The Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC) of the University of Granada will participate in the province's most important outreach festival, featuring workshops, science communication initiatives in schools, a cineforum and interdisciplinary micro-encounters.
From April 18 to 26, Granada will celebrate the Desgranando Fest, a scientific outreach festival with 90 activities and 139 speakers. It is a collective celebration of knowledge, where creativity, scientific culture and curiosity will take shape in a variety of events. In this 2026 edition, the CIMCYC will take psychology and neuroscience out of the laboratories and into the squares, classrooms, cinemas and unique spaces of Granada. Through our participation, we invite people to discover fascinating topics about our mind, brain and behavior:
The CIMCYC schedule at Desgranando FEST
1. Micro-encounter: Critical thinking
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Date and location: April 20 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Carmen de los Mártires
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Participants: Manuela Moreno (the CIMCYC-UGR), along with Daniel Manzano (University of Granada) and Jorge Frías (ARP-SAPC). An interdisciplinary conversation about our thinking. They will analyze why our brain is fast for some tasks and slow for others, and how cognitive biases shape not only our individual decisions but also the functioning of society.
2. Cineforum: "Experimenter: The Stanley Milgram Story"
Screening of documentary pieces about the project carried out by Stanley Milgram in the 1960s, followed by a guided debate.
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Date and location: April 20 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Sala Máxima del V Centenario
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Participants: Juan de Dios Salas (Director of the University Cineclub) and Laura Torres Vega (Head of Welfare, Equality and Diversity at the CIMCYC and social psychology researcher). A unique opportunity to delve into and reflect on one of the most famous and controversial experiments in social psychology regarding obedience to authority.
3. Micro-encounter: Science in motion
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Date and location: April 22 | 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Faculty of Sciences Hall
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Participants: Antonio Fernández Morillas (UCC, UGR), Sara Toro Ballesteros (FCCE, UGR), Julio Santiago de Torres and Pablo Solana Romero (CIMCYC, UGR). This tour proposes an open dialogue between architecture, literature and experimental psychology in front of the UGR pendulums. This is not a traditional lecture, but an open and relaxed dialogue between researchers and the public to explore how our mind constructs the idea of time.
4. Outreach missions: "Returning to talk about science"
Our researchers return to the educational centers where they were once students, or with which they have a special connection, to inspire new generations:
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April 22 (10:00 a.m.): Sara Mata Sierra presents "Yes you can!, Showing learning potential" at CEIP Jardín de la Reina (Granada).
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April 23 (9:00 a.m.): Gracia Jiménez Fernández presents "Discovering hidden words" at CEIP Las Mimbres (Maracena).
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April 23 (9:15 a.m.): Natalia Hidalgo Ruzzante presents "Does fear leave traces? A journey inside the brain to understand violence" at IES Miguel de Cervantes (Granada).
5. How does the brain (re)construct our reality?
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Date and location: April 26 | 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. | Plaza Bib Rambla
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Location: UGRdivulga Tent. An interactive activity for the whole family.
How can our brain, enclosed in the black box of the skull, analyze everything around us? Behind each of our perceptions, thoughts and actions are fascinating and complex cognitive processes. Through interaction with perceptual illusions, simple experiments and dialogues with researchers from the CIMCYC, we will explore the mechanisms our brain uses to interpret information received from the senses and thus shape our reality. Join us to get closer to everyday science and learn about human brain, mind and behavior!
This festival is promoted by the Hablando de Ciencia association, with the support of institutions such as the University of Granada, to which the CIMCYC belongs, the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC), the Parque de las Ciencias and the European Space Agency's Space Education Resource Office—ESERO Spain, ESA, coordinated in Spain by the Parque—the Granada City Council, the Granada Provincial Council, and the group of CSIC centers in the province—the Zaidín Experimental Station (EEZ-CSIC), the López-Neyra Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicina (IPBLN-CSIC), the School of Arabic Studies (EEA-CSIC), the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME) and the Andalusian Institute of Earth Sciences (IACT)—among others.
All information and the full festival program can be found on the official website: https://desgranandofest.com/