One of the selected FBA Fellows is James Eills, specialist researcher in chemistry,
who will join the IBEC.
The Bosch Aymerich Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to create, encourage and develop activities of general interest related to arts, culture, sciences, sport, and health, within the territory of Catalonia. It summons 25 scholarships each year to pursue studies in medium or higher degree school cycles and undergraduate, graduate, masters, or doctoral degrees. Founded by engineer, architect, and businessman Josep Maria Bosch Aymerich and his wife, Maria Rosa Escarpenter, the Foundation has helped to promote the most recent FBA Fellows programme aimed at attracting scientific talent.
The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) and the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC Barcelona) have each selected three fellows to teach and conduct research over the next years. The FBA Fellowship intends to give special power to outstanding research and teaching in health and environment matters. Society today faces complex challenges in both these fields, such as the current health care crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Such issues require a multidisciplinary perspective to drive pioneering research and improve the way we educate and train new generations of researchers and professionals.
BIST seeks to drive research in the field of precision medicine through in-depth studies of life-altering diseases, such as cancer and metastasis, or those brought on by ageing, with a comprehensive and integrated approach towards the person and patient. On the other hand, BIST’s contribution to the environmental challenge relies on studying the causes of environmental degradation and climate change, focusing on four areas in particular: photovoltaic energy devices; artificial photosynthesis; a new technique for monitoring air, water, and food quality; and carbon dioxide capture.
The FBA Fellows were selected following two calls held by UIC Barcelona and BIST in May 2020. The six new fellows are:
At BIST,
- James Eills, specialist researcher in chemistry, who will join the IBEC;
- Marion Salzer, specialist researcher in cellular ageing using applications that study fertility, who will join the CRG;
- Ekaterina Khestanova, researcher who has been working at the Department of Physics and Engineering at ITMO University (Saint Petersburg, Russia) and will now join a multidisciplinary research project at the ICFO and the ICN2.
At UIC Barcelona,
- Osnat Hakimi, expert in biomedicine, bioinformatics, and bioengineering;
- Conrado Aparicio, researcher in dentistry and biomaterials;
- Lorenzo Chelleri, expert in sustainability in architecture, construction, and urban planning.
You can find more information in the BIST Press Release.
