The Institute of Neurosciences, a joint center of the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), has organized the 19th edition of World Brain Awareness Week, an open house event expected to draw around 3,000 people. This year’s event will take place from March 11 to 15 at the Francisco Javier Balmis building on the Sant Joan d’Alacant campus. The Rector of the UMH, Jesús Pastor Ciurana, and the Director of the Institute of Neurosciences, Salvador Martínez Pérez, will inaugurate the event this evening, March 11, at 8:00 p.m. at the Club Información in Alicante.

Following the opening ceremony, a roundtable discussion entitled “Transferring Scientific Results to Solve Societal Problems” was held as part of the “Brain and Society” series. This event, moderated by the director of the Institute of Neurosciences, Salvador Martínez Pérez, featured the participation of Andrés García Reche, executive vice president of the Valencian Innovation Agency, and Pablo Artal, professor at the University of Murcia and recipient of the Juan de la Cierva National Research Award.

Among other activities, Brain Awareness Week included workshops such as “Sensory Illusions” and “Electrophysiology of the Human Body,” an art exhibition by the NeuroArte group entitled “Research Can Be Beautiful,” booths such as “Women and Neuroscience,” and short informative talks covering topics including kinematic cognition and the relationship between video games and the brain. Throughout the week, volunteers from the Institute of Neurosciences were available to assist nearly 3,000 students aged 5 to 18 from 60 schools who had registered for the event. The children’s sessions will take place on Monday and Tuesday starting at 12:00 PM.

This open house week is a collaborative effort between the UMH and the CSIC, as well as the Remedios Caro Almela Chair of Neurobiology, the Club Información, the Spanish Society for Neuroscience, and Quima, a company specializing in reagents and laboratory materials.

More information about these events can be found at http://in.umh-csic.es/paginas_particulares/SemanaCerebro/Multi/BAW_AnyoActual/.

See the program.