Research news

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

  • More investment for the UPC spin-off Cebiotex to advance its oncology treatment

    A 2.2 million euros investment will allow the biotech Cebiotex - a spin-off from the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital and the UPC - to continue clinical trials with CEB-01 in adult patients and initiate trials in pediatric oncology patients.

  • A UPC study shows that human-generated noise can contribute to deplete seagrass posidonia populations

    When exposed to human noise, specimens of the seagrass Posidonia reveal permanent and severe lesions in their sensory organs—whose function is to sense gravity—that threaten their survival. This is the main conclusion of a recent study by the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC), entitled “Seagrass Posidonia is impaired by human-generated noise”, which was published in Nature Communications Biology. These new findings demonstrate not only that plants have the physiological ability to perceive sounds, but also, and just as importantly, that commonly encountered sources of noise in the ocean can contribute to depleting their populations.

  • BIOCOM-SC: keeping a close eye on COVID-19

    For over a year now, the UPC’s Computational Biology and Complex Systems Group (BIOCOM-SC) has been working steadily, studying the data and making forecasts about the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Catalonia and Europe. A key task that has highlighted the value of science and technology and the need to make knowledge available to society.

  • UPC researchers obtain for the first time solutions for a fluid capable of simulating any Turing machine

    Researchers from the UPC’s Geometry of Manifolds and Applications (GEOMVAP) research group and the CSIC’s Institute of Mathematical Sciences have managed, for the first time, to construct solutions for a fluid capable of simulating any Turing machine. The result of the study was published in the journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)'.

  • Extrasolar flares detected by using the GPS

    Manuel Hernández-Pajares, a researcher from the Department of Mathematics at the UPC, and David Moreno-Borràs, an alumnus of the Barcelona School of Informatics (FIB), have developed a system that detects stellar flares - sudden increases in star radiation - by using the signals emitted by satellite navigation systems, popularly known as GPS.

  • UPC, Vall d’Hebron and UAB researchers design an app to help assess the severity of symptoms in chronic fatigue syndrome

    The technology uses a chest strap connected to a mobile app that measures heart rate variability. Researchers have shown that heart rate variability is related to the severity of fatigue in women with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis.

  • The UPC, leader in patent filing

    The UPC is the leading Spanish university in filing patent applications, according to data from the European Patent Office.

  • App based on intangible cultural heritage to prevent memory loss in the elderly

    The UPC’s Soft Computing research group is leading the LONG-REMI project for designing an app for reminiscence therapy. The project is being developed jointly by researchers from the UPC, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra (Portugal).

  • Three CREB UPC projects receive awards in the 2021 CaixaResearch Validate call

    A 3D game-based platform for virtual training in surgical techniques, new software that aids the mechanical ventilation of patients and a certification for artificial intelligence systems in health are the three proposals of the CREB UPC that have been selected in the “la Caixa” Foundation’s 2021 CaixaResearch Validate call

  • The UPC confers an honorary doctoral degree on engineer and MIT researcher Antonio Torralba

    Engineer Antonio Torralba is a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, and head of the Artificial Intelligence and Decision-Making (AI+D) Faculty at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. On 11 March, he has been awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the UPC at an event that has been broadcasted live on YouTube. Torralba is a graduate from the Barcelona School of Telecommunications Engineering (ETSETB). He is a pioneer in the research on computer vision and the application of artificial intelligence in this field.

  • A UPC-led project to restore European coasts with natural solutions and blue carbon underway

    The Maritime Engineering Laboratory (LIM) of the UPC is leading a European project to restore the coast and adapt it to climate change. It is a shock plan for the next four years funded by the European Union under the European Green Deal. Pilot projects will be carried out on the Ebro Delta and other locations in the Mediterranean, the Baltic, the Black Sea and the North Sea.

  • Among 100 most innovative European universities

    The UPC ranks 84th and is the top Spanish technical university in Thomson Reuters’ ranking of Europe’s Most Innovative Universities – 2017, a list that identifies and ranks the educational institutions doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies, and help drive the global economy.

  • The UPC continues to be the top Spanish university in obtaining funds from the Horizon 2020 programme

    By activity, the UPC scores high in grants from the European Research Council (ERC), from Marie Curie actions and from the programmes dedicated to environment and climate action, security, and information and communication technologies.

  • UPC rises 46 places in QS World University Rankings 2018

    Once again, the UPC ranks amongst the world’s top 300 universities as it did two years ago. It holds 275th place on the QS World University Rankings 2018, published on 8 June. The UPC ranks 120th in Europe, in Spain it is the sixth ranked university overall and the top technical university, and in Catalonia it holds third position.

  • 200 ‘ICT women’ from around the world meet at the womENcourage conference

    The UPC has hosted the 2017 international womENcourage conference, a scientific and networking meeting in which over 200 students, researchers and professionals linked to the field of computer science have participated. The conference, which took place in Spain for the first time, aims to be a meeting point for sharing professional experiences, success stories and debate on fostering vocations, especially those of women, in the field of computer science.

  • Ricoh España and the UPC’s CIM Foundation inaugurate a cutting-edge centre for 3D printing technologies

    On 19 September, Ricoh España, a leader in technology and digital transformation, and the UPC’s CIM Foundation, an organisation whose mission is to generate and transfer knowledge of engineering and technology management to professionals and companies, opened the Ricoh Additive Manufacturing Centre in Barcelona. This is Ricoh’s first 3D printing and additive manufacturing centre in Spain, and will serve the international industrial market.

