Research news

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

  • UPC technology at the 2022 Mobile World Congress, from 28 February to 3 March 2022, in Barcelona

    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, 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.

  • 35th worldwide in Architecture and Spain’s leader in innovation according to the 2026 Scimago World Institutions Rankings

    The UPC is ranked among the world’s top 50 in Architecture and the top 100 in five additional categories in the 2026 Scimago World Institutions Rankings (SIR). In the overall ranking, it is placed 240th worldwide and is the leading Spanish university in five categories.

  • The ETSAV’s model workshop coordinates the production of an interactive model of Barcelona for the World Capital of Architecture

    The Barcelona Plain 2026–2035 model is an initiative led by the Barcelona city council and coordinated by the model workshop of the UPC’s Vallès School of Architecture (ETSAV), marking the start of the celebration of Barcelona as World Capital of Architecture. Printed entirely in 3D, the model becomes an interactive platform to analyse and explain Barcelona’s past, present and future. It will open to the public on 13 March at the former headquarters of the Gustavo Gili publishing house in Barcelona.

  • A study commissioned by the Government of Catalonia to the UPC confirms that Antoni Gaudí designed the Xalet del Catllaràs

    A study commissioned by the Department of Culture to Galdric Santana, a professor at the Barcelona School of Architecture and director of the UPC’s Gaudí Chair, confirms that the project for the Xalet del Catllaràs in La Pobla de Lillet was designed by architect Antoni Gaudí.

  • The UPC showcases its technological potential at MWC Barcelona, 4YFN and Talent Arena

    Once again, the UPC has taken part in MWC Barcelona and Four Years From Now (4YFN), running from 2 to 5 March at Fira de Barcelona in Gran Via venue. For the first time, it also has been present at Talent Arena, held from 2 to 3 March at the Montjuïch. All three events are leading international platforms for connectivity, entrepreneurship and digital talent.

  • The UPC is contributing to the fight against COVID-19 with several research projects and 3D printing of medical supplies

    In response to the COVID-19 health emergency, UPC research groups and centres are working on several scientific projects to tackle the spread of the virus. Additionally, a number of professors, researchers and students are sharing their knowledge and 3D-printing equipment to make masks, respirators and face shields for hospitals.

  • The UPC’s studies and technological ecosystem will be on display for the first time at Talent Arena

    From 2 to 4 March, the University will take part in the second edition of Talent Arena, a major European meeting point for digital talent and the tech industry. The event complements Mobile World Capital Barcelona and 4YFN, both of which the University also attends. The aim is to highlight the talent developed at the UPC and present its bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and continuing education degrees. Admission to Talent Arena is free with prior registration.

  • An app to assess wildfire risk to homes

    A European research team led by the UPC has created a web application that assesses the vulnerability to fire of homes located in forest areas. The app, which is part of the European FIREPRIME project, has been designed and tested with the collaboration of citizens, local authorities and emergency services.

  • University spin-off Virmedex strengthens its international presence

    Founded by the UPC and the UB three years ago, Virmedex Virtual Experiences SL specialises in training healthcare professionals through simulators based on video games, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. The company has consolidated its international position in Europe, Latin America and the United States, and is now preparing for a second funding round. It received the 15th UPC Research Valorisation Award, organised by the Board of Trustees with the support of Fractus and the Fractus UPC Deep-Tech Hub, among other accolades.

  • 13 UPC researchers distinguished in the 2025 Academia Excellence programme

    UPC research took centre stage in the latest call for the Government of Catalonia’s Academia Excellence programme (formerly ICREA Academia), securing 13 of the 50 grants awarded. The UPC thus becomes the institution with the most selected faculty members, who will be able to intensify their research for five years. Also, Claudio Cazorla Silva, a researcher at the Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering (CCEM), has been named a new ICREA Research Professor.

  • A researcher from the UPC’s ESEIAAT leads a European project to create four advanced support centres for the textile industry in Morocco and Jordan

    Mònica Ardanuy, a professor of textile engineering at the Terrassa School of Industrial, Aerospace and Audiovisual Engineering (ESEIAAT) and a researcher in the TECTEX research group at the UPC, is leading the European project FOSTEX, which aims to create four advanced support centres for the textile industry in Moroccan and Jordanian universities. FOSTEX received one million euros in funding from the European Commission and aims to have these centres operational by 2022.

  • The UPC entrepreneurial ecosystem shines again at 4YFN

    From 26 to 29 February, the UPC’s entrepreneurial talent once again showcased itself at Four Years From Now (4YFN). Over 40 technology-based companies driven by UPC students, graduates and researchers participated, with 16 of them presenting their entrepreneurial projects at the University’s stand. The other spin-offs and start-ups associated with the University were present at other stands or engaged in scheduled activities.

  • Unmasking the microscopic fingerprint in finite-temperature features of a one-dimensional Bose gas

    A team of researchers from the UPC in Barcelona and the EPFL in Lausanne have built a new theory to explain finite-temperature properties in terms of microscopic excitations of bosons in one dimension.

