Once again, the Campus Ítaca welcomes 400 secondary school students to the university

Once again, the UAB organises its Campus Ítaca, a series of activities prepared for secondary school students and conducted at the UAB campus to help them become familiar with the university and encourage them to continue with their studies. The first part of the programme begins on 25 June.

21/06/2018

From 25 June to 13 July, the UAB will receive 395 secondary school students participating in the Campus Ítaca programme, an initiative aimed at motivating adolescents with unfavourable economic backgrounds and good grades to encourage them to continue with their studies. This initiative is organised by the Fundació Autònoma Solidaria and funded by Banco Santander.

The students will spend three weeks at the Bellaterra campus, participating in fun and educational activities which allows them to discover different academic disciplines and become familiar with the university: research projects, treasure hunts, debates, etc.

Groups are made up of twelve students accompanied by an instructor. The activities in which they take part are organised by lecturers of the UAB. The Campus Ítaca takes place in two different sessions: part of the participants visit the UAB from 25 June to 3 July and the other part visits the UAB from 5 to 13 July. At the end of each of session, a closing event is held for students to show the results of their work to families and lecturers.

Some of this year's activities include "Houston, we have a problem!", where students are encouraged to develop a research project by activating motivation and emotion and their psycho-physiological effects. Another of the new activities consists in working on a business idea based on digital technologies. Finally, there is also a new case to be solved in neuroscience in which students will work with drugs and their effects on the brain.

Over five thousand participants

Since its first edition in 2004, over 5,000 students have participated in the Campus Ítaca. The persons selected to participate in Campus Ítaca all have a similar profile: an economically complicated family situation which may tip the balance towards working instead of continuing their studies, the need for adult role models to encourage them to stay in school and communicate this to their family, and a positive academic attitude.

Moreover, the UAB offers the Ítaca-Banco Santander grants, which aim to help these students have access to higher education programmes regardless of their economic situations. Twenty-four grants will be awarded in the 2018/19 academic year.

More information: Campus Ítaca