B·Debate: International scientific debates in Barcelona

Personalized agriculture, open science, the importance of sleep and clinical proteomics were the topics of the scientific debates that took place in 2018 through B·Debate - International Center for Scientific Debate Barcelona. This Biocat initiative, with support from the “la Caixa” Foundation aims to drive top-notch international scientific events to promote dialogue, debate, collaboration and an open exchange of ideas, initiatives and knowledge among experts of renowned national and international prestige.

In 2018, four sessions were held with more than 600 participants and 102 speakers, 55% from abroad. The debates were organized jointly by 42 research organizations, 45% international, and took place at CosmoCaixa Barcelona.

Participants in the debates were from benchmark science organizations, including the Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG), University of Barcelona Learning and Research Resources Center (CRAI-UB), Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Lleida Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona, Barcelona Science Park (PCB), Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO).

The B·Debate program has its own website, fully redesigned in 2016, with the materials generated at each of the sessions in Catalan and English. B·Debate also shares the knowledge and results obtained through each debate in news articles, events with journalists and the Synopses.

The following B·Debate sessions were held in 2018:

When development meets stress: Understanding developmental reprogramming upon pathogenesis in plants (September 3 and 4)

Open science: from values to practice. Building a roadmap for transformative change (October 4 and 5)

Sleep: the Fourth Pillar of Health (October 18 and 19)

Clinical Proteomics: towards personalized medicine and health (November 7 and 8)