Six first-year upper secondary students from the Ponent region awarded IRBLleida scholarships for a research placement

For another year, six first-year upper secondary school students have been awarded scholarships by the Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida (IRBLleida) to undertake a training placement at the institute and learn about the biomedical research carried out in Lleida. During their placement, students become familiar with the scientific environment and with the techniques commonly used in basic biomedical research. The programme also includes supervised experiments, an introduction to the scientific method, and hands-on exposure to the operation of high-tech equipment used in IRBLleida's different technical units.

IRBLleida offers these scholarships for upper secondary students in collaboration with the Institute of Education Sciences of the University of Lleida (UdL). The programme is aimed at first-year students enrolled in the Science and Technology track, particularly those interested in life and health sciences. The initiative is made possible through the support of the "la Caixa" Foundation, via CaixaBank, and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

The six scholarship recipients each receive a €200 grant. The one-month training placement takes place at IRBLleida's facilities during the summer period, on dates agreed between the student and the host research group.

The participating research groups are:

• Cell Cycle
• Clinical and Molecular Phenotyping (CMP)
• Health Care Research Group (GRECS)
• Immunology and Metabolism Research Group (GRIM)
• Pec Proteomics (+PPRG)
• Neuronal Signalling Unit