The UB and Gremi de Pastisseria de Barcelona create Mia, an Easter cake to arise scientific vocations

The project Mones de Ciència has been presented at the Escola de Pastisseria del Gremi de Barcelona. The rector’s delegate for scientific dissemination, Gemma Marfany, highlighted that “the project’s value is that it is about scientific dissemination to enjoy with the family and to be shared, relating it to our tradition, the Easter cake”. “This is about giving chocolate, which is a pleasure, and sharing it with science: a physical and an intellectual pleasure”, she noted. Meritxell Aulinas, lecturer at the UB Faculty of Earth Sciences and promoter of the project, put emphasis on the fact that geology is the main character of this year’s edition: “This fundamental science, which studies the Earth, is probably one of the most unknown, although its applications in our daily life are many. This sweet project resulted from an aim to promote interest in geology among young (and not so young) people in a ludic and playful way”.

The president of the guild, Antoni Bellart, noted that, when the UB suggested working on this project, they instantly wanted to join. “For years, bakers have repeated superheroes and princesses as Easter cakes —he said— and we believe it is a good idea to bring a character that can inspire children to be scientists. This is only the first edition, but we hope Mia to gain her place in the bakeries and in children’s minds”. The guild invited all the members to join this initiative and has provided the molds so that Mia looks the same in every bakery that is part of this project.

 Mia and the little scientists

 In this first edition, Mia is a geologist and she is surrounded by big quartz crystals. Also, she has a QR code made of chocolate so that children can visit a website about geology and find some of the most important concepts of this discipline. With simple texts, drawings and other resources, the young ones will find out the uses of geology, its applications or why we need it.

Mia, who is always accompanied by little scientists —called ciencis—, has a superpower: she can turn into a new scientist every year. Therefore, she could be a chemist, a biologist, or a physicist, for instance, in the upcoming editions. 

Mones de Ciència is a project by the University of Barcelona in collaboration with the Gremi de Pastisseria de Barcelona (Barcelona’s patisserie guild). It was driven by the rector’s delegate for scientific dissemination and the Vice-rector’s Office for Research, and it has been coordinated by the Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit (UCC+i) of the UB.

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