Dones de Ciència reaches 50 murals

The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) has today unveiled the 50th mural in its Dones de Ciència project. Located at the CEIP Sibila La Mercer in Picassent, the mural is the work of the artist Andrea Oliva. It pays tribute to Patricia Smeyers, a Valencian paediatric neurologist specialising in childhood epilepsy.

The mural features Smeyers, along with the silhouette of a little girl whose head gives rise to various connections, linking to graphic elements that refer to her scientific work. Andrea Oliva – known artistically as Laoliwa – also captures Smeyers' outreach work, with a direct reference to *La pócima de las ausencias* (*The Potion for Absence Seizures*), the first of her stories in which she explains, in a didactic and accessible way, what absence seizures are, how they are diagnosed and treated.

"For me, this is one of the greatest honours I have ever received in my life; all the more so as it was the school itself that proposed my name and chose me as a role model for all the children who fill its classrooms and playground every day. Andrea has beautifully captured what I always strive to convey: on the one hand, the work for and on behalf of children with neurological conditions; and, on the other, optimism, expressed in this case through the smile and colours of the mural," said Patricia Smeyers during the unveiling.

For her part, Andrea Oliva expressed her gratitude to the school, the researcher herself and the university: "For me, being part of this project, which highlights the role of women in science and art, has been a great gift, especially in a context such as the one we have been experiencing since 11 May, marked by the strike in defence of public education." In this regard, the Valencian artist has painted a message of support on another wall of the school with the slogan "Estimem l'educació pública" ("We support public education").

A special academic year for Dones de Ciència

The first of the Dones de Ciència murals was the one honouring Margarita Salas on the façade of the UPV's rectorate building, unveiled in February 2019. With the one in Picassent, the project has now reached fifty murals this academic year, all paying tribute to great female scientists, each a leading figure in her respective discipline.

In addition to reaching this figure, the project achieved other significant milestones during the 2025–26 academic year: in December, it was awarded a Búho prize in the Innovation and Transformative Ideas in Educational Institutions category.

"Since its beginnings, Dones de Ciència has brought together three fields that rarely interact: urban art, scientific dissemination and education. And it has done so with a clear purpose: to show new generations that science also has a woman's face. The project is transforming schools into vibrant learning spaces and role models, and will continue to do so next academic year, with new murals and new initiatives centred around the project," said Salomé Cuesta, Vice-Rector for Art, Science, Technology and Society at the UPV, during the unveiling of the mural in Picassent.

Another major milestone for the project took place last March, when the UPV brought Dones de Ciència to the Seat & Cupra factory in Martorell (Barcelona). Created by the Galician artist Lidia Cao, the mural pays tribute to Dorothy Levitt, the inventor of the rear-view mirror. It was unveiled as part of the 8 March International Women's Day celebrations and is the first mural in the project to be located outside the Valencian Community.

The project is supported by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.