  • The UPC leads a project to develop faster, lower-power processors for artificial intelligence

    The European Commission grants three million euros in funding to the WiPLASH project within the framework of the FET-Open call. It aims to prototype miniaturised wireless graphene antennas in the terahertz band to provide future computing platforms with plasticity and reconfigurability. The project involves seven European universities and companies, under the supervision of Sergi Abadal, a researcher at the UPC’s Department of Computer Architecture.

  • UPC students set for first in university space rocket

    The Cosmic Research team, made up of students from three schools of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in Terrassa and Barcelona are carrying out a series of trials in order to become the first university students to launch a rocket into space. By 2022 they expect to be able to cross the 100-km barrier.

  • 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.

  • First tests of a subsea robot set to be integrated into the OBSEA observatory to monitor the seabed and create a digital twin

    On 19 November, researchers from the UPC’s Technological Development Centre for Remote Acquisition and Data Processing Systems began the initial testing of a robot designed to monitor the seabed at the port of Vilanova i la Geltrú. They aim to develop a digital twin of the Vilanova coastline to characterise species, monitor large predator communities and understand how they interact with the rest of the marine ecosystems for the purpose of better managing and restoring these ecosystems.

  • UPC technology and capabilities at the ISE audiovisual trade fair

    The UPC will participate for the first time in the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the world-renowned tech show for the audiovisual industry. The 2026 edition will be held in the Gran Via venue of the Fira de Barcelona from 3 to 6 February.

  • The UPC launches #looopers, a science outreach series on YouTube

    “Nanoquè? Nanosatèl·lits!” (Nano-what? Nanosatellites!) is the first video in the series that the UPC has launched on its YouTube channel. Teaching and research staff and students have collaborated to reach out to young people and encourage them to take up STEAM vocations.

  • The new European university UNITE! takes off

    The first joint meeting of UNITE!, the University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering, will be held in Darmstadt (Germany) on 5 and 6 November. UNITE! is the new technological university campus promoted by the European Commission with the participation of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC), the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, the Grenoble Institute of Technology, the Politecnico di Torino, TU Darmstadt, the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and Aalto University.

  • 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.

  • UPC technology in the design of a road safety barrier that reduces maintenance costs and the impact of accidents

    Researchers belonging to the Concrete Structure Technology research group of the UPC, along with the companies GIVASA, SERVIÀ CANTÓ, EIFFAGE INFRAESTRUCTURAS and Applus+ IDIADA, have designed and built a prototype of a concrete crash barrier for interurban roads that, in comparison with the concrete barriers already in place, reduces the degree of severity of vehicle impact in accidents and therefore of injury to vehicle occupants.

  • The Vallès School of Architecture presents a construction prototype made from corn and sunflower stalks

    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.

  • The UPC, leader in Knowledge Transfer and Regional Engagement in the latest edition of the CYD Ranking

    In the 2023 edition of the CYD Ranking, the UPC is once again the top Spanish university in Knowledge Transfer. It also shares the top position in Regional Engagement and achieves outstanding results in International Orientation. In the ranking by field, the UPC stands out in Earth Sciences, in which it is ranked among the top 3 universities.

  • 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.

  • Quantum mechanics explains how superfluid helium films grow in carbon nanotubes

    Research by an international team of researchers led by scientists from the ICFO, with the participation of Jordi Boronat, a researcher at the UPC’s Department of Physics, reports on the controlled, layer-by-layer growth process of superfluid helium on the surface of carbon nanotubes. The experiment opens the door to studying new phenomena at the nanoscopic scale and, in particular, in topological phase transitions.

  • Artificial intelligence for the diagnosis of rare diseases related to collagen VI

    Researchers at the Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics—a joint centre of the CSIC and the UPC—and the Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital have developed a system for helping diagnose rare diseases related to deficiencies in the structure of collagen VI.

  • The Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics warns that noise pollution is threatening the natural balance of the oceans

    Within the programme The Winds of Change, the Swiss Ocean Mapping Expedition is making a four-year (2015-2019) journey round the world in the wake of Magellan on board the Fleur de Passion sailing boat. The expedition has already identified many zones of high emission of methane and carbon dioxide between Mactan in the Philippines and Singapore, where the expedition arrived on 13 March. Another project, 20,000 Sounds Under the Seas, is being carried out on board the boat by the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). One of this project’s findings is that the only area of the globe free of noise pollution is between French Polynesia and Australia.

  • The BSC inaugurates its new corporate headquarters, the BSC-Repsol Building

    The minister for Research and Universities, Gemma Geis; the secretary general for Research of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, Raquel Yotti; the rector of the UPC, Daniel Crespo; the president of the Repsol Foundation, Antonio Brufau, and the director of the BSC, Mateo Valero, participated in a brief ceremony celebrating the inauguration of one of the largest scientific and technological facilities in the city of Barcelona. The new 12,000 m2 facility, at which 530 BSC employees work, is preparing to receive the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer.