Research news

Title Date Description
Researchers find that chemical communication between living beings obeys the linguistic law of brevity Sep 20, 2022 09:01 AM A recent study shows that the chemicals used by living beings to communicate obey the linguistic law of brevity: just as the most used words in human language are shorter, the most frequent infochemicals in ecosystems tend to be shorter carbon chains. The study is co-authored by UPC researcher Antoni Hernández-Fernández and it delves into interspecies chemical communication.
Researcher Maria Pau Ginebra awarded an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council Sep 14, 2022 09:53 AM The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded UPC researcher Maria Pau Ginebra an Advanced Grant to study the mechanisms of biomaterial and bacteria interaction and to develop surfaces that can fight infections and promote bone regeneration. The study will also have a great scientific and technological impact in very diverse fields such as catalysis, water purification and protein separation.
Unite! receives more EC funding for its deployment Sep 12, 2022 12:25 PM The Unite! alliance, made up of the UPC and other leading European technological universities, will receive more funding from the European Commission, under the Erasmus+ programme, to become a driving force for the advancement of a green and digital Europe. The implementation of future European degrees, a new mobility model and the development of a Unite! European Doctoral School are some of the key projects to be deployed in the new stage.
The UPC, among the world’s top 100 in four subjects according to the 2022 ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects Sep 09, 2022 11:13 AM The UPC maintains its position among the world’s 100 best universities in four subjects (Instruments Science and Technology, Atmospheric Science, Mathematics and Civil Engineering) and is the top Spanish university in two (Atmospheric Science and Water Resources) in the latest edition of the ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects.
UPC researchers coordinate the creation of a compact magnetic sensor to reduce noise on large space missions Sep 09, 2022 10:30 AM The UPC’s Space Science and Technology Research Group (CTE) has coordinated the development of a compact and low-power magnetic sensor to reduce noise based on magnetic field modulation using microelectromechanical resonators (MEMS). Created jointly with the ICE-CSIC and the ICCUB, it is the result of the MELISA project, promoted by the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), and will serve as a sample to validate the feasibility of this technique on the LISA mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) to detect gravitational waves in space.
Boosting new gas plasma-based treatments for cancer Sep 08, 2022 10:26 AM Exploring the possibilities of atmospheric-pressure plasmas to develop and consolidate new medical therapies is the main objective of the PlasTHER network, an initiative funded by the European Union under the COST Actions. Led by the UPC, the network brings together research groups, the medical community, industry and patient associations from 24 European countries who will work in the coming years to launch new treatments for cancer, tissue regeneration and repair, emerging infectious diseases and others.
PLOME, a research project to monitor marine ecosystems Sep 06, 2022 03:13 PM Within the framework of the PLOME project, a scientific team will develop an underwater platform to intelligently monitor marine ecosystems in real time. Led by the University of Girona (UdG), the initiative involves the UPC’s Technological Development Centre for Remote Acquisition and Data Processing Systems (SARTI), the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) and Iqua Robotics SL.
The UPC maintains its leading position in the 2022 U-Ranking Sep 06, 2022 01:51 PM In the 2022 edition of the U-Ranking the UPC is still the top Spanish university in performance.
Engineering students from the UPC create a 3D-printed functional robotic arm Jul 29, 2022 02:00 PM The Arm2u biomedical engineering team, from the UPC’s Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering (ETSEIB), has designed and manufactured using 3D printing technology a customisable transradial prosthesis that responds to the user’s nerve impulses.
The UPC is the top technical university in Spain and ranks among the 350 best universities in the world in the latest edition of the QS Rankings Jun 14, 2022 09:22 AM The UPC maintains its leading position among Spanish technical universities in the latest edition of the QS World University Rankings, in which the UPC also ranks 343rd in the world and 146th in Europe.
Fireball from a stellar explosion detected for the first time by eROSITA X-ray telescope Jun 09, 2022 10:38 AM When Sun-type stars use up all their fuel, they shrink to form white dwarfs. Sometimes these dead stars come back to life in a thermonuclear explosion and produce a fireball of intense X-ray radiation. A research team led by the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) was able to observe, for the first time, this type of X-ray light explosion. Glòria Sala, a researcher in the UPC’s Astronomy and Astrophysics Group and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), participates in this study, which made the cover of Nature.
The Vallès School of Architecture presents a construction prototype made from corn and sunflower stalks Jun 08, 2022 11:44 AM The Interdisciplinary Group on Building Science and Technology (GICITED), linked to the UPC’s Vallès School of Architecture (ETSAV), participates in the cross-border project SAVASCO, which aims to develop new bio-based materials to minimise the environmental impact of construction. In this context, the ETSAV has developed a sustainable building prototype made from corn and sunflower stalks, which was presented on 6 May.
ICFO researcher Maciej Lewenstein received the 2021 Catalonian National Research Award Jun 08, 2022 09:35 AM For his theoretical contributions to atomic physics and quantum optics. Presented by the Government of Catalonia, the awards have also recognised the BSC’s Som Investigadores initiative, in the Scientific Communication category.
The UPC’s CD6 participates in the construction of the world’s largest telescope May 26, 2022 12:15 PM The UPC’s Centre for Sensors, Instruments and Systems Development (CD6) participates with IDOM in the construction of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), promoted by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The ELT will be the world's largest ground-based optical and near-infrared telescope and is being built at an altitude above 3,000 m, on the Armazones Hill (Atacama Desert, Chile). It is expected to come into operation in 2027.
The UPC, among the world’s top 100 in the SDGs Climate Action, Life Below Water and Life On Land according to the THE Impact Rankings May 16, 2022 06:20 PM In the 2022 THE Impact Rankings, which assess the impact of universities’ contributions to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UPC is ranked the world’s 71st university in Climate Action, 74th in Life Below Water and 85th in Life On Land. In the global ranking, the UPC remains in the 201-300 band.
