This Catalogue is aimed at the Education System of the Community of Madrid, primarily for Primary, Secondary and Baccalaureate students. The speakers are drawn from the CSIC scientific community at all levels — from research professors to pre-doctoral students. The Catalogue is coordinated by the CSIC Delegation in the Community of Madrid, and the IIBM has long been involved in this endeavor.

For the academic years 2025–26 and 2026–27, the sixth edition of the CSIC Scientific Lectures Catalogue was published (October 2025). This new edition includes over three hundred lectures covering all areas of knowledge, primarily intended for the Education System of the Community of Madrid, though they may also be scheduled in museums, libraries, and other interested cultural entities.

The IIBM continues its active participation in this edition: researchers and technical staff from the Institute offer outreach lectures tailored to various educational levels, fostering a direct connection between the scientific community and schools.

In this edition, the following IIBM researchers are participating: Alberto Bartolomé Herranz, Lisardo Boscá Gomar, Sandra Franco Caspueñas, Ana Guadaño Ferraz, Manuel Izquierdo Pastor, Ángela Martínez Valverde, María Monsalve Pérez, Silvia Murillo Cuesta, Laura Notario Muñoz, Jesús Pacheco Torres, Belén Peral Fuentes, and Pilar Santisteban Sanz.

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated every 11 February, since it was established by the United Nations in 2015 to recognise the contribution of women to scientific progress and to promote scientific vocations among young girls.

At the IIBM, this day is celebrated each year with strong involvement from our researchers, who dedicate their time and effort to outreach activities aimed at audiences of all ages.

In 2023, twenty-four members of the institute, belonging to thirteen research groups, organised nineteen activities, including children’s workshops, lectures, “wine and neuroscience” sessions, interviews, and social-media content, far surpassing the previous year’s participation. READ MORE

In 2024, under the slogan “We all do science”, the IIBM once again took part in this celebration with an extensive programme: talks for secondary-school and high-school students, workshops in primary schools, school visits to the institute, debates, and the now traditional Escape-Road activity. READ MORE

In 2025, the IIBM continued to strengthen its commitment to this initiative with an even broader and more structured programme. The activities included talks, workshops, visits, and meetings with women researchers in schools and high schools, as well as participation in a joint event with other CSIC centres on the Cantoblanco Campus. READ MORE

The 4th ESO+Empresa programme, promoted by the Community of Madrid, brings Secondary School students closer to the professional world through one-week placements in companies and scientific institutions, including CSIC centres.

At the IIBM, several research groups participate annually, offering students a first-hand experience of biomedical research.

• 2022: Two research groups (María Monsalve and Ángela Martínez Valverde) hosted three students.
• 2023: Four research groups and services (Isabel Sánchez, María Monsalve, Ángela Martínez-Valverde and Teresa Navarro – Sebastián Cerdán Biomedical NMR Service) welcomed seven students.
• 2024: Several IIBM units and two Scientific-Technical Services hosted 13 students (all female), making 2024 the year with the highest number of participants at the Institute.

In 2025, the IIBM again took part by hosting eight students across four research groups (Guillermo de Cárcer, Ángela Martínez Valverde, José L. Orgaz and Isabel Sánchez). During their placement, students learned about the institute’s organisation, visited laboratories and scientific-technical services, and carried out basic molecular and cellular biology practices.

The IIBM remains committed to this programme, which continues to inspire scientific vocations and bring young students closer to the everyday work of biomedical research.

The Scientists in Practice program, promoted by the CSIC and the Spanish Association for the Advancement of Science (AEAC), offers 3rd-year secondary school students from vulnerable backgrounds the opportunity to discover scientific research through training stays in laboratories. Our Institute has collaborated with this program since its beginnings: in its pilot phase, Dr. María Monsalve participated by visiting the IES Miguel Delibes (Ciudad Lineal) and hosting two students in her laboratory.

In the 2022–23 school year, several groups from the IIBM joined the project; in addition to María Monsalve, Soledad Bárez, Juan Manuel Zapata and Ángela Martínez-Valverde took part, hosting students from different secondary schools in the Community of Madrid in their laboratories.

