On 8 November, Javier García, Professor of the Rafael del Pino Foundation, gave a talk entitled "Science for a better world" to a group of secondary school students in the auditorium of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante (MACA). The Alicante students of the Jaime II Secondary School of Alicante attended this informative conference, which is connected to the one given a few days earlier by Javier García to the students of the ELI programme of the Rafael del Pino Foundation.
The professor and president-elect of IUPAC has reiterated his commitment to education and the awakening of scientific vocations. This is an area of dissemination to which he contributes by giving talks to students and teachers from different educational centres.
In this line, the professor of Inorganic Chemistry and director of the Laboratory of Molecular Nanotechnology of the University of Alicante, gave the conference "The International Year of the Periodic Table in the centenary of the IUPAC" at the University of Salamanca.
Saint Albert the Great and the University of Salamanca
His lecture was part of the commemoration of the feast of Saint Albert the Great, which is celebrated on 15 November. The professor of the Rafael del Pino Foundation was guest of honour at the presentation of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry Awards for the best records of the degrees in Chemistry, Physics and Chemical Engineering, and the San Alberto Magno Awards for the best records of the same degrees.
Javier García said he was delighted with the invitation from the University of Salamanca to take part in the events in honour of such an endearing figure as "Saint Albert the Great". García took advantage of this event to highlight the triumph of science and chemistry over superstition and to emphasise the great event of the institution of the Periodic Table, with its 118 elements. "It has provided an answer to one of mankind's great questions: what are things made of? They are made of chemical elements and thanks to this knowledge, man has been able to make progress in the use of materials, in water sanitation, in the use of fertilisers and in medicine," he said.
More information on the event can be found at outreach channels of the University of Salamanca.