Research news

Title Date Description
The UPC, a major player in the development of Industry 4.0 Jan 09, 2019 01:50 PM Of students now attending primary school, 63% will end up working in a job that does not yet exist. This disturbing fact is closely related to what is known as the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, which is transforming industry through a combination of production methods and advanced information technologies to make manufacturing adaptive and flexible. The main challenge is to make all the information available in real time by integrating the entities that make up the value chain.
Barcelona will be the European capital of urban mobility, with the UPC as one of the key technological partners Dec 18, 2018 11:01 AM 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.
NASA’s InSight probe with UPC technology on board lands successfully on Mars Dec 12, 2018 09:28 AM 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.
A nanosatellite developed at the NanoSat Lab of the UPC has been placed in orbit with six experiments on board Dec 05, 2018 05:00 PM The launch, funded by the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), took place at 5:28 a.m. from the Sriharikota space base (India)
The ANYWHERE project will showcase their major achievements in Brussels Dec 05, 2018 12:49 PM The Centre of Applied Research in Hydrometeorology (CRAHI) of the UPC is coordinating the ANYWHERE project, aimed at establishing a pan-European multi-hazard platform for faster analysis and anticipation of weather-induced risks prior to event occurrence. It will also improve response management in emergency situations and help exposed populations avert loss of life, damage to infrastructure and economic losses related to these events. The project will showcase their major achievements in the Security Research Event 2018 to be held in Brussels this week.
The UPC celebrates 20 years of entrepreneurial spirit Nov 27, 2018 09:54 AM The UPC is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Innova Programme, a pioneering initiative in Catalonia and Spain focused on promoting the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the university community and fostering the creation of knowledge- and technology-based companies. As a result of this initiative, more than 300 companies have created 4,500 jobs, more than 500 patents have been applied for, and more than 200 technologies have been licensed as a result of research.
David Carrera receives an award from the Royal Academy of Engineering Nov 26, 2018 12:22 PM The UPC professor received a medal at the Agustín de Betancourt Young Researchers Awards from the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAI), in recognition of his work leading the Data-Centric Computing team at the BSC-CNS.
The UPC scores well in Computer Science and Engineering in the 2019 Best Global Universities Rankings Nov 15, 2018 03:24 PM In the fifth edition of the Best Global Universities Rankings, also known as the US News Rankings, the UPC is 36th in the world in Computer Science and 60th in Engineering. In the global ranking, the UPC is among the top 500 in the world.
Europe pilots cutting-edge technology to prevent natural disasters in a project coordinated by the UPC Nov 12, 2018 01:23 PM The Centre of Applied Research in Hydrometeorology (CRAHI) of the UPC is coordinating the ANYWHERE project, aimed at establishing a pan-European multi-hazard platform for faster analysis and anticipation of weather-induced risks prior to event occurrence. It will also improve response management in emergency situations and help exposed populations avert loss of life, damage to infrastructure and economic losses related to these events. For the first time in Europe, the first outcomes of the tools developed within the project will be presented this week in Barcelona.
CARNET, a National Research Award for public-private partnership in R&I Oct 26, 2018 11:01 AM The Future Mobility Research Hub (CARNET) promoted by SEAT, the UPC and Volkswagen Group Research, which focuses on future automotive and urban mobility, has received the 2017 National Award for Public-Private Partnership in Research and Innovation on 15 October.
The NTU Ranking places the UPC among the top 125 universities in the world in engineering Oct 26, 2018 10:51 AM The UPC is in 445th place in the world in the latest edition of the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities, published by the National Taiwan University (NTU), also known as the NTU or Taiwan Ranking. The UPC is 122nd in the world in the field of Engineering and has maintained its position among the top 100 universities in the world in the subjects Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, Civil Engineering and Computer Science.
An international team of physicists carry out quantum simulation of the physical effects of disorder in topological insulators Oct 17, 2018 11:24 AM A team of researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States, the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) and the UPC uses experiments with ultra-cold atoms trapped and driven by lasers to create a new disorder-induced topological insulator. The unusual properties of this material open new technological applications in quantum computing, next-generation miniaturised data storage and spintronics.
Inauguration of Thinx | 5GBarcelona, an open laboratory for testing 5G technologies Oct 16, 2018 10:00 AM The initiative 5GBarcelona and Telefónica have inaugurated their Thinx | 5GBarcelona laboratory, a facility at startups, SMEs and corporations and designed to test and validate new services and applications with 5G technology.
