Research news

List of news published in the Press Room on research and innovation

  • Photonic snakes, a new instrument for revealing the secrets of light

    Researcher Salim B. Ivars, a doctoral student at the UPC’s Department of Physics, has collaborated with researchers from the Institute of Photonic Sciences and the Universitat Politècnica de València in the discovery of the so-called photonic snake states, a novel instrument that can greatly assist in unravelling the mysteries of light. The results of this research, led by the UPV, have been published in the scientific journal Nature Photonics.

  • The UPC is on the way to winning a global competition to protect rainforest biodiversity

    A team of researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), developing a cutting-edge technology to protect biodiversity in rainforests, is a finalist in the XPRIZE Rainforest, a ten-million-dollar international competition to transform our understanding of the complexity of rainforests. The final will take place in July 2024.

  • The UPC is among the world’s top 50 in the SDG Climate Action, according to the THE Impact Rankings

    In the latest edition of the THE Impact Rankings—which assess the impact of universities in achieving the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—the UPC is ranked the world’s 38th in Climate Action (SDG 13), climbing 33 positions from the previous edition.

  • New generation of antibacterial materials for medical implants developed

    The UPC’s Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering Group (BBT) leads the international project Bio-TUNE, which aims to develop multifunctional materials with high antibacterial potential and efficient tissue integration. The consortium is made up of ten research teams from Europe, America and Asia, and is funded through the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.

  • The UPC is one of the universities with the highest graduate employment rate in Spain according to the U-Ranking

    Developed by the BBVA Foundation and the Valencian Institute of Economic Research, the U-Ranking project published an analysis of graduate employment in the Spanish university system by degree subject area and by university on 16 May. The UPC is ranked 2nd-4th among 67 universities analysed.

  • The BSC and the UPC develop an AI tool to improve deaf people’s accessibility to technology

    It is an AI tool to convert sign language sentences recorded on video into spoken language in text format. To this end, the researchers have combined computer vision, natural language processing and machine learning techniques.

  • The UPC, leader in Knowledge Transfer and Regional Engagement in the latest edition of the CYD Ranking

    In the 2023 edition of the CYD Ranking, the UPC is once again the top Spanish university in Knowledge Transfer. It also shares the top position in Regional Engagement and achieves outstanding results in International Orientation. In the ranking by field, the UPC stands out in Earth Sciences, in which it is ranked among the top 3 universities.

  • Urgent International Call for Action to Reduce Human Noise in the Ocean

    Today, 8 June, on the occasion of World Oceans Day, international scientists are making an urgent call to reduce noise pollution at sea and safeguard marine ecosystems. In the following communication, they entreat governments around the world to act immediately. The experts call for actions that include fostering international collaboration, enforcing and strengthening regulations on acoustic pollution and investing in research and innovation.

  • New light shed on the development of quantum technologies

    Using quantum gas as a coolant sheds new light on the development of future quantum technologies. This is demonstrated by a team of international scientists—including researcher Grigori Astrakharchik, from the UPC’s Department of Physics—who have used state-of-the-art numerical techniques to study how two ionic quasiparticles interact with each other. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications.

  • The number of summer days in Spain has increased from 90 to 145 in the last 50 years, according to a study by the UPC

    The average temperature in the main Spanish cities has risen by 3.54 °C between 1971 and 2022. The country is among those with the most pronounced climatic anomalies in the world. Over the last 50 years, summer days have increased from 90 to 145, which accounts for a two-month increase in hot days. Tropical nights have jumped by 18, from an average of 45 to 63. These are the conclusions of a study by the Centre for Land Valuation Policy (CPSV) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC).

  • The ACTRIS ERIC platform, of which the UPC is a member, becomes a European infrastructure for atmospheric research

    The European Commission has decided to establish ACTRIS, a research infrastructure that studies the short-lived atmospheric components, as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium. Published on 3 April, the decision places the participating institutions—including the UPC and the BSC-CNS—at the forefront of global atmospheric exploration.

  • A study demonstrates that heat can freeze fluids in the quantum world

    An international research team has discovered that increasing the temperature of an ultracold fluid can trigger its phase transition to a solid state. The study was recently published in Nature Communication, with UPC researcher Juan Sánchez Baena as first author.

  • ESA BIC Barcelona issues a call to incubate aerospace start-ups

    The ESA BIC Barcelona incubation centre has started operating on the UPC’s Baix Llobregat Campus with a call for space technology and infrastructure start-ups. Promoted by the UPC, the Mediterranean Technology Park and the Government of Catalonia as part of the NewSpace Strategy, the programme will allow up to 18 companies to be incubated over three years.

  • A pioneering open-source platform for the next generation of cloud applications

    The UPC’s Department of Computer Architecture coordinates the European project Vitamin-V, which develops a complete set of hardware-software for cloud services, based on pioneering open-source technologies for RISC-V processors.

  • Nimble Diagnostics closes a financing round of one million euros

    NIMBLE Diagnostics, a spin-off of the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), the UPC and the University of Barcelona (UB), has successfully closed a funding round led by Grow Ventures, together with Namarel Ventures and the Inveniam Group, that has secured more than one million euros. NIMBLE is developing the first medical device to monitor patients with stent implants, thus avoiding serious complications and improving the clinical management of millions of patients each year.

