There is a lot of talk about plastic: protecting food or the environment, do we have to choose? This has been my dilemma for four years. I open #HiloTesis. This is how begins the thread with which the researcher of department of Chemistry of the School of Sciences of the University, Leire Goñi Ciáurriz, has won the competition promoted by the CRUE, Tu thesis en un hilo, among the participants of the University of Navarra. Paloma Grau, Vice President of research and sustainability, presented her with submission of the corresponding award . 

Through text, animated gifs, video and infographics, Leire Goñi tries to explain on twitter the goal of her thesis : development of new nanoparticulate materials and their application in food packaging, directed by Professor Itziar Vélaz.  

In different tweets, Leire talks about food waste and all the plastic waste that is generated in turn. "The challenge in my thesis is looking for environmentally friendly packaging that also extends the shelf life of food," she says. Beyond using biodegradable plastics, the doctoral student's research is looking for active packaging, which incorporates additives to increase the shelf life of food and the application of nanoparticles.

"What I thought about when writing this thread was to try to arouse curiosity and reflections about our research in a non-specialized audience, I think it is important for researchers to combine science and knowledge dissemination. Telling our science through the RRSS in an attractive way is a good way to make a specialized knowledge accessible to everyone," he explains.

The jury -made up of professors Carmen Erviti, from the School of Communication and Amaya Azqueta, from the School of Pharmacy, and the director of scientific communication, Elisa Montserrat-, has highlighted the thread presented by Leire "the use of a simple and informative language, the description of the methodology and the most relevant findings in the research; and the appropriate use of elements that enrich the content such as emoticons, images or animated gifs. The presentation makes the public want to know more".

The group of work of "joint activities" of the network of knowledge dissemination and Scientific Culture (RedDivulga) of CRUE is the promoter of this second edition of the contest "Tu thesis Doctoral en un Hilo de Twitter: #HiloTesis" in order to promote the dissemination activity among the student body of doctorate. The contest at the University is promoted by the School of doctorate. Participants had to tell their thesis in a thread of no more than 20 tweets. Since April 10, when the contest was announced, the label #HiloTesis has generated more than 7,500 tweets and 20 million impressions, according to Crue Universidades Españolas. A total of 317 researchers from 47 universities have participated.