Research news

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

  • 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.

  • 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, 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Barcelona hosts the International Conference on Atomic Physics (ICAP) with the presence of 6 Nobel laureates in physics

    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).

  • The UPC among the three best Spanish universities according to the 2021 U-Multirank

    In the 2021 edition of U-Multirank, a European Commission initiative to provide a multidimensional view of universities, the UPC moves up and is ranked as one of the top three Spanish universities.

  • UPC’s INTE research for improving the detection of radon gas in the atmosphere and soil to monitor its impact on health and climate change

    The researchers Claudia Grossi and Arturo Vargas, from the UPC’s Institute of Energy Technologies (INTE), and other European scientists are studying how to improve radon gas measurements in the atmosphere and soil to better control its impact on health and the environment.

  • UPC rises 46 places in QS World University Rankings 2018

    Once again, the UPC ranks amongst the world’s top 300 universities as it did two years ago. It holds 275th place on the QS World University Rankings 2018, published on 8 June. The UPC ranks 120th in Europe, in Spain it is the sixth ranked university overall and the top technical university, and in Catalonia it holds third position.

  • The UPC once again at the Mobile World Congress

    Several biotechnology and 5G projects backed by the UPC, as well as a number of spin-offs from the University, were presented at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and the 4 Years From Now (4YFN) event, which took place in Barcelona between 25 and 28 February.

  • Terrassa hosts the AMBER laboratory for ultra-high-voltage electrical tests

    The AMBER laboratory is a research centre equipped with cutting-edge technology for electrical energy analysis and testing. Inaugurate by the Motion Control and Industrial Applications (MCIA) research group of the UPC and the company SBI CONNECTORS, AMBER has the capacity to perform very high voltage testing. It has two machines that are unique in Europe and can work with a voltage of up to 1.5 million volts (MV) DC.

  • 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).

  • Two researchers from the UPC’s ESEIAAT simulate polar storm formation on Saturn

    The research is part of an international scientific collaboration that has observed multiple storms at different latitudes on the second largest planet in the solar system

  • The BSC-CNS will be home to one of the largest European supercomputers: MareNostrum 5

    The Barcelona Supercomputing Center–Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) will host one of the pre-exascale supercomputers in the high-performance computer network promoted by the European Commission, namely MareNostrum 5. It will be a heterogeneous supercomputer adapted to the new requirements of supercomputer users that will emphasise artificial intelligence and will have a peak performance of 200 petaflops

  • Inauguration of Thinx | 5GBarcelona, an open laboratory for testing 5G technologies

    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.

  • The UPC’s NanoSat Lab demonstrates the feasibility of using nanosatellites to observe the Earth and monitor climate change

    The FSSCat is ESA’s first mission that relies on CubeSats to support the Copernicus monitoring services for land and marine environment of the European Earth Observation programme. The mission won the Sentinel Small Satellite (S^3) Challenge Award of ESA and was honoured as the Copernicus Masters Overall Winner in 2017.

  • Light and nanotechnology combined to prevent bacterial contamination on medical implants

    An ICFO and B. Braun Surgical, S.A. study published in Nano Letters and highlighted in Nature Photonics reports on a new technique that could prevent bacterial contamination and infection in medical implants by using light combined with gold nanoparticles.

  • The ICFO and the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute create a joint laboratory

    The Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) and the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute have created a new joint laboratory that focuses on advancing the use and development of photonic technologies to understand, diagnose, monitor and treat paediatric diseases. The alliance seeks to provide innovations that improve the quality of life of children with severe pathologies and is made possible thanks to the support of the Joan Ribas Araquistain Foundation, the Cellex Foundation and the Torró Solidari RAC1 by Torrons Vicens.

  • International cooperative agreement aims to fast track advanced material solutions to solve global challenges

    ICFO and Advanced Material Pandemic & Future Preparedness Taskforce sign MoU to facilitate solving global challenges using advanced materials.

  • 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.

  • Researchers from UPC, Brazil and Australia get the first images and sounds of an observatory installed in the Amazon

    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.

  • Photonic snakes, a new instrument for revealing the secrets of light

    Researcher Salim B. Ivars, a doctoral student at the UPC’s Department of Physics, has collaborated with researchers from the Institute of Photonic Sciences and the Universitat Politècnica de València in the discovery of the so-called photonic snake states, a novel instrument that can greatly assist in unravelling the mysteries of light. The results of this research, led by the UPV, have been published in the scientific journal Nature Photonics.

  • 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.

  • ICFO researchers create an ultradilute quantum liquid made from ultra-cold atoms

    The Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) researchers create a novel type of liquid one hundred million times more dilute than water and one million times thinner than air. The experiments, published in Science, exploit a fascinating quantum effect to produce droplets of this exotic phase of matter.

  • European artificial intelligence leaders meet at the UPC in Barcelona to promote the use of this technology in the EU

    This meeting marks the starting point of the AI4EU project, which receives €20 million euros in funding from the European Commission and has 79 partners from 21 countries, among them 60 leading research centres. The objective is to provide users with artificial intelligence resources that favour scientific research and technological innovation. The AI4EU Ethics Observatory will also be created to guarantee a human-centred AI.