At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young researchers, mainly from European countries, revolutionized the understanding of traditional physics and the Universe. Well-known scientists such as Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Born, Planck, Pauli and Einstein laid the theoretical and mathematical foundations of quantum science, a discipline that has driven many technological advances. Today we are experiencing a second quantum revolution, which explores the limits of knowledge to decipher the unknowns of phenomena such as the tunnel effect, electron spin, quantum coherence, the Bose-Einstein condensate and Bell's theorem.
Under of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ), instituted by the UNESCO, which commemorates the 100th anniversary of the first works in the quantum world, the University of Barcelona wants to be at the epicentre of the dissemination of nanoscience and nanotechnology with different activities for society. In line with the IYQ's objectives, the UB-promoted initiatives aim to "increase public awareness of the importance of quantum science and its applications".
NanoDivulga: ten years of educational and social outreach
The 2025 programme of activities coincides with the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of NanoDivulga, a project to bring the world of nanotechnology closer to the public, promoted by Jordi Díaz, a member of the Science and Technology Centres (CCiTUB) and the UB's Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB). Thus, on 1 April, the UB's Historic Building Paranymph Hall will host the tenth (and last) edition of NanoEduca , a training project to introduce nanotechnology in secondary education and high school, which includes a scientific competition and in which the UB, the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Centre for Specific Pedagogical Resources to Support Educational Innovation and Research (CESIRE), of the Department of Education of the Government of Catalonia, are participating.
NanoEduca was created in 2015 with the aim of bringing together the dissemination actions on the nanoscale aimed at the educational community carried out by various UB entities: mainly the CCiTUB, the UB Institute of Education Sciences and the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), with the support of the Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit (UCC+i). In 2019, it received the 2019 National Prize for Science Communication, awarded by the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRi) and the Government of Catalonia.
