 is available here (pdf), and the registration form here (Word document, in Portuguese only). Seminars will generally be held in Portuguese, but questions and discussions in English are welcome.

The 2012 Biology in Modern Times is accredited for teachers’ continuous professional development (CPD) by the national Conselho Científico-Pedagógico da Formação Contínua (15h course, 0.6 course units). We are grateful to the collaboration of the Centro de Formação das Escolas de Torres Vedras e Lourinhã.

The presentations (in portuguese) of the 2012 sessions are available here:

• SESSION 1 - Rui Gardner - Flow Citometry (PDF); Results from the activity (PDF)
• SESSION 2 - Zita Santos e Filipe Leal - Regulation of the Cell Cycle (PDF)

Labchat

“LabChat” aims to bring the cutting-edge biomedical research developed at the IGC to teachers and students anywhere. This innovative programme intends to bring scientists into the classroom using videoconference system or “SkypeTM”. Students can experience life of a research laboratory and contact directly with scientists from where they are. Teachers interested in inviting scientists to give a talk can contact us at labchat@igc.gulbenkian.pt.

Events:

February 29, 2012
Escola Secundária Públia Hortênsia de Castro de Vila Viçosa, Science Club (7th grade students);
Ana Cristina Santos (Patterning and Morphogenesis Group) – “Being a scientist”

Science@Primary Schools

We are working with the Oeiras City Council and researchers from the Department of Materials Engineering of the Instituto Superior Técnico, to develop in-class laboratory activities and teacher training for pre- and primary schools (3 to 10 year olds).

The Aqui Há Ciência!Oeiras project aims to be hands-on AND minds-on! We have adopted the inquiry-based learning approach, trying to recapitulate the scientific process in each activity we are developing: observation, questioning, experimenting, registering, concluding and communicating.

The project involves teacher-training sessions, followed by in-class activities with the students.

Some of the activities that we are working on are: Clean Hands, Dirty Hands (Microbiology); Before Birth (Embryology); Genes in Action (Heredity); Me and my body (Cells)…

Two primary schools in Oeiras are involved in this project: 44 teachers and 798 students.

Follow the project on Facebook.

Funded by Oeiras City Council and QREN/PORLisboa (Portugal).

Schools' Outreach

IGC scientists regularly take IGC research to schools in the greater Lisbon area and even beyond. We have taken part in schools’ science days, career fairs, science fairs. Read (here) about our outreach activities to schools. If you would like us to visit your school, please e-mail Ana Godinho (agodinho@igc.gulbenkian.pt) with information on your school and the type of activity you would be interested in.

Science project support programme

Since 2009 we have been running a dedicated programme of support for science-related student projects. Within this programme, we provide guidance on relevant topics, experimental activities, background literature, access to scientists and research facilities (for small groups).

Students and teachers are welcome to contact us for input into your projects.

Bioinformatics at School

This project is being developed by the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Unit. Its main aims are to provide bioinformatics resources for secondary-school, based on current research projects, with the aim of encouraging and supporting enquiry-based learning of science.

For more information on this project, please contact Isabel Marques.

"Bioinformatics at School" - Professional Development Course for Teachers

At the request of secondary school teachers to have training in Bioinformatics activities, a partnership with Centro de Formação Lezíria - Oeste, at Azambuja, was established, promoting the decentralization of the Project "Bioinformatics at School" and giving opportunity to other teachers, farther away from the Lisbon area, to participate in new approaches to biology.

"Bioinformatics at School" training is accredited for teachers’ continuous professional development (CPD) by the national Conselho Científico-Pedagógico da Formação Contínua of the Ministry of Education and will be held at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (two full days) and Centro de Formação Lezíria Oeste (3 afternoons), in a total of 25 hours (1 UC).

Information about the training is available here (pdf format), so that interested teachers may fill out the registration form (Word format), which should then be delivered to the Centro de Formação Lezíria Oeste, Azambuja.