Argó Award ceremony for secondary school research projects
On Wednesday 25 June the 22nd edition of the Argó Awards for secondary school research papers, organised by the Institute of Education Studies (ICE) of the UAB, took place at the Rectorat building. Eighteen prizes and 22 honourable mentions were awarded in recognition of the students' efforts. The first prizes were awarded to students from schools in Sabadell, Blanes, Figueres, Ripoll and Gelida.
Jordi Barbé, the rector's commissioner for Relations with Secondary Education and University Access: “I wish to encourage you to transform reality with your work and your research".
The conference hall of the Rectorat building was filled with upper secondary school students, their tutors and families to attend the ceremony of the 22nd edition of the Argó Award for secondary school research projects, organised by the Institute of Education Studies (ICE) of the UAB. On 10 July the Argó Awards will also be presented to distinguish projects of vocational training courses. The purpose of the Argó Award is to recognise the efforts of students and to increase the links between the UAB and secondary schools.
On Wednesday 25 June, 18 prizes and 22 honourable mentions were awarded. In each of the categories, three prizes and four honourable mentions were awarded, with a total of 244 entries submitted by 289 students from 185 secondary schools in 112 different towns.
The works competed in six fields of knowledge: Arts and Humanities: 59 works; Biosciences: 37 works; Sciences: 37 works; Health Sciences: 57 works; Social and Legal Sciences: 32 works; and Engineering and Architecture: 22 works.
Vice-Rector for Training and Teaching Innovation José Luis Muñoz Moreno and Rector's Commissioner for Relations with Secondary Education and University Access Jordi Barbé Garcia, presided over the ceremony. For the vice-rector, “the Argó Award is much more than an award; it is an open window to creativity, to a critical viewpoint, to the passion for understanding reality, and it is a commitment to an education that not only transmits knowledge, but also awakens vocations, ignites questions and creates professionals and citizenship”. Vice-Rector Muñoz also said that the plurality of the works shows “the extraordinary potential of our young people and demonstrates that research is not exclusively owned by laboratories or university offices”.
Also present at the presidential table were the director of the ICE, Edelmira Badillo Jiménez, and the deans of the faculties of Arts & Humanities, Margarita Freixas Alás; Sciences, Juan Jesús Donaire Benito; Biosciences, Isidre Gibert González; as well as the School of Engineering, Ian Blanes García.
The coordinator of the Argó Programme and secretary of the Argó Award jury, Begonya Oliveras Prat, introduced each of the authors of the first prizes, who took the stage to give an introduction of their work and have their photograph taken. The prizes in each of the categories consist of free tuition for the first year of undergraduate studies at a UAB teaching centre during the 2025/26 academic year and an endowment of 300 euros for the first prize, 150 euros for the second prize, 100 euros for the third prize, and 50 euros for the mentions.
First prizes
In the category of Arts and Humanities, the first prize went to Blai Salomó Fernández, a student at the Institut Abat Oliba in Ripoll, with the work “Concepció Casanova i Danés: redescobriment d'una poeta oblidada”, which recovered this unknown author from the town of Campdevànol.
In Biosciences, the work "Sudeck, el calaix de sastre mèdic. Estudi de casos particulars amb PROM i creació d'un documental", by the students Aitana Alcaraz Martínez and Sol Puchades Martos from the Institut Pau Vila in Sabadell, received the first prize. It is a work based on a disease suffered by one of the authors of the work.
In the Science category, the winning entry was "El foc grec. La ciència de les flames que vencen l'aigua", by Laia Pons Garcia, from INS Alexandre Deulofeu, Figueres.
As for the work classified in first place in the category of Social and Legal Sciences, the award went to Juan Manuel Segovia, from the Institut Gelida, with a project entitled "Motomami. Sobre el camp i la performance".
As for Health Sciences, the first prize-winning work was that of Isona Rodado Estop, from CE Jaume Viladoms, Sabadell, entitled "Com més aviat millor? Identificació d'agents patògens i proposta d'un nou mètode de producció en el sector porcí".
Finally, in the Engineering category, the first prize was awarded to the project of Natàlia Fuertes del Bas, from INS Serrallarga, Blanes, entitled "L'aerodinàmica en la competició. Anàlisi aerodinàmica d'un cotxe de carreres".
After the performance by the UAB Choir, which interpreted three musical pieces, Jordi Barbé Garcia ended the event (one of the last he presides in this position, since he is retiring soon) with a few words of recognition and gratitude to the work carried out by the ICE as the organisational engine of these awards for 22 years. He also addressed the secondary school students and, after speaking to them about the importance of the values of self-criticism and humility when doing research, he conveyed this message: "I want to strongly encourage you to transform reality. And to do so through work, research and your studies".