Abstract:

The main aim of the Innocampus Explora Innovation Project is to foster scientific and technological outreach activities from a multidisciplinary viewpoint. Over its 10 editions, the project has organized a variety of activities, including roundtables, theatrical performances, and product tastings, always incorporating the perspectives of the six participating centers. All activities involve faculty and students from every center at the Burjassot-Paterna Campus: Faculty of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, Faculty of Physics and School of Engineering. We present here the activities and results from the 2024-2025 academic year, focusing on bringing this multidisciplinary approach to the exploration of new possibilities in the fight against cancer. The first activity was a roundtable organized for World Cancer Day, featuring experts in fields such as biomedical research, nuclear physics, cosmetics, data analysis, and Artificial Inteligence aimed at improving diagnostics. These experts presented their areas of expertise and answered questions prepared by the student team as well as those posed by the audience in an open debate. The second activity was an outdoor fair held on World Health Day at the Burjassot Campus esplanade, with the participation of researchers, companies, associations, and organizations such as the Dragon-Boat team. This event showed advances in knowledge from various disciplines as well as activities that cancer survivors can undertake to improve their quality of life. Attendees could interact with the different exhibitors and participate in a quiz game with related questions. The event had a festive atmosphere with live music. Additionally, students participating in the project recorded interviews with the exhibitors, which will be available to the university community and the public on the project’s website. Both activities were successful in terms of participation and attendee feedback. Survey results showed that 97% of attendees rated the activity four or higher, and 100% considered the platform very suitable (rating 4 or higher) for raising awareness about multidisciplinarity. Survey comments included statements such as: “I found the talk very interesting for showing the importance of multidisciplinarity in scientific work groups,” demonstrating that the project is clearly achieving one of its main goals. Over the years, Innocampus Explora has been an example of innovation and interconnection between different faculties, forming a creative team of students and faculty. The project aims to help break down traditional barriers between different areas of scientific and technological knowledge by promoting a multidisciplinary approach, fostering creativity and innovation, and raising awareness about the need to train more well-rounded professionals prepared to face the challenges of an increasingly complex world.

Keywords:

Multidisciplinarity, Scientific outreach, Cancer research, Innovation, Higher education collaboration.