Immersion Sciences 2021, with Ika Paul-Pont

Attracting young Bretons to scientific fields of study

Our biologist colleague Ika Paul-Pont took part in the 10th edition of the Immersion Sciences operation.

Demystifying the idea that young people have of scientific careers in order to encourage them to take up these courses of study after the baccalauréat is the ambition of the Immersion Sciences operation run by the Académie de Rennes, the Région Bretagne and the CNRS. Since 2011, at the end of March, around sixty students have usually had the chance to discover research careers for a week at the Île-Tudy nautical centre, in contact with passionate scientists.

Due to the health crisis, it was not possible this year to welcome a group of high school students to the Île-Tudy Nautical Centre, and the operation took place over two half-days of video-conferences with researchers organised on 30 and 31 March, before visits to laboratories at the end of the school year.

Ika Paul-Pont, the epidemiologist Caroline Rault and the physicist Maud Guézo, were able to talk about their activities and their careers, to dispel some of the persistent myths about researchers and to introduce young people to the world of research and scientific careers, in order to make them want to “do” science.

It was also an opportunity for Ika to talk about plastic pollution. The students were very concerned and their questions focused on both the facts (is it not too late? and in relation to climate change? what is the role of governments?) and on solutions (cleaning robots, new polymers).

We look forward to the 2022 edition!