A scientific exhibition invites citizens to explore the frontier of knowledge in Aragon

The Minister of Education, Science and Universities, Claudia Pérez Forniés, has inaugurated the exhibition, which can be seen on Zaragoza's Gran Vía until the 27th and which was born with a traveling vocation

'Exploring the frontier of knowledge: Science in Aragón' is the title of the exhibition that the Government of Aragon inaugurated today on the Gran Vía in Zaragoza and which can be seen until the 27th. The exhibition has been promoted by the General Directorate of Science and Research and it displays different images of the research carried out in the powerful Aragonese R&D&i ecosystem.

The objective of the exhibition - which was inaugurated by the Minister of Education, Science and Universities, Claudia Pérez Forniés, together with the Director of Science and Research, Pilar Gayán - is “open a window to the main spaces where scientific knowledge is developed in Aragon, so that citizens can get closer to the work of research personnel in laboratories and research centers, and learn about R&D subjects and the infrastructures where the Community is at the forefront."

It is the first time, as the regional authority has highlighted, that the science that is developed in Aragon has been documented in this way - with nearly a thousand photographs taken -, which makes the exhibition "a powerful tool to educate and awaken vocations. Pérez Forniés has also highlighted the symbolism of the place chosen to display it, the Gran Vía de Ramón y Cajal. 

The exhibition is composed of 24 images, mostly made by the renowned Aragonese photographer Jorge Fuembuena, and which are assembled in a very visual design of metallic structures that simulate molecules and their atoms. The circles of each atom include photographs that can be seen on both sides with the information that is to be transmitted, printed in white methacrylate and illuminated to give a more attractive optical effect.

The exhibition could already be seen in the Gardens of the Pignatelli Building on the occasion of the events celebrating Aragon Day and the Aragonese Education Day and was born with a traveling vocation to rotate through different locations in the Community, such as schools, university spaces, or other centers that require it and give the greatest possible dissemination to the Aragonese ecosystem of science and the work carried out by Universities, Public Research Organizations, Foundations, Research Institutes, Technological Centers and Unique Scientific and Technical Infrastructures.

The semi-anechoic chamber of the Aragon Institute of Technology, the largest 3D printer in the world used by AITIIP, the CESAR supercomputer, the work carried out by the BIFI for drug discovery, the mapping of the universe carried out by the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory or The Experimental Surgery operating rooms that the IACS shares with the University of Zaragoza in the search for new clinical therapies star in some of the images.

Some of the researchers who work in the photographed centers participated in the opening ceremony, such as Celia Cantín, representing EEAD-CSIC, for the photograph 'Improvement of fruit crops'; Belén Marín, from the Center for Encephalopathies and Emerging Communicable Diseases of the Unizar Faculty of Veterinary Medicine for the image 'Animalary for Research'; Rubén Valero, from the Advanced Microscopy Laboratory for the photograph 'Advanced Microscopy and Nanofabrication'; and Pilar Espiau e Isabel Villaoslada, Aragon Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón) for 'Oncology Research'. The image is taken in the cell biology laboratory with incubators for cell growth in a controlled atmosphere and temperature, for cancer-fighting treatments.

Furthermore, the general director of Science and Research, Pilar Gayán, read a few words from photographer Jorge Fombuena, in which he highlighted "the talent of Aragón" and hoped that the exhibition "serves as an impetus for young people to generate vocations, enthusiasm and excitement" around science, which "sheds light and serves as a method of knowledge to understand the world and answer various questions."

Source: Government of Aragon