Science Workshops – Oncology (VDO) is an outreach and educational event aimed at secondary school students, with the ambition of bringing the topic of cancer research into schools across Slovakia through young scientists working in oncology research. VDO begins with a conference on 4 February, organized by the Cancer Research Foundation on the occasion of World Cancer Day (WCD), and ends on 7 March with Cancer Research Day. The WCD motto is “united by unique”, and it is expressed through the cooperation of the Cancer Research Institute of the Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the Cancer Research Foundation and the Faculty of Science of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.
On 18 February 2026, our students (3.B and selected fourth-year students) also took part, within this project, in a lecture followed by a discussion. The PhD students and researchers who visited us drew everyone's attention to the fact that almost 45% of cancer cases can be prevented by following the principles of a healthy lifestyle. They talked about the causes of cancer, their research projects and the modern methods and equipment they use in their research.
They also explained that cancer care requires a multidisciplinary approach, and in the discussion they tried to motivate our students, perhaps their future colleagues, to continue their education in the natural, medical and technical sciences at universities, and to pursue scientific careers in doctoral positions.
They concluded the meeting with a quiz in the Kahoot app, which provided excellent feedback for our students, and the winning trio received nice gifts from our guests.
We warmly thank our guests for sharing expert, up-to-date and interesting information about oncology, wish them every success in their research and hope to meet again next year.