A series of conferences marked the starting point, this Tuesday, of the celebration of events to mark 50 years of biology studies in Valencia. The celebration, which will last during the 2017-2018 academic year, will coincide with the appointment as an 'honoris causa' doctor of the University of Alicante professor Francis J. Mojica, a former student of the center, and with the inauguration of the Natural History Museum. Biology studies began in the old Faculty of Sciences, and the current Faculty of Biological Sciences was created in 1977.

L’embolic de Darwin. Revisiting the controversy over l'ull in L'origen de les espècies, by professor and member of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans Martí Domínguez, is the first conference of the cycle, and took place on Tuesday the 3rd, at 1:00 p.m., in the Darwin room on the Burjassot-Paterna Campus. Martí Domínguez graduated and received a PhD in Biology from the University of Valencia and is currently a professor of Journalism at the Faculty of Philology, Translation and Communication. He is also director of the scientific journal Mètode, as well as a columnist and distinguished writer with literary awards.

The scheduled lecture series includes specialists such as Anna Traveset (Mediterranean Institute of Advanced Studies, CSIC-UIB, Jaume I Environment Prize 2017) and Antonio Lazcano (member of the National College, professor at UNAM and doctor honoris causa from the University of Valencia). Also participating are Ada Yonath (Weizmann Institute, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009), José Luis Sanz (Autonomous University of Madrid), María José Sanz (director of the Basque Center for Climate Change, Nobel Peace Prize 2007, as a member of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Climate Change) and Ángela Nieto (Institute of Neurosciences of Alicante, Jaume I Prize for Basic Research 2009).

The program of events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of university biology studies in Valencia includes the appointment as an honorary doctor of the University of Alicante professor Francis J. Mojica, discoverer of CRISPR, the basis of a revolutionary genome editing technique, and former student of the Faculty of Biological Sciences of the University of Valencia. The anniversary will also coincide with the inauguration of the new facilities of the Natural History Museum of the University of Valencia.

The Faculty of Biological Sciences, located on the Burjassot-Paterna Campus of the University of Valencia, currently teaches degrees in Biology, Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences and coordinates nine official master's degrees and three doctoral programs, studies that this year bring together more than 2,000 students.

Caption:

The poster commemorating the 50th anniversary of biology studies in Valencia, by designer Dani Sanchis, offers an allegorical vision of the fabulous diversity of life.