In the 2023–24 edition, the program continued its educational momentum: seven female students and one male student from 3rd-year ESO completed one-week stays in June, learning basic Biology techniques in the same four groups that had taken part the previous year: those of Juan Manuel Zapata, Soledad Bárez, María Monsalve and Ángela Martínez-Valverde. In this school year, the educational program received the first prize in the Science Outreach Project category in the second edition of the CSIC Outreach and Citizen Science Awards, a recognition that also highlighted the work of Jesús Rey in coordinating and structuring the initiative.

In the 2024–25 edition, the IIBM renewed its commitment and welcomed six 3rd-year ESO students in June for one-week practical stays. Once again, the teams of Ángela Martínez-Valverde, Juan Manuel Zapata and María Monsalve took part, having previously organized student visits to the IIBM (María Monsalve) and talks in the participating schools. As a new feature, during the students’ stay, the Spanish pharmaceutical company Farmalider visited the IIBM to learn firsthand about the projects in which the students were involved and to highlight the commitment of the research teams to training young people from vulnerable backgrounds.

European Researchers’ Night is a large-scale initiative that brings science closer to society through scientific and cultural activities designed to showcase researchers’ work and its impact on people’s lives. It is celebrated simultaneously in more than 350 cities across Europe.

The CSIC centres on the Cantoblanco Campus of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid jointly organise a wide range of activities for this annual event. The IIBM took part for the first time in 2024, when the event was held on 27 September at the Espacio Fundación Telefónica with three workshops and two science monologues. The workshop facilitators were Cristina Peña, Soledad Bárez and Belén Peral, and the monologue performers were David Albandea, Arturo González de la Aleja and María Monsalve.

In 2025, the event was again held at the Espacio Fundación Telefónica, on 26 September, consolidating IIBM’s participation in this European initiative. That year the institute presented five scientific activities, organised by research and technical staff, which attracted participants of all ages. Offerings included biology and biochemistry workshops, experimental demonstrations, science storytimes and interactive activities designed to provide hands-on scientific experiences.

In addition, the IIBM took part in morning activities for school groups, contributed to the public science fair and joined the Escape Road, a treasure-hunt style activity focused on the lives and contributions of notable women scientists. The commitment of volunteer staff was essential to the event’s success, supporting organisation, visitor guidance and activity facilitation.

IIBM’s participation in European Researchers’ Night reflects the institute’s commitment to science outreach and to bringing biomedical research closer to society. Year after year, the number of researchers, doctoral students and technical staff involved continues to grow, demonstrating the institute’s dedication to fostering scientific vocations and creating spaces for dialogue between science and citizens.

The Biology Olympiad competition is held annually and involves students in the 2nd year high school students from each region. The winners then compete at the national level. The  "Olympian" winners get is to spend a week doing research in a Biology and Biomedicine laboratory.

In the 2022 call, the research groups of Dr Juan Manuel Zapata and Dr Ángela Martínez Valverde welcomed two "Olympic" students from the province of Barcelona.

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In 2023, the IIBM also participated in the XVIII Spanish Biology Olympics. The groups of Dr Juan Manuel Zapata and Dr José Orgaz hosted two students from the provinces of Badajoz and Madrid, respectively.

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Every year in November, the doors of all research centres across the country open to commemorate Science and Technology Week. The CSIC encourages its institutes to organise informative activities for non-scientist in order to promote interest of our society in science.

A large number of IIBM researchers, both from the scientific and technical services and from the research groups, took part in Science and Technology Week 2022. Eight activities, including scientific workshops, conferences and scientific tours, brought the science of the IIBM closer to our citizens, both adults and young people. Although we organized more events focused on school students, our mission is to stimulate scientific vocations at all levels of our society.

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The next SCT call will be held in November 2023 and six activities have already been scheduled and are announced on the CSIC website. More activities will be announced before November 2023.

Since 2008, World Rare Disease Day has been commemorated on 28 February to raise awareness in the society of the existence of rare diseases, and to make people suffering from these rare pathologies more visible, so that they can receive a diagnosis as soon as possible and thus lead a better life.

At the IIBM, all members of the Rare Diseases Department, which includes eleven groups working on rare diseases, met for the first time on 28 February 2023 in order to take a "family" photo and tell us about their research.

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