Research news

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

  • Citizen science and numerical modelling to tackle marine plastic pollution and improve environmental management

    The UPC’s Maritime Engineering Laboratory is taking part in a European project aimed at improving the management of plastic pollution in the north-western Mediterranean and raising public awareness about the importance of protecting the marine environment.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Airgilab, the first living lab that regenerates building air with horticultural crops, is presented at the UPC’s ESEIAAT

    A greenhouse for urban agriculture, connected to classroom 3.07 and an office at the Terrassa School of Industrial, Aerospace and Audiovisual Engineering (ESEIAAT), absorbs CO2 from these spaces and transforms it into oxygen through photosynthesis. The clean air is recirculated back into the classroom if the conditions are suitable. This is how the Air quality & Green Infrastructure Living Lab (Airgilab) works, it is the first living lab to regenerate building air using agricultural crops. It was created by the Construction Research and Innovation Group (GRIC) of the UPC.

  • Advancing space exploration: a pioneering experiment in cryogenic fuel management in space

    Researchers from the UPC’s Space Exploration Laboratory are contributing to the development of advanced technologies for the storage and refuelling of cryogenic propellants in microgravity conditions. This technology, which will be key to driving space exploration and advancing Europe’s space transportation ecosystem, will be validated through an in-orbit experiment—the first of its kind in Europe.

  • Protecting marine ecosystems from ship-induced noise pollution

    The UPC’s Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB) participates in a European project focused on developing technologies to reduce underwater noise pollution caused by maritime traffic, which poses a threat to marine ecosystems. The LAB will assess the effectiveness of noise reduction systems installed on five vessels.

  • 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.

  • New edition of the UPC Research Valorisation Award, supported by Fractus

    A new call for applications is open for the UPC Research Valorisation Award, accepting submissions from the UPC’s teaching and research staff until 10 April.

  • The UPC, Spain’s leading university for European patent filings

    The UPC is the Spanish university that filed the highest number of European patent applications in 2024, according to data from the European Patent Office. The UPC’s filings rose by more than 30% compared to the previous year.

  • The UPC among the world’s top 50 in Architecture and Art History in the 2025 QS Rankings by Subject

    The 2025 QS World University Rankings by Subject rank the UPC the world’s 38th in Architecture and Built Environment and in the 21–40 band in Art History. The rankings also place the University among the world’s top 100 in the broad subject area of Engineering and Technology and in the subjects of Industrial, Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering; Data Science and Artificial Intelligence; and Civil and Structural Engineering.

  • The Interdisciplinary Research Institute of Architecture (IRIA-UPC) is presented in Barcelona

    On 1 April, the UPC presented the Interdisciplinary Research Institute of Architecture (IRIA-UPC) with the aim of promoting and strengthening research, innovation and knowledge transfer in architecture, urban planning and building. IRIA-UPC, which brings together architects, urban planners and technical architects, is a pioneering institute within the university system and aspires to become an international benchmark in these fields.

  • Sustainable 3D printing resins developed from plant-based materials

    A team from the UPC and the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia has developed polymeric resins derived from plant-based materials aimed at reducing 3D printing’s reliance on fossil fuel-based resins. The research findings have been published in 'RSC Applied Polymers', a journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

  • The UPC leads an innovative project within Unite! to tackle climate challenges in cities

    Bringing together experts to develop architectural and urban solutions The project “Cities in times of drought or abundance”, funded by the Unite! Seed Fund and coordinated by the UPC, will gather European experts to develop architectural and urban solutions in response to the effects of climate change.

  • Awards to a new generation of surgical meshes, a program for designing buildings and the Process Talks spin-off

    The jury of the 14th UPC Research Valorisation Award, promoted by the Board of Trustees, has recognised 4DPolysense as the best technology transfer project, the NECADA program as the best invention or work for its application in the market and the Process Talks spin-off as the best technology-based company. The Nimble Diagnostics spin-off has also received a special acknowledgement.

  • Unite! Seed Fund for students, researchers and professors: call for applications open until 20 March

    The 2025 Unite! Seed Fund offers financial support to students, researchers and professors who wish to initiate joint initiatives between at least three Unite! universities. The deadline for all submissions is 20 March.

  • Fractus and the UPC create a technological hub to develop deep tech solutions

    Fractus and the UPC have agreed to create the Fractus-UPC Deep Tech Hub, a research centre where deep technologies will be designed and improved so as to develop disruptive technological solutions based on scientific challenges with great potential and social impact. Fractus is one of the first spin-offs that emerged from the UPC.

