Programme
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Public engagement in science should begin at school. Teachers should be able to encourage and enthuse their students to learn more about the scientific and technological developments that drive modern societies' progress.

Along these lines, the "Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência" (IGC, Oeiras, Portugal), the "Instituto de Medicina Molecular" (IMM, Lisbon Portugal) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany) co-organised the "Inspirar Ciência" workshop on Developmental Biology, bringing scientists and high-school teachers together.

A total of 12 high-school teachers, from all over Portugal, took part in the workshop, held at the IGC, from 13-15 April 2004.

The scientific talks and hands-on activities covered some of the hottest topics and the most recent techniques in Developmental Biology.

The teachers worked with different model organisms that are used to study development: oil seed rape / Arabidopsis, fruit flies and chick embryos.

The workshop had a strong practical emphasis, and particular care was taken to design experimental activities which could be easily transferable to the classroom: pollen viability testing and germination, observation of normal and mutant adult flies and fly embryos, observation of various chick embryos developmental stages.

But the teachers also had the opportunity to look at sophisticated techniques such as confocal microscopy.

The programme included a debate on the social implications of animal research. The scientific directors of the IGC and IMM, the EMBO Science and Society Programme Manager, a representative of the Portuguese veterinary authority and the responsible for the IGC Animal House took part in the discussion panel.

In the assessment questionnaires, the teachers highlighted the chance of experiencing the atmosphere of a leading research institute, interacting with the scientists and being given up-to-date scientific information. They were eager to try out the experiments in the classroom and to share the enthusiasm gained during the course with their students.

The scientists appreciated the opportunity to interact directly with the teachers and to encourage them in their teaching roles.

Layout by: Stefanie Wollenberg