Inclusive lab experience

This year, in the lab sessions of the subject Crystallography and Simmetry (Degree in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Universidade da Coruña), we had an inclusive experience with the guys and girls from the project Espazo Compartido of the same University.

Espazo Compartido is a university training programme in personal and social skills and basic competencies aimed at improving employability and promoting inclusion in the labour market for young people with cognitive disabilities. This project was created to open the university space to groups that cannot access ordinary channels due to barriers in accessing higher education, promoting the inclusion of all participants and their families in the university community. This program is a firm commitment to university social responsibility and an example of the Universidade da Coruña's commitment to society and to the right to a decent education for a group at risk of social exclusion. This is a pioneering initiative within the regional university system and one of the first at the national level.

In this case, the girls and guys of Espazo Compartido helped the students of the 1st grade of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in two lab sessions. In the first session, the students followed the instructions to growth large monocrystalls of severals salts, including cooking salt, borax, alum, Copper sulfate, and Potassium ferrocyanide. In the second session (3 weeks later), the students evaluated the growth of the crystalls (some of them were very impressive!) and, using the same protocol, they grew crystalls in drops, and observed them under the microscope. It was awesome for them observing how the crystalls were forming.

I had the pleasure to guide these sessions and all of the students, and it was a very enriching experience for me too! It is very important that all of us contribute to build better and fairer society, for us and for our futur generations!