The VIRTCHEM project: the virtual immersive education for chemistry and chemical engineering

Virtual immersive laboratories should be considered as an appealing and synergistic possibility for education in science, technology and engineering, strongly complementary to experimental activities performed in laboratory or exercises delivered in traditional rooms. Traditionally, degree courses in chemical sciences have been delivered using traditional teaching approaches, classroom exercises and real experiments in laboratories. Recently, innovative teaching methodologies have been proposed on the basis of the use of simulation science [1]. In this context, a new didactic project called VIRTCHEM was proposed by the three universities of Milan (Università degli Studi), Paris (Sorbonne Universite) and Prague (Charles University) proposing virtual laboratories in the various fields of chemistry and chemical engineering. The project was based on to the use of different types of virtual reality (VR) software for an immersive experience within the reproduction of chemistry laboratories, an industrial chemistry plant and investigation of structure of molecules. Students used these immersive programs in rooms equipped with VR workstations in the virtual rooms located in the departments of the three universities. During virtual exercises, specifically prepared according to educational goals, students collected information and data that required their interpretation, analysis and discussion in working teams to promote not only their learning but also their soft skills and critical thinking. Ten students from each university were selected to participate to the project. Preliminary lessons, about the theoretical background of the virtual exercises, were delivered as distance lessons and then three working weeks in Milan, Paris and Prague were conducted in presence during the spring of 2022 year. The project was funded by the 4eu+ European University Alliance (https://4euplus.eu/4EU-183.html).