  • The UPC is among the 300 best universities in the world in Arts & Humanities in the THE WUR ranking

    In the same field, the UPC is also ranked among the 165 top universities in Europe and is the top technical university in Spain and the fifth university in Catalonia.

  • The UPC proposes key actions to advance towards a new energy paradigm

    The UPC has developed a roadmap that sets out the strategic lines it will pursue in research and technological development to help move beyond the energy paradigm that has prevailed for the last 150 years, which is based on growing use of non-renewable resources.

  • The UPC and the Barcelona City Council present a book on a new form of architectural design for accessible environments

    On 11 December, Laia Ortiz, deputy mayor for Social Rights of the Barcelona City Council, and Ramon Carbonell, president of the UPC's Board of Trustees, presented the book 4 Wheelchair-User Architects (4WUA) in Space 4 of the Palau de la Virreina in Barcelona. The book was written by four graduates of the Vallès School of Architecture (ETSAV) who aim to improve people's quality of life by transforming the built environment.

  • LIVE_FOR, a European project for judicial cooperation on cybercrime

    The UPC’s Network Security Emergency Coordination Unit (esCERT-UPC) will become an information centre for police, prosecutors and judges in Western Europe, advising them on the application of European Investigation Orders in the fight against cross-border cybercrime and cyberterrorism. The initiative is part of the European LIVE_FOR project, funded by the European Union’s Directorate-General for Justice, which wants to facilitate the application of a new European directive on judicial cooperation in tackling crimes of this kind.

  • A nanophenomenon that triggers the bone-repair process

    The researcher Amir Abdollahi of the UPC’s Numerical Calculus Laboratory (LaCàn) participated in a study that found that flexoelectricity may be responsible for regenerating bone tissue damaged by microfractures.

  • New Marie Curie grants for five projects in the fields of civil and environmental engineering, mathematics and chemistry

    Five new UPC projects have been selected in the latest Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) call for individual fellowships under the European Horizon 2020 (H2020) research programme. The aims of these projects are to create numerical methods to make more precise simulations; to create systems for assessing the threats of climate change to the seafront; to create surgical meshes that repair hernias and abdominal and thoracic tissue; to improve satellite navigation at times of scintillation; and to create a tool for earthquake risk assessment.

  • CREB researcher Maria Pau Ginebra selected as a finalist for the EU Prize for Women Innovators

    Researcher Maria Pau Ginebra, full professor of Materials Science and director of the Biomaterials Division of the UPC’s Biomedical Engineering Research Centre (CREB), has been selected as one of the 12 finalists for the 2018 EU Prize for Women Innovators.

  • The UPC maintains its position among the top 300 universities in the world and as the top technical university in Spain

    In the 2019 edition of the QS World University Rankings, the UPC has maintained its position among the top 300 universities in the world, in 275th place. It is again in 120th place in Europe and is the top technical university in Spain. It is also the top European university in Mathematics and Computer Science in the Leiden Ranking 2018.

  • The UPC, among the top 30 young universities in the world in the QS Top 50 under 50 ranking

    The UPC is placed 26th in the world in the QS Top 50 under 50 ranking of universities under 50 years old. It has maintained its 8th place in Europe and has moved up one position to second place in Spain. It is also ranked first in Catalonia.

  • A researcher at the UPC's Terrassa Campus discovers a climate change pattern thanks to a new method

    Dario Zappalà, a member of the Nonlinear Dynamics, Nonlinear Optics and Lasers (DONLL) research group of the UPC on the Terrassa Campus, recently published a study in the scientific journal Earth System Dynamics revealing great anomalies in temperature variations in zones near the North Pole and the Amazon. By studying the variations in the amplitude and frequency of temperatures using a new method, Zappalà discovered a pattern.

  • Five young Marie Curie researchers will join the UPC with European funding

    Four new UPC projects were selected in the latest Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) call for Innovative Training Networks, and will allow five young researchers to be contracted for a period of three years. The aims of these projects are to train a new generation of researchers specialised in new robotic surgical techniques, in the prediction of extreme meteorological phenomena, in the adaptation of optical fibre communications to deal with increasing data traffic, and in the development of bimetallic catalysts.

  • Barcelona hosts the International Conference on Atomic Physics (ICAP) with the presence of 6 Nobel laureates in physics

    From July 22-27, the Palau de Congressos of Barcelona will host the most important conference in atomic physics, which will count on the presence of 6 Nobel laureates and physicists from all over the world. In parallel to the main conference, two special events will take place, which are also open to the public: on July 24th at 6:00 p.m., a round table with 6 Nobel Laureates in physics and on July 26th at 7:30 p.m., a public lecture on the change of the international system of units (SI).

  • UPC cements position as leading Spanish university in Horizon 2020 funding

    According to provisional results reported by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) for the period 2014–2017, the UPC remains the top university and the third Spanish institution when it comes to attracting funds under Horizon 2020 (H2020), the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

  • Terrassa School of Optics and Optometry of the UPC presents Professor Konrad Pesudovs with Best Optometrist of the Year Award

    The UPC’s Terrassa School of Optics and Optometry (FOOT) has recognised the work of Australian professor and researcher Konrad Pesudovs, selecting him as the winner of the 2018 International Award for the Best Optometrist of the Year