Research news

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

  • Researchers from the UPC, the BSC-CNS and the UPV/EHU establish the age and origin of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

    Researchers from the UPC’s Department of Physics on the Terrassa Campus, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) and the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) have analysed historical observations since the 17th century and have developed numerical models to explain the longevity and nature of this spectacular meteorological phenomenon in the atmosphere of the gas giant planet.

  • First smart ocean monitoring buoy with UPC technology installed in the Corcovado Gulf, Chile

    On 13 October, the UPC’s Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB), the Chilean Ministry of the Environment and MERI Foundation installed the first smart buoy of The Blue BOAT Initiative in the Corcovado Gulf, Chile. Equipped with cutting-edge LIDO technology developed by the UPC, the buoy monitors in real time marine biodiversity and the impact of human activities on the ecosystem. The data obtained will allow to alert vessels of the presence of whales to avoid collisions.

  • The UPC in the top 25% of the QS World University Rankings

    The QS World University Rankings have ranked the UPC 371st in the world, among the top 25%. It also continues to be the 9th university and the 2nd technical university in Spain, and the 4th university in Catalonia. Regarding indicators, it is ranked in the top 10% for sustainability.

  • In the world’s top 60 for the SDG Climate Action, according to the THE Impact Rankings

    The sixth edition of the THE Impact Rankings has been published. The rankings assess the impact of universities’ contributions to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UPC is ranked the world’s 58th for the SDG 13 Climate Action and in the 101-200 band for the SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and the SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities.

  • Unite! creates a network of doctoral programmes to boost green hydrogen research in Europe

    The Unite! alliance has created a network of doctoral programmes to explore the integration of hydrogen in the energy sector from the expertise of each university. Coordinated by the UPC and funded through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the Unite! Energy project is the seed of the alliance’s future doctoral school. The first 12 PhD positions have already been announced.

  • UPC researchers will observe 77,000 stars with the Chilean 4MOST telescope

    Alberto Rebassa, a professor at the UPC’s Department of Physics and at the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), and Odette Toloza, a researcher at the Federico Santa María Technical University (Chile), will lead a team of 30 researchers from 18 institutions around the world to observe and analyse the spectra of 77,000 binary stars. They will use the European Southern Observatory’s 4MOST telescope, located in Chile.

  • The analysis of a meteorite reveals secrets about the birth of the solar system

    The study has been carried out by an international team of cosmochemists and astrophysicists, including researcher Jordi José, from the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) and the Department of Physics of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC). Encapsulated in a meteorite collected in Antarctica, the tiny grain – only a few microns in size – has shed new light on the terminal phases of the star’s life and how stars sow the Universe with the building blocks for new stars, planets and life.

  • UPCommons among the world’s top 30 document repositories

    The UPCommons open knowledge portal is listed among the world’s top 30 document repositories, 10th in Europe and 1st in Spain in the latest edition of the Transparent Ranking of repositories. In the ranking of institutional repositories, it climbs to the 19th place worldwide and the 6th place in Europe.

  • UPC improves positioning on Webometrics ranking and now holds 280th place globally

    The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) has moved up 32 positions on the Ranking Web of Universities and now ranks 280th in the world. At the European level, the UPC has moved up ten positions, and within the Spanish university system it has held onto its place as the country’s top technical university.

  • UPCommons remains among the world’s top 20 in the Transparent Ranking of repositories

    The UPC’s open document repository, UPCommons, is ranked the world’s 20th in the latest edition of the Transparent Ranking of repositories. In the ranking of institutional repositories, UPCommons climbs to the 10th place worldwide and is once again the leader in Spain.

  • UPCommons among the world’s top 20 open document repositories

    The UPC’s open document repository, UPCommons, is ranked the world’s 20th in the latest edition of the Transparent Ranking of repositories. In the ranking of institutional repositories, UPCommons climbs to the 11th place worldwide and is once again the leader in Spain.

  • A dominant negative sentiment prevails in public perception towards the cruise industry during the COVID-19 outbreaks

    Researchers from the URV and the UPC’s Biomedical Engineering Research Centre (CREB) have analysed more than 34 million tweets and have found a prevailing negative sentiment towards the cruise industry. One of the main conclusions of the study, published in the Tourism Management Perspectives journal, is the need for the cruise industry to reinvent itself and double down on green credentials.

  • 56 cooperation projects under way in year Centre for Development Cooperation (CCD) turns 25

    Fifty-six development cooperation projects are getting under way at the UPC. The projects are supported by the Centre for Development Cooperation, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and 165 members of the university community are directly involved. Part of the funding for these projects comes from voluntary contributions made by UPC students and by academic, administrative and service staff through the 0.7% campaign.

  • How do fish choose their leaders? The answer lies in speed

    Researchers from the UPC’s Department of Physics have studied leadership dynamics in schooling fish, discovering that speed is key: individuals tend to align with faster neighbours and ignore slower ones. The study is featured on the cover of the journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ (PNAS).

