18:00 CET on 29 September
Estupinyà writes for media outlets, takes part in radio and television programs, and combines these activities with talks on science, motivation, innovation, well-being, and sexuality. He also participates in science communication events, provides consulting and advisory services to companies, and contributes to educational initiatives whenever the opportunity arises.
One distinctive aspect of his career is his extensive expertise in the field of sexuality, developed through his research, experiences, and the impact of his book S=EX2: The Science of Sex. Pere has become a leading voice in the Spanish-speaking world, giving talks, participating in seminars and workshops, providing personalized coaching, and appearing in the media to discuss the bio-psycho-sociology of sexuality in a rigorous and unconventional way.
As a writer, he is the author of the popular science books The Brain Thief (El ladrón de cerebros), Rascar donde no pica (2012), S=EX2: The Science of Sex (S=EX2, la ciencia del sexo) (2013), and Comer cerezas con los ojos cerrados (2016), which have been translated into several languages and received excellent reviews.
Join us at 18:00 CET on 29 September where Pere will discuss:
- Science journalism in Spain
- How science communication has changed in the last 10 years
- Predictions for the future of science journalism
Background
Pere holds degrees in Chemistry and Biochemistry, a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Metabolism, and began a PhD in Genetics, which he left unfinished but promises to return to someday. A convinced self-taught learner, he also completed several specialized courses in communication and journalism. However, his transformative experience came in 2007–08, when he had the great honor of becoming the first Spaniard to receive a fellowship from the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He spent 10 months immersed in the laboratories and classrooms of MIT and Harvard, learning more than at any other time in his life and undergoing a kind of gestation (or metamorphosis) from which his alter ego, “the brain thief,” would emerge.
Professionally,he considers himself a writer, TV presenter, screenwriter or producer, speaker, business and international-organization consultant, entrepreneur, coach, or, within the field of science communication, depending on how critically he writes, either a science communicator or a journalist.
He unexpectedly entered the audiovisual world in October 2001, when Eduard Punset recruited him for TVE’s REDES, where he worked as an editor until 2005. He later directed several projects in areas as diverse as education and business, but moved away from the cameras after relocating to the United States. His interest in television returned in 2014, when he presented a documentary for TV3 entitled Inversió de Futur, and the idea emerged of bringing The Brain Thief and S=EX2: The Science of Sex to the screen. In 2015, he produced 13 episodes of the series El Ladrón de Cerebros en Ecuador, and in 2016 came the major opportunity to develop El cazador de cerebros with production company Minifilms for TVE.
While in the United States, Pere also worked in the communications department of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Washington, D.C. He served for five years as the MIT Knight Science Journalism Tracker, worked as a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Organization of American States (OAS), and spent many years blogging, writing Scientific Notes from MIT (Apuntes científicos desde el MIT) for El País.
Pere describes himself as “a brain thief who writes about science as an excuse to learn it,” and often finds it difficult to distinguish between profession and vocation. Yet despite frequently finding himself fantasizing about bosons, trilobites, or neural synapses, he is absolutely convinced that scientific knowledge is not an end in itself, but an extraordinarily powerful tool for building a better and more sustainable world, creating more efficient and innovative jobs and businesses, and leading healthier, wiser, and happier lives.