Research news
List of news published in the Press Room on research and innovation
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Testing a drone to save lives in the Mediterranean
Three students from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) are participating, together with the Hemav Foundation, in the FREEDA project, in which they are developing an offshore reconnaissance drone to search for people and boats. The aim is to improve Proactiva Open Arms rescue missions. The first test to check the operation of the drone on the NGO’s ship was recently carried out offshore from Borriana (Castellón).
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The UPC’s Baix Llobregat Campus will host the business incubator ESA BIC Barcelona for three more years
The UPC’s Baix Llobregat Campus in Castelldefels will host ESA BIC Barcelona for three more years to accelerate start-ups based on innovative space technologies or infrastructures. The incubator will continue to be located in the RDIT building of the Parc UPC with the support of the Government of Catalonia, the Mediterranean Technology Park, the Baix Llobregat County Council, the Barcelona Provincial Council, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and the Barcelona City Council.
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The UPC participated in the 3rd Unite! Dialogue Grenoble and will host the 4th instalment in Barcelona
The UPC, as a partner university of the Unite! alliance, joined the third instalment of the Unite! Dialogue, which took place from 8th to 10th March 2021 in Grenoble. This regular meeting between the members of the alliance and key guests is a great opportunity to strengthen the links and foster further collaboration within the alliance.
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Leadership of a European project aimed at using ultrasound to produce antimicrobial textiles and devices on an industrial scale
Researcher and professor Tzanko Tzanov, who works on the Terrassa Campus of the UPC, is the leader of the European PROTECT project, which focuses on applying ultrasound technology in the industrial-scale manufacture of textiles and devices coated with antimicrobial nanoparticles. The technology will be used to coat medical textiles, materials used in public areas, medical devices, and water treatment membranes.
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The UPC, among the world’s 500 best universities and the top 100 in four subjects
In the 2019 edition of the Taiwan Ranking, the UPC ranks among the world’s 500 best universities and 138th in the field of Engineering, in which it remains the leader among Spanish universities. The University is also listed among the world’s top 100 in four subjects: Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Computer Science.
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The European project GEECCO faces the challenge of promoting and increasing the presence of women working in science and technology
The implementation of actions that eliminate barriers to hiring, maintaining and promoting women researchers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics is the objective of the European project Gender Equality in Engineering through Communication and Commitment (GEECCO), carried out by nine European partners, including the UPC.
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Barcelona will be the European capital of urban mobility, with the UPC as one of the key technological partners
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has chosen the MOBILus consortium, led by the city of Barcelona and co-partnered by the UPC, to develop one of its innovation communities, in the field of urban mobility.
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Launch of EIT Urban Mobility in Barcelona to transform European cities into liveable spaces
The city of Barcelona launched the European initiative EIT Urban Mobility at the Smart City Expo World Congress. The event marked the official start of the EIT Innovation Community, which aims to finance projects that contribute to mobility solutions that accelerate the transition towards more liveable urban spaces.
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Microchips manufactured at the UPC will measure the wind on Mars
The UPC’s Micro and Nanotechnologies Research Group has participated in the design, manufacture and calibration of the wind sensor of the MEDA instrument, which will travel to Mars on board NASA’s Mars 2020 mission to measure wind direction and speed, relative humidity, pressure and properties of suspended dust on the Red Planet. It will be the third time that UPC technology travels to Mars. On this occasion, it is 60 silicon dice that make up the heart of the sensor and that were recently delivered to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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NASA’s InSight probe with UPC technology on board lands successfully on Mars
On 26 November, NASA’s InSight probe landed successfully on Mars with UPC technology on board. Researchers from the UPC’s Micro and Nanotechnologies Research Group participated in the design of the wind sensor that travelled on the probe, which will be the first to record seismic vibrations and measure the flow of heat emitted by the planet’s surface. This information will help determine the planet’s internal composition and how it was formed.
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A microchip designed at the UPC is on its way to Mars
Researchers from the UPC’s Micro and Nanotechnology Research Group participated in the design of a wind sensor that has been installed in NASA's InSight spacecraft to study the interior of the planet Mars.
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A new hydrogel developed for desalinating seawater using sunlight and for medical therapies
Researchers from the UPC’s research group Innovation in Materials and Molecular Engineering - Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies (IMEM-BRT) are working on a thermosensitive hydrogel with several applications, such as the desalination of seawater with solar radiation and the creation of new biomedical adhesives for semi-invasive therapies and for medical diagnosis.
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The Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, the UPC and Probitas create iMAGING, an AI-based app to diagnose malaria
A multidisciplinary team involving the Microbiology Service of the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, the Microbiology research group of the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, the UPC and the Probitas Foundation has developed a novel AI-based diagnostic method for malaria.
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The UPC launches Connèxia, a new 360° programme to accelerate technology transfer to industry
On 27 October, the UPC presented the Connèxia UPC programme. Aimed at industry, it provides tailored collaboration to connect the University’s technological capabilities with the specific and strategic needs of the productive sector.