The UPC’s Baix Llobregat Campus will host the business incubator ESA BIC Barcelona for three more years May 05, 2022 04:13 PM 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.
Europe committed to bringing to market an innovative treatment for bone cancer created by UPC researcher Cristina Canal May 04, 2022 09:35 AM The European Research Council has awarded professor Cristina Canal a Proof of Concept grant, which aims to bridge the gap between frontier research and the market. With this grant, the researcher from the UPC’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering will assess the feasibility of bringing to market a novel therapy to treat osteosarcoma with fewer side effects and that also aids bone regeneration.
The UPC, SEAT and Volkswagen Group Innovation look for new strategies to improve the performance of the powertrain and batteries of future electric vehicles Apr 20, 2022 10:40 AM The UPC’s inLab FIB collaborates with SEAT and Volkswagen Group Innovation (Wolfsburg, Germany) in the Predictive eBoost project, focused on designing new strategies, based on machine learning algorithms and data analysis, to improve the efficiency and performance of electric vehicle motors and batteries.
The UPC is ranked the world’s 15th best university in Architecture and the top Spanish university in seven subject areas in the 2022 Scimago Institutions Rankings Apr 20, 2022 10:23 AM In the 2022 edition of the Scimago Institutions Rankings, the UPC is ranked the world’s 15th best university in Architecture and the top Spanish university in seven subject areas: Architecture, Computer Science, Building and Construction, Engineering, Ocean Engineering, Energy and Mathematics.
Starting Grant for UPC researcher Sergi Abadal to develop a new generation of faster and more efficient processors with wireless communication systems and quantum computing Apr 19, 2022 05:16 PM Professor and researcher Sergi Abadal, from the UPC’s Department of Computer Architecture, has won a European Research Council Starting Grant to study new ways to build faster and more efficient processors, based on wireless communications, massively parallel processing, specialised accelerators and disruptive technologies such as quantum computing.
Nimble Diagnostics is founded to monitor stents using microwave technology Mar 29, 2022 09:59 AM Nimble Diagnostics is a spin-off that develops microwave-based technology to monitor stents implanted in patients with cardiovascular, vascular, renal or lung disease. This is a spin-off of the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), the University of Barcelona (UB) and the UPC that has developed a device that will identify possible obstructions to the stents in a fast and non-invasive way.
The 2022 Industrial Doctorates Plan call for grants is underway Mar 21, 2022 03:45 PM Doctoral students who wish to do a doctoral thesis in the business sector can now submit their proposals online. The research projects must be developed between companies or entities and the University’s research groups.
The UPC confers an honorary doctoral degree on engineer and MIT researcher Antonio Torralba Mar 11, 2022 03:50 PM 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.
The UPC participates in a global competition to protect biodiversity in rainforests Mar 10, 2022 09:03 AM A team from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech is working with scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US), the Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá (Brazil) and the Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) on a project to develop a technology that will revolutionise the protection of rainforest biodiversity. The project participates in the XPRIZE Rainforest, a 10-million-dollar international competition to transform our understanding of the complexity of rainforests.
A dominant negative sentiment prevails in public perception towards the cruise industry during the COVID-19 outbreaks Mar 08, 2022 04:33 PM Researchers from the URV and the UPC’s Biomedical Engineering Research Centre (CREB) have analysed more than 34 million tweets and have found a prevailing negative sentiment towards the cruise industry. One of the main conclusions of the study, published in the Tourism Management Perspectives journal, is the need for the cruise industry to reinvent itself and double down on green credentials.
UPC technology at the 2022 Mobile World Congress, from 28 February to 3 March 2022, in Barcelona Feb 28, 2022 03:10 PM The UPC presents cutting-edge technologies and initiatives applied to a range of sectors at its own stand in this edition of MWC Barcelona, the international conference on mobile technologies that takes place in the Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via exhibition centre, in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. The University is also present at 4YFN, a point of reference for entrepreneurship and technological innovation, which is taking place at the same time in the same venue.
UPC researcher Lluís Jofre Cruanyes wins an ERC Starting Grant to miniaturise turbulence at the microscale Feb 09, 2022 12:45 PM Researcher and professor Lluís Jofre Cruanyes has won a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant to create disruptive energy technologies and solutions that will allow the next generation of energy conversion systems and aircraft propulsion technologies to be developed. To that end, he will create the first-ever turbulence-on-a-chip prototypes, with a potential hundredfold performance improvement with respect to current technology.
The UPC is the top Spanish university in Engineering according to the 2021 NTU Rankings Feb 09, 2022 12:20 PM In the latest edition of the NTU Rankings, the UPC is the top Spanish university in Engineering in terms of research productivity, impact and excellence. The University is also the top Spanish university in four subjects: Mathematics, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering.
UPC researchers will observe 77,000 stars with the Chilean 4MOST telescope Feb 01, 2022 04:57 PM Alberto Rebassa, a professor at the UPC’s Department of Physics and at the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), and Odette Toloza, a researcher at the Federico Santa María Technical University (Chile), will lead a team of 30 researchers from 18 institutions around the world to observe and analyse the spectra of 77,000 binary stars. They will use the European Southern Observatory’s 4MOST telescope, located in Chile.
The ICM, the UdG and the UPC join efforts to measure the capacity of marine reserves to recover overexploited species Jan 27, 2022 01:33 PM Over the next four years, the research team will evaluate the usefulness of a network of newly created protected marine reserves in waters between 300 and 400 metres deep. The objective is to find out if these protected areas could contribute to the recovery of habitats damaged by fishing and, at the same time, promote the sustainability of this activity.