Ponteciencia ends in Pontevedra; top prizes go to marine-science projects
- Pontenciencia closed on May 9 in Pontevedra with its prize ceremony, capping the 13th school-and-family science fair at the Forestry Engineering School. - One of the standout winners was “Océanos en cambio,” a family project on how acidification affects bivalve growth, which also took the Vigo Oceanographic Center prize. - The fair gathered about 350 students after 43 workshops, showing how local science outreach now ties classroom projects to real coastal research.
A school science fair can sound small. But Pontenciencia is the kind of local event that shows what science outreach actually looks like when it works — kids building projects, families joining in, and real researchers helping judge the results. This year’s edition wrapped up on May 9 in Pontevedra, and the projects that stood out most were not abstract at all. They were about sugar, rot, estuaries, and ocean acidification — basically, the stuff that touches daily life in Galicia’s coastal economy. ### What just happened? The 13th edition of Pontenciencia ended with an awards ceremony at the Escola de Enxeñería Forestal on the Pontevedra campus. The fair ran on May 8 and 9 and serves as the final public phase of a longer education program built around school workshops, student research, and family participation. This year it brought together close to 350 students. (diariodepontevedra.es) ### Why is the marine-science prize the eye-catcher? Because one of the most notable winning projects tackled ocean acidification — a very real problem for shell-forming species. The family team Dalama Ave won with “Océanos en cambio: como afecta a acidificación ao crecemento dos moluscos bivalvos,” and that same project also received the prize sponsored by the Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo. In plain English, the project asked what more acidic water does to shellfish growth. For a region where bivalves matter economically and culturally, that lands immediately. (diariodepontevedra.es) ### Which projects won the main school prizes? In the “Ciencia no cole” category, the top prize, Marie Curie, went to CEE de Pontevedra for “Sonríe sen azucre.” Second place, the Maruja Mallo prize, went to CEIP de Ponte Sampaio for “Carreira de podremia.” Third, the Ángeles Alvariño prize, went to CEIP A Xunqueira 2 for “Alfonso X o Sabio influencer do século XIII.” That mix tells you a lot about the fair — health, biology, and even science communication through history all fit inside the same tent. (diariodepontevedra.es) ### What about the family category? The family projects were a big part of the story. “Océanos en cambio” took second in that category, while the third prize went to the Said Valcarce family for “Os limpiadores da ría.” The format matters because it turns science from a school assignment into something done across generations. That is a different kind of outreach — less about memorizing facts, more about learning how to ask a question and test it. (lavozdegalicia.es) ### How big is Pontenciencia, really? It is bigger than a two-day fair makes it look. Before the final event, the program had already run 43 workshops in schools. The public fair then added presentations of more than 27 investigations plus over 20 workshops and outreach activities. So the awards are the visible ending, but the real engine is months of guided scientific practice. (diariodepontevedra.es) ### Why does the coastal angle matter in Galicia? Because acidification is not some distant textbook issue here. Galicia’s estuaries support shellfish and aquaculture, and recent regional research has pointed to strong acidification patterns in the Ría de Vigo, especially near the surface. A student-family project on bivalves is still a school project, obviously, but it connects cleanly to a live environmental question in the same coastal system. (novo.uvigo.gal) ### Who is behind the event? Pontenciencia is promoted by Pontevedra’s city government and backed by FECYT, with support from the University of Vigo and research staff from CSIC centers including the Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo and the Misión Biolóxica de Galicia. The judging setup matters because it gives student work a real bridge to working scientists, not just classroom grading. ### Bottom line What happened in Pontevedra was not just a prize ceremony. (gal.galiciapress.es) It was a snapshot of how a city builds scientific culture early — by letting students and families work on questions that feel local, concrete, and worth answering. This year, the project that best captured that spirit was the one about acidifying seas and growing shellfish. In coastal Galicia, that is not a niche topic. It is the future showing up in a school fair. (diariodepontevedra.es) (educacion.pontevedra.gal)
