Over 300 secondary school students participate in the 20th edition of Campus Ítaca

The profile of students targeted by the project is that of pupils with good study skills but who, due to their socio-economic situation or the lack of close adult references with higher education, find themselves at an 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 and to promote the use of Catalan as a language of communication.

The participants will be divided into two shifts: the first will take place at the UAB from 26 June to 4 July, and the second from 6 to 14 July. During the Campus Ítaca, students will carry out pedagogical activities in groups: workshops, debates, projects, etc., coordinated by UAB teaching staff where they put research methodologies into practice, as well as recreational and sporting activities that promote both healthy habits and socialisation. This year sees the launch of two new activities on the creation of a political party and on the fauna present on the Bellaterra campus.

The students are accompanied by a group of instructors made up of UAB students who are with them during their stay. At the end of each shift, a closing ceremony is held, attended by the participants' families, and where the results of the research projects carried out by each group are presented.

All the students participating in this year's Campus Ítaca come from secondary schools in the Vallès Occidental and Vallès Oriental regions, 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 Ullastret.

The Campus Ítaca has been running since 2004. Over these twenty editions, 6,800 secondary school students have taken part in it. Students who finish secondary school at one of the centres that have participated in the initiative and who enrol in their first year of any bachelor's degree offered by the UAB's own centres are eligible for the Ítaca-Banc Santander scholarships. The scholarship includes the payment of 500 euros per month for ten months, renewable over the years of the bachelor's degree. It also includes free tuition for credits enrolled for the first time. Since its creation, 281 young people have already benefited from these grants and now 24 new scholarships are being offered for the next academic year.