  • UPC researchers design a device to harvest hydroelectric energy from water flowing in pipes

    The UPC’s Barcelona Fluids & Energy Lab and the Centre for Technological Innovation in Static Converters and Drives participate in the European project H-HOPE, focused on developing solutions to harvest green energy from as yet untapped water sources such as water pipes and canals.

  • International scientists warn of the serious impact of noise pollution on marine invertebrates

    An international scientific study, led by the UPC’s Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB), shows that noise from human operations at sea damages marine invertebrates and ocean ecosystems. Published in Frontiers in Marine Science, the work points out that noise pollution at sea can even cause death in some marine species.

  • The UPC participates in a marine regeneration project with industrial waste

    The Technological Development Centre for Remote Acquisition and Data Processing Systems (SARTI)—affiliated with the UPC’s EPSEVG —participates in the SEASLAG project, which will provide solutions to fight marine biodiversity loss by developing a new sustainable material for the construction of marine regeneration structures. This material will incorporate by-products from the steel and agri-food industries, thus contributing to circular economy.

  • Researcher Justin Zoppe wins an ERC Consolidator Grant to develop new chiral metamaterials

    The European Research Council has awarded a Consolidator Grant to UPC researcher Justin Zoppe from the Materials Science and Engineering Department to develop new metamaterials for detecting molecular chirality. The researcher will receive funding of two million euros to conduct the study over five years.

  • Neutron star that behaves like a black hole discovered

    An international scientific team including researcher Yuri Cavecchi, from the UPC’s Department of Physics, and led by the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands has found a neutron star that captures matter from a companion star in a violent and unstable process. This process, previously observed only in very bright black holes, opens the door to new insights into the behaviour of stars. The study is published in the journal Nature.

  • The UPC participates in a €25-million European project to improve the response to climate change-related emergencies

    The UPC’s Centre of Applied Research in Hydrometeorology participates in the European project RESIST, which aims to improve preparedness for weather emergencies and thus increase resilience to climate change. RESIST receives EU funding under the Horizon programme.

  • Artificial intelligence for increased navigational safety

    The Centre for Language and Speech Technologies and Applications—part of the UPC’s Intelligent Data Science and Artificial Intelligence research centre—and the CIMNE’s Center for Innovation in Transport participate in the OCEAN project, which aims to increase navigational safety. Researchers from these centres will develop algorithms based on signal processing and machine learning to detect obstacles at sea.

  • Unite! will work with Ukrainian universities on the green transformation of campus

    The Unite! alliance, of which the UPC is a member, will work with Ukrainian universities on developing a green campus model. The aim of the collaboration is to contribute to Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction process and its integration into the European Union.

  • Innovative solutions for muscle injuries, autonomous driving and beach safety at MWC 2023

    The UPC, through the Innovation and Technology Centre (CIT UPC), presents its technological capabilities and cutting-edge projects at MWC Barcelona 2023, which takes place from 27 February to 2 March. Its technology will be shown at the University’s stand in the Catalonia pavilion of the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via venue. At the same time, the UPC will be participating in 4YFN, the innovation ecosystem’s international meeting, which features over thirty technology-based spin-offs and start-ups led by UPC students, alumni and research staff.

  • The UPC and the Castelldefels City Council inaugurate DroneLab, a unique laboratory and flight facility for UAVs

    On 11 November, the Drone Research Laboratory (DroneLab) was opened on the UPC Baix Llobregat Campus in Castelldefels. Pioneering in Spain and Europe, it is a multidisciplinary facility for conducting tests and validating and training UAV-based applications. The new laboratory, which is part of the Mediterranean Technology Park, is intended for research and teaching purposes but also for the business sector.

  • 1-minute exposure to monochromatic light modifies neural connections

    A study led by researchers from the UPC’s Terrassa School of Optics and Optometry (FOOT) shows that 1-minute stimulation with blue, green or red light activates several visual and non-visual brain regions. The study opens new avenues for better understanding the impact of light stimulation on brain function and its use to treat visual dysfunction, depression symptoms, circadian rhythm disruption, migraine and memory or attention disorders.

  • WEAVE spectrograph begins study of galaxy formation and evolution

    More than 500 astronomers from all over Europe, including members of Catalan universities and research centres—the UPC and the ICCUB—have designed and planned a total of five years of operations for the WEAVE spectrograph, a powerful instrument recently installed at the Canary Islands observatory. Combined with Gaia’s measurements, it makes it possible to study a wide range of cases in stellar and galactic science. The first observations show unprecedented aspects of the collision between the galaxies at the heart of Stephan’s Quintet, 280 million light-years from Earth.

  • Power electronics solutions to modernise the power grid

    The UPC’s CITCEA coordinates the European iPLUG project, under the Horizon Europe programme, to develop power electronics solutions to allow a smooth integration of multiple renewable sources, energy storage systems and loads in the distribution grid.

  • ICFO awarded the National Innovation Award

    The award from the Department of Research and Universities of the Government of Catalonia and the Foundation for Research and Innovation of Catalonia (FCRi) recognizes the creation of ICFO’s technology spin-off, LuxQuanta.

  • The UPC participates in the research programme for the future quantum internet

    The new research programme coordinated by the ICFO, in which the UPC and other entities participate, aims to develop technologies for the future quantum Internet.