"Education means inspiring someone's mind, not just filling their heads"
- Katie Lusk

A good scientist is not just an expert in their field. That’s why at iGEM UB 2025 we want to promote the idea of the 360º scientist 💡: a professional who, while mastering their own area of research, is also deeply aware of the world around them. This means having a solid cultural background, staying informed about current events, and applying strong critical thinking skills to connect science with society.

With this in mind, we created Reineta, a free and adaptable toolkit for 16–17-year-old students. It includes activities on technology, ethics, communication, experimentation, and even art—designed with experts and improved through real classroom feedback.

We’ve also taken our vision beyond the toolkit, joining events like Festa de la Ciència or Nit de la Recerca, and even translating the Arizona State iGEM children’s book into our own language to make it more accessible. Our goal is simple: to inspire the next generation of scientists to be not only skilled researchers but also thoughtful, well-rounded individuals.

The toolkit: Reineta

The toolkit is designed as a free, adaptable, and constantly evolving resource for teachers, offering students essential skills not usually addressed in class. Built as a modular project, its activities are interconnected yet flexible, allowing teachers to use them separately or in sequence according to their time and needs. Feedback from users is encouraged to ensure continuous improvement and alignment with classroom realities. Ultimately, the toolkit aims to provide a high-quality, accessible bank of activities to help shape the scientists of the future.

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Ethics

Communication

Art

Technology

Experimental

The Many Faces
of
Science

Ethics

How far should science go? How can we regulate new techniques when they are appearing at such a rapid rate? We must keep in mind the social and ethical impact of our research, and a competent scientist should possess the capacity to assess, reason critically, and reflect upon these dimensions.

Outside the toolkit

Outside of the toolkit, we carried out additional initiatives such as activities for children, scientific outreach talks, and collaborations with other iGEM teams. These actions allowed us to reach different audiences, explore new perspectives, and give a deeper or alternative focus to topics, expanding the overall impact of our project.

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Creating an educational network across Catalonia

While working on our project we realised that we are not alone in our mission, which is why we wanted to collaborate with other entities and associations dedicated to sharing science and knowledge by incorporating links to their activities in our toolkit, creating this educational network for teachers or the open public.

Biomedical Research Institute of Barcelona

IRB is a biomedical research center working to achieve a disease-free life. Their mission is to conduct excellent research to cure cancer and other diseases linked to aging. IRB Barcelona's public engagement initiatives contribute to promoting scientific literacy by fostering critical thinking and opening up science to diverse audiences in different spaces.

Geosciences Barcelona

GEO3BCN – CSIC is an international research institute dedicated to Earth sciences whose mission is to advance the understanding of Earth System Sciences. They make available to the public a wide range of quality scientific and educational material in the form of books, videos, exhibitions, and others.

Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics

CRAG brings together diverse research groups on plants and farm animals, and provides a unique breeding ground for research and training, exploring the genetic and genomic determinants common to plants and animals. CRAG strives to translate the results of its research into benefits for society. It also aims to train the next generation of plant and farm animal scientists who will play a vital role in helping to meet the societal and global challenges of this century.

La Llar de la Recerca

La Llar de la Recerca wants all young people in Penedès who are interested in research, investigation and the why of things to be able to carry out their scientific or technological projects. For this reason, they offer a space, infrastructure and support to young people who intend to learn, and have fun, while they network and create synergies between members and different experts and professionals in the area.

References

Guasch, B., González, M., & Cortiñas, S. (2020). Educational toolkit based on design methodologies to promote scientific knowledge transfer in secondary schools: A graphene-centered case study. Journal of Technology and Science Education, 10(1), 17-31. Paper