Location: Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia

Pequeños Científicos is an innovative project whose aim is to promote elementary school students’ critical thinking and interest in research and experimental sciences. Their experience is based on observation, experimentation, and the discussion of ideas and natural phenomena.  The program provides students the opportunity to develop a basic scientific understanding thanks to the development of experiments that in turn give them the essential tools to interact with the world around them. 

The program was created in 2000 by a group of educational and scientific institutions from Colombia and France - the Universidad de los Andes, the Liceo Francés Louis Pasteur from Bogotá and Maloka. The program’s success is reflected by its fast growth: while in 2001 the Project took place in two cities and benefited 3,000 children, today it has reached 10 cities and 12,000 elementary students.  Since 2003 Pequeños Científicos has received the support from the Colombian’s Ministry of Education, and since 2006 the country’s most prestigious public university, the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

The program created a University network in order to guarantee the project’s execution in each region.  Since 2004, the Universidad de Ibagué has been in charge of the project in the department of Tolima.  The Genesis Foundation has supported the initiative in Ibagué, Tolima since 2006, allowing for the strengthening and evaluation of the project in fourteen public and three private schools, benefiting more than 6,000 students and 150 teachers who have been trained and given materials for their classes.

For more information about this institution, or to make a direct contribution, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it