UC3M brings scientific vanguard to bars in Leganés and Madrid for "Pint of Science" festival
5/13/26
A group of six researchers from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) will participate in the eleventh edition of Pint of Science, an international festival that aims to bring scientific knowledge closer to the general public through relaxed talks in bars. The event will take place from May 18 to 20, with UC3M scientific staff hosting sessions in Leganés and Madrid. Topics will range from sustainable aviation and biomedical brain imaging to the physics of friendship, green hydrogen, and paper robotics.
The majority of the University's programming will be held in Leganés, a city debuting a new venue this year at the Bomber Cocktail Bar (Plaza de Ventura Rodríguez, 4). Sessions will begin daily at 6:30 p.m., with free admission until capacity is reached.
Three days of science in Leganés
The program at the Leganés venue kicks off on Monday, May 18, with a session dedicated to engineering and energy. Elena Gordo and Juan Villemur, from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering, will explain in their talk ("Cellular structures for green H2 production") how additive manufacturing allows for the creation of efficient metallic structures for green hydrogen production. On the same day, Lisbeth Mena López, from UC3M’s RoboticsLab, will demonstrate how the ancient Japanese technique of origami is applied to soft robotics to create innovative robotic platforms ("Paper robots").
On Tuesday, May 19, the focus shifts to aeronautics with María Cerezo, from the UC3M Department of Aerospace Engineering. Under the title "What geese know and engineers forget" the researcher will analyze how aviation can reduce fuel consumption by more than 10% by imitating the formation flight of birds—a key advancement toward more sustainable and safer aviation.
The series in Leganés will conclude on Wednesday, May 20, with Anxo Sánchez, from the Department of Mathematics, who will explain the physics of personal relationships in his talk "We are social atoms: the physics of friendship" Sánchez will share the results of six years of research in Madrid high schools, addressing everything from reciprocity in bonds to the ability to predict bullying.
Biomedical imaging innovation in Madrid
UC3M's presence also extends to the capital. Researcher Ángel García de Lucas, from the UC3M Department of Bioengineering and researcher at IISGM—as well as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow and member of the YUFE alliance—will present the talk "Photographing the brain" During his presentation at Moe Club (Av. de Alberto Alcocer, 32), he will detail how new molecular imaging techniques are essential for better understanding and personalizing the treatment of pathologies such as epilepsy or schizophrenia.
By participating in this festival, UC3M reinforces its commitment to knowledge transfer, bringing cutting-edge research into everyday spaces to foster dialogue between the scientific community and society. The full schedule, locations, and links to other events are available on the official Pint of Science Spain website: https://pintofscience.es