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Fractus-UPC Deep Tech Hub reveals that AI and 5G-6G are the technologies with the highest potential for techno-social disruption
Artificial intelligence, 5G-6G, big data, robotics, cybersecurity, computers and IoT protocols and 3D and 4D printing are the technologies with the most research groups at the UPC, according to the study 'Analysis, map and detection of Deep Tech areas and technologies'. Prepared with its own methodology within the framework of the Fractus-UPC Deep Tech Hub, the study detects the end of 16 technologies in which 50% of the University's research groups are distributed, depending on the social impact or industrial escalation.
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The UPC climbs positions in the 2024 QS Sustainability Ranking and is placed as one of the world’s 150 best universities
The new edition of the QS Sustainability Ranking places the UPC as one of the world’s 150 best universities, specifically in 143rd place. The ranking also places the University among the world’s top 100 in governance, in 79th.
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The UPC celebrates the inauguration of MareNostrum 5, which positions the University as a global benchmark in supercomputing knowledge
Recently, the rector of the UPC, Daniel Crespo, welcomed Catalan president Pere Aragonès and Spanish president Pedro Sánchez to the launch event of MareNostrum 5 at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center–Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS).
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Cyber avatars for a new era
The UPC takes part in the Avatar Symbiotic Society, an initiative by the Japanese government to drive the creation of a society in which teleoperated avatars and cyborgs can stand in for individuals in various areas of life. Researcher Alberto Sanfeliu, from the Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics (IRI), is the only international member in a team of Japanese researchers led by professor Hiroshi Ishiguro.
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The UPC opens the Hydrogen Laboratory and the green hydrogen pilot plant
Recently, the UPC opened the Hydrogen Laboratory and the green hydrogen pilot plant on the Diagonal-Besòs Campus. These cutting-edge facilities serve as a living lab to advance research and innovation in hydrogen technologies, a key energy vector in the transition towards decarbonisation. The Laboratory is also supporting industry and training activities.
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UPC researcher Corrado Altomare receives a Leonardo Grant to study how heavy swell can affect seaside promenades
Corrado Altomare, a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the UPC’s Maritime Engineering Laboratory, has been awarded a Leonardo Grant from the BBVA Foundation to study how episodes of heavy swell, caused by climate change and rising sea levels, can affect seaside promenades.
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The UPC will coordinate the new interuniversity master’s degree in Semiconductor Engineering and Microelectronic Design
The UPC, the UB, the UAB and the URV, with the collaboration of the IMB-CNM of the CSIC, programs, for the academic year 2024-2025, the new interuniversity master's degree in Semiconductor Engineering and Microelectronic Design, intended for train the next generation of professionals in this field. The master's degree will be taught in English and pre-registration will open in the first semester of 2024.
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The UPC at the Barcelona Deep Tech Summit
Around thirty companies stemming from the UPC, along with researchers from the University, have presented breakthroughs and transformative trends at the Barcelona Deep Tech Summit, on 28 and 29 November.
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Light-powered catalyst to make hydrogen
A team from the UPC and the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) have designed an efficient and stable photocatalyst capable of producing hydrogen directly using sunlight. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications.
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The UPC supports the GreenChips-EDU project as part of Unite!
The UPC and other universities, companies and research institutions join forces in the European project GreenChips-EDU to accelerate the training of skilled workers in microelectronics.
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The first six companies to be part of the ESA BIC Barcelona incubator are selected
The business incubation centre ESA BIC Barcelona of the European Space Agency has selected six space tech start-ups to be part of the incubation programme. The selected companies will receive 50,000 euros to develop their product or service and will have up to two years of incubation from now on. Promoted by the Government of Catalonia as part of the NewSpace Strategy, and also by the UPC and the Mediterranean Technology Park, the programme will incubate up to 18 companies in three years.
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The UPC among the world’s best universities in two subjects according to ShanghaiRanking’s 2023 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects
The UPC is ranked among the world’s top 100 universities in Atmospheric Science and Civil Engineering according to the latest edition of ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS). It is the leader in Spain in the first field and in Instruments Science and Technology.
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New findings about stellar explosions
International research involving UPC professor and researcher Jordi José, from the EEBE, has made it possible to precisely quantify the possible detection of gamma rays from stellar nova explosions.
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Circular solutions for the construction sector will be tested in Barcelona under a UPC-led European project
Five pilot projects in Barcelona, Belgrade, Paris, Prague and Vesterålen will demonstrate, on a large scale, circular solutions in buildings and the construction sector. In Barcelona, they will be deployed to demolish secondary buildings of the old Mercedes-Benz factory for the construction of Spain’s first ecodistrict laMercedes.
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A decade leading industrial doctorate projects in Catalonia
Year after year, the UPC leads the ranking of projects under the Government of Catalonia’s Industrial Doctorates Plan, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Over a decade, 257 projects have been carried out at the University, which accounts for 28% of all the projects at Catalan universities.
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A robotic wheelchair helps to improve the physical condition of people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy
How can care robotics help patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)? This inherited neuromuscular disorder affects one in 3,500 children worldwide. It causes the progressive loss of muscle function and therefore leads to progressive disability. Despite advances in treatment, patients have an average life expectancy of 35 years and already need an electric wheelchair in their teens.