{"id":71865,"date":"2024-11-26T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?p=71865"},"modified":"2025-07-14T15:06:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T13:06:50","slug":"diving-into-the-world-of-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/diving-into-the-world-of-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Diving into the world of science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every year in October, France celebrates La F\u00eate de la Science<\/a> \u2013 a week of activities to engage its citizens in science and technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s theme was ‘Oceans of Knowledge’. Even in Grenoble \u2013 a city surrounded by mountains \u2013 it was the perfect opportunity to shine a light on EMBL\u2019s scientific expedition TREC<\/a>, a unique project to study European coastlines in collaboration with the Tara Ocean Foundation and the EMBRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s dive into the different activities that EMBL Grenoble took part in! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parvis des Sciences<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Launched in 2007 as part of La F\u00eate de la Science, the Parvis des Sciences<\/a> is a popular event organised in Grenoble by the GIANT campus, of which EMBL Grenoble is a founding member. EMBL Grenoble and its partner institutes from the European Photon and Neutron (EPN) science campus \u2013 the European Radiation Synchrotron Facility (ESRF) and the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) \u2013 shared a stand during the public day, which this year was attended by 1,450 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volunteers from EMBL Grenoble facilitated various public engagement activities developed by EMBL\u2019s Science Education and Public Engagement team to raise awareness of the TREC scientific expedition. One of the most popular activities involved folding models of the Advanced Mobile Laboratory (AML),<\/a> EMBL\u2019s unique laboratory on wheels. Children could also enjoy activities like colouring marine organisms and playing with a table-size version of the \u2018Run, Scientist, Run\u2019 game<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, four sessions of the Nexus Island game<\/a> were organised during the day, attended by families with children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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TREC public engagement activities: the foldable Advanced Mobile Laboratory, colouring activities, the \u2018Run, Scientist, Run\u2019 game, and the Nexus Island game. Credit: Myl\u00e8ne Andr\u00e9\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our traditional activity, crystal fishing, was as popular as always. Visitors were invited to look at small crystallised proteins through EMBL Grenoble\u2019s microscopes while being introduced to protein crystallisation \u2013 a structural biology technique that uses powerful X-rays produced by synchrotrons, such as the ESRF. The visitors were invited to try to fish out a protein crystal with a tiny nylon loop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Many participants enjoyed the crystal fishing activity. Credits: Myl\u00e8ne Andr\u00e9\/EMBL, Maame Acquah\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maame Acquah, a visiting scientist at EMBL Grenoble and an EMBL\/UNESCO fellow, participated in the event and made a video perfectly summarising this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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