Inauguration of Bojos per la ciència and start of the course Bojos per les matemàtiques 2026
Last Friday, January 9, the monumental complex of Món Sant Benet hosted the inauguration of a new edition of Bojos per la ciència, the program to promote scientific vocations promoted by the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera. The event brought together a packed room of boys and girls highly motivated by science, participants of the 13 courses organized this year, accompanied by their families and the coordinating teams of the different programs.
The event was led by a young woman who had previously participated in one of the Bojos, programs, who shared her personal experience and introduced the different moments of the inauguration, providing a close and inspiring perspective for the new participants.
This year, the spotlight of the inaugural conference was on mathematics, with the participation of Xavier Ros-Oton, National Research Award for Young Talent 2024, awarded by the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation. In her talk, about the equations that move the world, she brought the audience closer to what a mathematician really does, taking as an example her research in Partial Differential Equations (PDEs). They appear in the description of very diverse phenomena, but the questions hidden behind the equations are common: do solutions exist? how many can there be? what are these solutions like? studying these answers is the task of mathematics. The conference highlighted both the origin and meaning of mathematical models and the deep and transversal work of mathematicians, capable of generating results with applications in many fields of knowledge, providing examples related to the various courses of the Bojos program.
From the course coordinations, linked to research institutes and universities in the country, they emphasized how these programs contribute to broadening horizons, bringing the university and research world closer to young people and helping them imagine their future in scientific research.
During the event, Albert Granados, coordinator of the course Crazy about mathematics, explained the general lines of the program and what the selected boys and girls will experience throughout the year, with sessions taking place at the various Catalan universities where the mathematics degree is taught, such as the Faculty of Mathematics and Statistics of the UPC, the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of the University of Barcelona and the Faculty of Sciences of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where the Department of Mathematics is located. In fact, at the UAB they had already made a first preliminary stay, coinciding with the selection test, which also allowed them to get to know first-hand the Centre for Mathematical Research, thus reinforcing direct contact with the university and research environment from the very beginning.
The event ended with an informal snack, which allowed a first closer contact between the course participants Bojos per les matemàtiques 2026. Coming from very diverse centers and municipalities, the boys and girls shared the same excitement and enthusiasm to start this new adventure. In this space, the Catalan Society of Mathematics, as the organizing entity of the course gave them a small detail as a welcome gesture and to reinforce the sense of group, as well as their connection with initiatives such as the Kangaroo and other outreach activities.
The next day, Saturday, January 10, the group already started the first official session of the course with an activity dedicated to experimenting with the inaugural session «Mathematics that are touched, seen and lived» led by Anton Aubanell, Jordi Font, Sergi Múria, Francesc Massich and Manel Martínez.
tel. 973 35 41 40
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Crazy about Science Program:
https://www.fundaciocatalunya-lapedrera.com/ca/bojos-ciencia -
Crazy about Mathematics Course:
https://www.fundaciocatalunya-lapedrera.com/ca/bojos-ciencia/cursos/matematiques