  • A total of 117 UPC researchers in the CSIC ranking of the most outstanding female scientists

    117 UPC researchers are listed in the second edition of the CSIC ranking of Spanish and foreign female scientists who conduct research in Spain. The ranking classifies female scientists with an h-index equal to or greater than 18.

  • A NanoSat Lab project selected for the 4th edition of ESA’s Fly Your Satellite! programme

    Developed by bachelor’s and master’s degree students, PoCat-LEKTRON is a twin satellite mission that will be launched into space as part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) training programme.

  • Launch of CYBERCAT, an interuniversity research centre for cybersecurity and data privacy

    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.

  • The UPC leads artificial intelligence (AI) research and innovation in Catalonia

    The UPC is the most active Catalan entity in artificial intelligence research and innovation according to the report “Analysis of the specialisation in artificial intelligence in Catalonia”, produced by the Government of Catalonia.

  • The UPC, the best Spanish university in performance according to the U-Ranking

    In the 2021 edition of the U-Ranking the UPC climbs to the top position among Spanish universities in performance together with the UPF and the UC3M. The UPC remains the leader among Spanish universities in teaching and the 3rd in research and innovation. The University is above the Spanish average in almost all the indicators analysed in the ranking and stands out in research and innovation.

  • The UPC is Spain’s top university in raising funds for European research and innovation projects

    The UPC is Spain’s top university in raising Horizon Europe funds for research and innovation projects in 2021-2022, having raised 42 million euros for 66 projects already signed. It is also Spain’s third organisation, behind the Spanish National Research Council and Tecnalia.

  • The UPC participates in 65 of the Horizon Europe projects funded so far, leading 12 of them

    The UPC has successfully participated in several calls issued during the first ten months of the Horizon Europe programme. The University takes part in 65 projects—leading 12 of them—which account for almost 47 million euros in funding. Its presence is particularly important in the Digital, Industry and Space cluster and in the Climate, Energy and Mobility cluster. In Excellent Science, it has achieved four awards from the European Research Council (ERC) and nine Marie Curie projects.

  • Adriano Camps and Marta Guardiola win the Duran Farell Technological Research Award

    Professor Adriano Camps, director of the UPC’s NanoSat Lab, and MiWEndo founder Marta Guardiola have won the 13th Duran Farell Technological Research Award. The jury also presented an honourable mention to IBEC researcher Zaida Álvarez.

  • More than 200 students at the UPC's Week of Engineering Competition

    From 25 November to 1 December, the 10th edition of the Week of Engineering Competition (WEC) will be held at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), with more than 200 engineering students enrolled. During the WEC, students from any school of the UPC can get out of the classroom and participate in competitions, activities and group dynamics with companies, to test their knowledge and skills and give them a real work experience for a few hours.

  • UPC brand technology at the Smart City Expo World Congress

    At the Gran Vía venue of Fira de Barcelona from 14 to 16 November

  • The UPC steps on the accelerator

    On 11 and 12 November, the six teams of UPC students who have designed and built electric vehicles to participate in university competitions attended Expoelectric, a meeting point to encourage energy saving and efficient driving.

  • The TETRAMAX European project to improve technology transfer in ICT

    The Data Management Group (DAMA-UPC) of the UPC is participating in the European project Technology Transfer via Multinational Application Experiments (TETRAMAX), whose goal is to implement the European Smart Anything Everywhere initiative in the field of ICT technologies, particularly those aimed at the internet, in order to promote innovation based on technology transfer experiences.

  • The initiative 5GBarcelona, at the Mobile World Congress

    The Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council, Mobile World Capital Barcelona, ​​the i2CAT Foundation, the Telecommunications Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTTC), Atos and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) participate in the 5GBarcelona initiative, which aims to turn the city and Catalonia into one of the European digital innovation hubs in the field of 5G technology. The 5GBarcelona strategy is present at the Mobile World Congress 2018, which will be held from 26 February to 1 March at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue.

  • ESEIAAT-UPC researchers participate in space mission to study gigantic lightning jets

    The Lightning Research Group (LRG) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), based on the Terrassa Campus, is participating in the ASIM space mission to observe, record and analyse the most violent electrical storms that occur in the atmosphere. The aim is to verify data collected by an observatory installed on the International Space Station (ISS), which will measure high-energy terrestrial emissions in the atmosphere, by comparing it to data obtained by the UPC at various points around the planet.

  • UPC cements position as Spain’s top university in innovation and technological development

    According to the 2017 edition of U-Ranking, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) has maintained its position as Spain’s top university in innovation and technological development in the performance ranking and moved up to number one in the ranking based on volume. It has also maintained its position as the number two Spanish university overall and moved up among the top three in teaching and research.

  • CARNET, a National Research Award for public-private partnership in R&I

    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.