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Research news

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

• 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.

• Launch of a European project for monitoring marine biodiversity using an intelligent marine digital twin

  SEAMPHONI is a project led by the UPC with the participation of 24 European partners and funding of €11 million from the Horizon Europe programme. It aims to transform the monitoring of marine biodiversity through the creation of an intelligent marine digital twin that will integrate innovative tools such as environmental DNA, acoustics and underwater imaging. The project kick-off meeting was held in Vilanova i la Geltrú on 25 June.

• 69 European regions share tools to assess climate risk at regional and local levels

  In a context of climate change, how will areas at risk of wildfires evolve? What about projections of extreme rainfall or the frequency and intensity of heatwaves? A total of 69 regions and municipalities from 23 European countries have received support and funding from the EU to design adaptation and emergency response plans at the regional and local levels. On 11 June, more than 150 representatives from these regions and municipalities gathered in Barcelona for the CLIMAAX workshop, co-coordinated by the UPC’s Centre of Applied Research in Hydrometeorology (CRAHI).

• The UPC aims to improve the treatment of bone fractures with advanced biomaterials

  A research team from the UPC’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering is exploring ways to transform the treatment of bone fractures using smart, advanced biomaterials that can reduce the risk of infection and implant rejection, as well as shorten recovery times. The research is part of the European project HYDROHEAL.

• Launch of Next Frontier Founders, the programme that connects technological vision with funding

  New call—running until 15 July—of this programme for start-up acceleration and investment readiness. For the students, recent graduates and academic and research staff at the UPC who have founded a tech-based start-up or spin-off.

• The UPC, Spain’s leading university in six classifications in the 2025–2026 Best Global Universities Rankings by ‘U.S. News’

  Published by U.S. News on 17 June, the latest edition of the Best Global Universities Rankings positions the UPC as Spain’s top university in Engineering and in five subjects: Optics, Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Environmental 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.

• First year of Connèxia UPC: a new model of engagement with companies offering innovation and knowledge transfer opportunities

  One year after its launch, the Connèxia UPC programme now includes four major partner companies—Fractus, Schneider Electric, Mecalux and Cetaqua—and is set to welcome new additions in 2025. Around 5,000 UPC students have taken part in activities related to the initiative, which has generated an economic impact of approximately €350,000. The programme has also contributed to the development of mentorship activities aimed at promoting female talent through initiatives that support leadership.

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

  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.

• 7 tonnes of plastic waste end up along the Barcelona coastline every year, according to a UPC and UB study

  A research team from the UPC and the UB has spent two and a half years monitoring the Barcelona coastline to quantify the scale of floating marine litter and to identify transport flows and accumulation zones for plastic waste. The results of the study were presented at an event held on the UPC’s North Diagonal Campus on 20 May.

• 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.

• New method developed to identify regions at high risk of compound flooding along the Spanish Mediterranean coast

  A joint research effort by the UPC and the UGR has developed an innovative method to detect and classify areas at high risk of compound flooding—flooding caused by a combination of intense rainfall, river overflows and coastal events such as storms and heavy waves. The study, published in Communications Earth & Environment, has identified three particularly vulnerable regions: central Valencia, northern Catalonia and western Andalusia.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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 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.

• 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.

• 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.

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