Over 300 secondary school students to take part in the 21st edition of Campus Ítaca

The profile of participants targeted by the project is that of students with good study skills but who, due to their socioeconomic situation or the lack of close adult references with higher education, are in a situation of educational disadvantage. In addition to encouraging them to continue studying, the Campus Ítaca aims to become a space for coexistence between boys and girls from different social backgrounds, as well as to promote the use of Catalan as a language of communication.

Participants will be divided into two sessions: the first will stay at the UAB from 26 June to 4 July, and the second will take place between 8 and 16 July. Campus Ítaca offers them the chance to work in groups and take part in paedagogical activities - workshops, debates, projects, etc. - coordinated by UAB lecturers and in which they put into practice research methodologies, as well as recreational and sports activities that promote both healthy habits and socialisation. This year four new activities will be offered: creative dance, 3D construction, positive psychology and healthy use of new technologies.

UAB instructors 

The students are accompanied by a set of 24 instructors made up of UAB students who are with them during their stay on campus, as well as when they travel around the campus and during meals, which are considered just another activity of the programme. At the end of each session, a closing ceremony is organised, attended by the families of the participants, in which the results of the research projects carried out by each group are shown. The closing ceremony for the first session will take place on 4 July, and for the second session on 16 July. Both events will start at 5 p.m. and take place simultaneously in the conference hall of the Rectorat building and in the UAB Auditorium, located at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.

All students participating in this year's Campus Ítaca come from secondary schools in the Vallès region, specifically from the towns of Badia del Vallès, Barberà del Vallès, Caldes de Montbui, Canovelles, Castellar del Vallès, Cerdanyola del Vallès, La Garriga, Montcada i Reixac, Palau-solità i Plegamans, Polinyà, Ripollet, Rubí, Sabadell, Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, Sentmenat, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Sant Quirze del Vallès, Terrassa, Viladecavalls and Ullastrell.

Campus Ítaca has been held since 2004. Throughout its different editions, nearly 7,000 secondary school students have participated. Students who finish upper secondary school at one of the centres participating in the initiative and who enroll in the first year of any degree programme offered by the UAB's own teaching centres are eligible for an Ítaca-Banco Santander salary grant. The grant includes the payment of 500 euros per month for ten months, renewable during the years of duration of the degree. It also includes free tuition for first-time credits. Since its creation, nearly three hundred young people have already benefited from these grants.