Computer scientist Margaret Hamilton to be awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the UPC Oct 08, 2018 02:40 PM On Thursday 18 October, the UPC will award an honorary doctoral degree to the American computer scientist, mathematician and engineer Margaret Hamilton, who coined the term ‘software engineering’ 50 years ago, during the NASA’s first Apollo missions. The nomination was approved by the Governing Council and promoted by the Barcelona School of Informatics (FIB), as part of the School’s 40th anniversary celebrations. The event coincides with the first Barcelona Grad Cohort Workshop.
Terrassa School of Optics and Optometry of the UPC presents Professor Konrad Pesudovs with Best Optometrist of the Year Award Sep 20, 2018 12:45 AM 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
UPC cements position as leading Spanish university in Horizon 2020 funding Sep 19, 2018 11:33 AM 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.
A European project led by the UPC involves citizens in the control of air quality Jul 27, 2018 01:17 PM The UPC is leading the H2020 CAPTOR project, through which a network of low-cost sensors has been installed to measure tropospheric ozone (a contaminant that mainly affects rural areas) in private homes of volunteers from Spain, Italy and Austria. The programme also encourages collaboration between local communities, citizens, NGOs and scientists to stimulate environmental awareness and social and political responsibility in this area.
Barcelona hosts the International Conference on Atomic Physics (ICAP) with the presence of 6 Nobel laureates in physics Jul 19, 2018 04:22 PM 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).
Five young Marie Curie researchers will join the UPC with European funding Jul 11, 2018 01:53 PM 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.
A researcher at the UPC's Terrassa Campus discovers a climate change pattern thanks to a new method Jul 05, 2018 12:30 PM 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.
The UPC, among the top 30 young universities in the world in the QS Top 50 under 50 ranking Jun 27, 2018 10:09 AM 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.
The UPC builds a plant to produce bio-products and bioenergy from wastewater using microalgae Jun 26, 2018 11:04 AM The Environmental Engineering and Microbiology Group (GEMMA) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) has built a 30-m3 pilot plant for the production of bioproducts and bioenergy from microalgae grown in wastewater. The plant has been installed in the Agròpolis, an experimental site located in Viladecans and forming part of the UPC’s Baix Llobregat Campus.
Creation of the AMES Group-UPC Chair in design and innovation in the field of new biomaterials Jun 20, 2018 12:15 PM The AMES Group-UPC Chair, which was created at the Diagonal-Besòs Campus in Barcelona, will work in the field of additive manufacturing of porous metallic biomaterials for use in traumatology.
MareNostrum 4 POWER9 racks begin operation with high expectation for AI - based research Jun 14, 2018 10:30 AM MareNostrum 4 supercomputer has incorporated into production three racks of last IBM POWER technologies with a peak performance of 1.5 petaflops with the aim to accelerate Artificial Intelligence–based research.
The UPC maintains its position among the top 300 universities in the world and as the top technical university in Spain Jun 13, 2018 03:55 PM 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.
Launch of CYBERCAT, an interuniversity research centre for cybersecurity and data privacy May 31, 2018 03:57 PM The Cybersecurity Research Centre of Catalonia (CYBERCAT) was presented in Barcelona on 8 May. It was set up by seven research groups from six Catalan universities, among them the UPC’s Information Security Group (ISG) and Mathematics Applied to Cryptography (MAK) group. CYBERCAT is intended to become a reference centre that combines the knowledge of all the research groups working in cybersecurity in Catalonia, with over a hundred researchers. The other participating universities are the UAB, the UdL, the UOC, the UPF and the URV, which is the coordinator.
A microchip designed at the UPC is on its way to Mars May 31, 2018 03:46 PM 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.
Researchers from the UPC and the IAC discover one of the most massive neutron stars May 24, 2018 10:06 AM Using a pioneering method, researchers from the Astronomy and Astrophysics Group of the UPC and the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics (IAC) have found a neutron star of about 2.3 Solar masses—one of the most massive ever detected. The study was published on the 23rd of May in The Astrophysical Journal and opens a new path of knowledge in many fields of astrophysics and nuclear physics.
The UPC leads a European project to study the behaviour of complex geometric networks Apr 26, 2018 02:45 PM The aim of the European project Combinatorics of Networks and Computation (CONNECT) is to understand complex geometric networks such as those that model the internet and the spread of infections. Coordinated by the UPC, the project connects researchers from 14 universities in Europe and the American continent.
Researchers from UPC, Brazil and Australia get the first images and sounds of an observatory installed in the Amazon Apr 17, 2018 09:38 AM The Applied Bioacoustics Laboratory (LAB) of UPC and scientists from Brazil and Australia have installed in the Brazilian reserves of Mamirauá and Amanã the first two sensors for real-time monitoring of biodiversity in the Amazon. In the framework of the Providence project, this action will help fight the extinction of species in the rainforest.