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.

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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This programme, organised by the Community of Madrid, aims to bring the "world of work" closer to students through one-week stays in companies and scientific institutions, such as CSIC centres.

In the 2022 call, two research groups participated in this activity. The groups of María Monsalve and Ángela Martínez Valverde hosted three students.

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In 2023, four research groups were encouraged to participate in this event: the groups of Dr Isabel Sánchez, Dr María Monsalve and Dr Ángela Martínez-Valverde, as well as Teresa Navarro from the Sebastián Cerdán Biomedical NMR Service. All of them invited seven students to spend a week in their laboratories.

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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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The CSIC and the Spanish Association for the Advancement of Science (AEAC) developed a pilot project in the Community of Madrid to foster scientific talent in students from schools located in vulnerable areas of the Community.

Dr. María Monsalve participated in this pilot project. She visited the Miguel Delibes Secondary School (IES) in Ciudad Lineal where she explained her research project at the IIBM to the students. In addition, as part of this project, two students from this secondary school spent a week in Dr. Monsalve's laboratory.

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In 2023, four research groups participated in the "Scientists in practice" programme, three more than in 2022. In addition to María Monsalve's group, researchers Soledad Bárez, Juan Manuel Zapata and Ángela Martínez-Valverde participated in this activity, and went to the assigned IES to talk about their respective projects. Subsequently, they hosted eight students from these IES for a week at the IIBM.

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Researchers' Night is a European celebration in which science is made available to the public through various scientific and cultural activities, with the aim of raising awareness of the role of researchers and the importance of their work for the welfare of society. This initiative is being held in 350 European cities.

The CSIC centers of the Cantoblanco campus of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid jointly organize numerous activities for the European Researchers' Night. In 2024, September 27 is the date chosen to approach schools and the general public with a wide range of workshops, conferences, scientific monologues, etc. This year it will be at the Espacio Fundación Teléfonica. The news to announce this event, as well as the link where all the activities are shown can be read HERE

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.