  • The new space mission by the UPC NanoSat Lab for Earth observation RITA/ 3 Cat-6 successfully launched

    The payload RITA/³Cat-6 is now in orbit. It has been developed by doctoral students at the UPC NanoSat Lab and integrated into the Arab nanosatellite ALainSat-1. The UPC’s space payload carries instruments to gather data on sea salinity and soil humidity, and to measure vegetation status.

  • International award for a UPC project to pave the way for the shipyard of the future

    Coordinated by Xavier Martínez Garcia, a professor at the UPC’s FNB and a researcher at CIMNE, FIBRE4YARDS is developing new composite material manufacturing technologies that enable a redefinition of shipyards, aiming to minimise environmental impact, improve vessel quality and reduce construction costs. The initiative has won the Maritime Transportation & Shipbuilding category of the JEC Innovation Awards—prestigious awards recognised as a benchmark in the field of advanced materials.

  • Transforming the construction sector towards a circular economy: DISCOVER, a new project led by the UPC

    The UPC leads the European project DISCOVER, an innovative initiative to reduce construction and demolition waste through artificial intelligence technologies, advanced robotics and building information modelling (BIM). With the aim of transforming the sector into a more sustainable and efficient model, DISCOVER focuses on material reuse and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

  • Computer scientist Margaret Hamilton to be awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the UPC

    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.

  • The impact of animation cinema on visual fatigue

    A team of researchers from the Terrassa School of Optics and Optometry (FOOT) and the Image Processing and Multimedia Technology Centre (CITM) have conducted a study on the relationship between the visual aesthetics of animation cinema and visual fatigue. The results of the research were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

  • Molecular mechanism causing severe cardiac arrhythmia identified

    Researchers from the UPC’s Computational Biology and Complex Systems Group (BIOCOM-SC) and the Heart Rhythm Analysis and Control Group (ANCORA) and other international scientists have identified one of the molecular mechanisms underlying cardiac alternans. It is an alteration of heart rhythm that is critical to the induction of ventricular fibrillation, a potentially fatal arrhythmia. The discovery was published in the journal Circulation Research (AHA Journals) and paves the way for new pharmacological treatments.

  • A study led by the UPC and the IEEC has determined the mass and radius of one of the oldest stars in our galaxy for the first time

    A study led by the researcher Alberto Rebassa-Mansergas, from the UPC and the IEEC, has determined the mass and radius of one of the oldest stars in our galaxy for the first time and validated the theoretical mass-radius relations for such stars. The results of this study are published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

  • The CIMNE, technological partner in the REALQUIRUR project

    The International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE) is participating in a project promoted by the J. Torrent Institute at the El Pilar Hospital to apply augmented reality in open liver surgery.

  • The UPC ranks higher in the 2019 Europe’s Most Innovative Universities ranking

    The UPC climbs six positions, so that it now ranks 81st in Europe and 1st among technical universities in Spain in the 2019 Europe’s Most Innovative Universities ranking drawn up by Reuters. The ranking lists the top 100 European universities that contribute the most to progress in science and technological innovation and to the promotion of global economic development.

  • Some piezoelectric materials may be ‘fakes’

    A team of researchers has discovered that the most widespread technique for characterising piezoelectric properties—the ability of some materials to generate electricity when subjected to mechanical stress—can yield ‘false positives’ due to flexoelectricity. The study, which is the result of the collaboration between the Numerical Methods Laboratory (LaCàN) at the UPC and the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), will facilitate research of the application of these materials in pressure sensors and electric nanogenerators.

  • A thesis on Paulista Avenue in the Brazilian city of São Paulo was awarded the Manuel de Solà-Morales European Prize in the field of urbanism

    The architect Renata Priore Lima, a professor at the Architecture and Urbanism College of São Paulo (Brazil), received the Manuel de Solà-Morales European Prize in urbanism in its second edition for her doctoral thesis “Plugin: interfaces urbanas en los nuevos centros lineales: el caso de la Avenida Paulista”, defended at the UPC. Three additional awards were also given to finalist projects at the award ceremony, which took place on 19 March at the UPC’s Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB).

  • The UPC participates in a new 'spin-off' MiWEndo Solutions, which is to develop a device to improve the early detection of colorectal cancer

    Supported by UPF, the UPC, Hospital Clínic and ICREA, it will use microwave technology to automate the detection of polyps during colonoscopies.

  • 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.

  • Tuberculosis has shaped human society since the Stone Age

    Researchers from the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), the Comparative Medicine and Bioimaging Centre (CMCiB-IGTP), CIBERES and the UPC have discovered, by means of a mathematical model that combines biological, anthropological and historical data, that not only have humans continued to survive despite tuberculosis infections, but tuberculosis has probably played a key role in shaping human society as we know it. The article has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.