Educational interventions related to youth always deserve being analyzed. This paper thus brings forward a reflection that begins with a fundamental delimitation of how we understand youngsters. It then presents a specific project - Jovens Talentos (Young Talents) - that initiates the students of public schools in the State of Rio de Janeiro to science. They perform scientific activities under the direction of a researcher and use a laboratory. We tried to analyze how the students that underwent this experience understand it. This initiative is held as fundamental in some issues related to the independence and autonomy of the student, which shows the importance of educational actions directed to youngsters.
Youth; Autonomy; Initiation to research