143 students of third and fourth year of Education secondary school from all over Spain have participated in the School Contest of research in Science- sciRESEARCH promoted by the School of Sciences. 

In total, 16 papers have been evaluated for the categories of Chemistry and Biology. Of these, "Steam distillation: design of equipment and obtaining basil essence", presented by students from high school Xaloc-Hospitalet de Llobegrat, and "Study of contamination of the Manzanares River in the Community of Madrid", by students from high school Retamar de Madrid, were the winners of the first edition.

"The goal of this award was to value Science as a vehicle for human progress, to promote scientific vocations among schoolchildren and, at the same time, to promote the values of the scientific research as the effort and the work in team", said the director of development of the School, Borja Mora-Figueroa. Thus, the competition has had participants from Madrid, Catalonia, Galicia, Navarra or the Valencian Community, who in addition to submitting their work had to present it to a jury composed of researchers from the University.

Juan José Martínez Irujo, from department of Biochemistry and Genetics and full member, highlighted how despite the youth of the contestants, "the groups made good presentations and showed a lot of fluency during the exhibition. It is also worth mentioning the involvement of the teachers, who were able to guide the work and transmit the results to the participants. high school diploma who knew how to guide the work and transmit to their students the enthusiasm for the scientific research , goal ultimate of these awards".

Special Mentions

In addition to awarding a diploma and a tablet to the winners of this first edition of sciRESEARCH, several special mentions were awarded. In the case of Chemistry , the research "Comparative analysis of the effectiveness of antacids", from high school Fuenllana (Madrid); "Quality water in a natural environment", from high school Tajamar (Madrid); and "Biodiesel production from the cultivation of microalgae", from high school Montecastelo (Vigo).

In the Biology category, the following were recognized: programs of study "¿De qué dependen los sueños?" (What do dreams depend on?), from high school Retamar (Madrid); and "¿Es inteligente un periquito?" (Is a parakeet intelligent?), from high school Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas (Madrid).