Teachers are the main promoters of the education of our citizens, training thousands of students throughout their careers. The teacher training programs that Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência develops aim to support the professional development of these professionals and ensure that they are up to date on the latest advances in science, use and share the best experimental science teaching methodologies and are equipped with all the resources necessary for the implementation of experimental activities in the classroom.

The IGC offers training programs in life sciences for teachers of levels 1 and 2 of Portuguese Basic Education (roughly equivalent to elementary and middle school, or ages 5 through 12) and PALOP countries (Cape Verde, Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe), within the scope of the Lab in a Box project. IGC’s theoretical-practical courses “Inspirar Ciência” are aimed at teachers of level 3 of Portuguese Basic Education and Secondary Education (roughly equivalent to high school, ages 12 through 18).

Inspirar Ciência

The theoretical-practical courses “Inspirar Ciência” (Inspiring Science) aim to update high school teachers (teachers of level 3 Basic Education and Secondary Education in Portugal) on the advances made in the ​​life sciences, and allow them to introduce the most recent existing knowledge in their classrooms. These courses take place at the IGC over a period of 4 days and consist of lectures that explore theoretical concepts, experimental work carried out in the IGC laboratories and development of a project or lesson plan. The “Inspirar Ciência” teacher trainers are researchers and highly skilled technicians from Insituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, and the experimental work developed is eminently transferable to the classroom.

The next “Inspirar Ciência” course will be announced soon.  For more information contact: [email protected] .

Educational Resources

Elementary through high school teachers, kindergarten educators, science communicators and all life science enthusiasts are invited to explore the educational resources that IGC produces and makes available for free on the website Ciência em Três.

This digital platform brings together protocols for the development of experimental activities in the classroom, animations that illustrate biological processes and research papers that address cutting-edge research areas. All educational resources were developed or verified by IGC scientists and tested with students and teachers.

Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência also supports the development of scientific projects by teachers and students of all levels of education, in the classroom and in Science Clubs. This support includes guidance on choosing scientific questions and/or topics, access to literature, experimentation material (biological and others), scientists and services. For more information contact: [email protected].