Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia

Thematic Network. Final Retreat NET QUASI: Ways of Seeing
2026-09-17 14:30 - 18:30 (Europe/Madrid)
Ways of Seeing
Nature is a master designer, shaping molecules, materials, organisms, and ecosystems through interactions across scales. Yet many of its most remarkable strategies remain hidden in plain sight, waiting to be revealed through careful observation. Scientific discovery often begins not with a hypothesis, but with a way of seeing: the ability to notice patterns, ask unexpected questions, and look at familiar phenomena from a different perspective.
With this retreat, we would like to celebrate observation as a catalyst for curiosity, understanding, discovery, and innovation. Together, we will reflect on how attentiveness to the natural world inspires new ideas, challenges existing assumptions, and opens pathways to scientific and technological breakthroughs. Through the exchange of perspectives and experiences, we hope to explore how careful observation can transform wonder into understanding, and how insights from nature can inspire entirely new ways of designing.
Agenda
14:30 – 14:45 : Opening Remarks
14:45 – 16:00: Keynote Lecture Prof. Saad Bhamla (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)
16:00 – 17:30 : Documentary Screening: Observer. Director: Ian Cheney
In the 95-minute doc, Cheney brings a series of keen-eyed observers — scientists, artists, and a hunter — to a range of locations around the world and asks them to describe what they see. What unfolds is a thought-provoking journey into the simple but transformative act of observing.
17:30 – 18:15: Round Table Discussion Ways of Seeing: What Can Nature Still Teach Us?
18:15 – 18:30: Closing Remarks
18:30 : Networking Reception & Refreshments

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Thematic Network. NET-QUASI Workshop 4
2026-09-18 09:30 - 15:30
Constructing Biological Complexity: Engineering Interactions Across Scales
Biological systems achieve remarkable functionality through interactions that span multiple scales, from molecular assemblies and cellular compartments to tissues and complex microenvironments. Understanding how these interactions give rise to emergent behaviors is a central challenge in contemporary bioengineering and synthetic biology.
This workshop brings together researchers exploring how biological complexity can be reconstructed, controlled, and harnessed through engineering approaches. Topics range from the biochemical reconstitution of cellular processes and the design of synthetic cellular systems to mechanobiology, collective cell behavior, immune microenvironments, and advanced therapeutic technologies.
Agenda:
09:30 – 09:40 Opening Remarks
09:40 – 10:35 Keynote Lecture I – Prof. Dr. Germán Rivas (CIB Margarita Salas, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain)
Title: Synthetic Cell Division via Biochemical Reconstitution
10:40 – 11:25 Invited Lecture I – Dr. Margherita Staykova (Department of Physics, Durham University, UK)
Title: TBA
11:25– 12:00 Coffee Break
12:00 – 12:55 Keynote Lecture II – Prof. Oskar Staufer (INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Saarbrücken, Germany)
Title: Building Immunity from the Bottom-Up: Synthetic Cell-Based Tumor Immune Microenvironments
13:00 – 13:30 Early Career IBEC Lecture – M.Sc. Inés Macías Tarrio (Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, Spain)
Title: Nanomotors Boost FGFR3-Targeted Therapy in Bladder Cancer
13:30– 14:30 Lunch Break
14:30 – 15:15 IBEC Lecture I Prof. Dr. Pere Roca-Cusachs (Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, Spain)
Title: TBA
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Jornada informativa 2026: Oportunidades de financiación para proyectos de investigación en salud
2026-09-22 09:00 - 13:30
Nanomed Spain e IBEC organizan esta Jornada Informativa para acercar a la comunidad investigadora y empresarial las principales oportunidades de financiación para proyectos de I+D+i en salud.
A través de las intervenciones de representantes del CDTI y de la Fundación Científica de la AECC, la jornada presentará las próximas convocatorias del programa Horizonte Europa, los instrumentos nacionales de apoyo a la innovación y otras iniciativas de financiación estratégicas para impulsar la investigación, la transferencia de tecnología y el desarrollo de soluciones innovadoras en salud.
La jornada culminará con una sesión de networking diseñada para identificar sinergias, promover nuevas colaboraciones y facilitar la generación de consorcios para futuras propuestas nacionales e internacionales.
Una oportunidad única para mantenerse al día de las novedades en financiación y ampliar la red de contactos dentro del ecosistema de innovación en salud.

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