Institutional news

Last weekend IBEC participated in Barcelona’s twelfth Festival de la Ciència with a host of activities.

Kicking off IBEC’s proceedings on Saturday morning were some activities led by the SPECS group, starting with the workshop ‘Biomimetic Robots to Understand Our Behavior’, which offered a glimpse at the way robotics can help us study aspects of brain function, such as learning, and our behaviour. SPECS’ robot, Nao, was one of the volunteers helping to run the workshop.

Attendees could also try out the group’s Rehabilitation Gaming System, a virtual-reality tool that helps restore motor activity and cognition after a brain injury.

This month saw the kick-off of the RIS3CAT LLAVOR 3D Community, a partnership of Catalan entities – including IBEC – which will develop projects in additive manufacturing and 3D printing.

Coordinated by Leitat, and part of the RIS3CAT strategy of research and innovation for the smart specialization of Catalonia, the Community will bring together 31 SMEs, large companies, research centres and universities. Together they’ll work on four projects, ultimately accelerating their development and adoption by the industrial sector to improve competitiveness.

Yesterday Nanomed Spain-organised ‘Jornada sobre Nanotoxicidad’ (Workshop on Nanotoxicity) welcomed almost 100 attendees from all over Spain.

The day focused on a new discipline, the study of toxicity produced by the effect of nanoparticles and nanomaterials. Nanotoxicity has emerged as manufactured nanoparticles can have properties and effects that are very different from those of the same materials in conventional sizes, or can have the same dimensions as certain biological molecules and interact with them, posing new risks to health.

Three of IBEC’s women researchers have been successful in BIST’s recent ‘To the Mothers of Science’ call.

Postdocs Silvia Pujals from Nanoscopy for Nanomedicine and Marija Vukovanovic from Bacterial Infections: Antimicrobial Therapies each won a grant and coaching sessions, and senior researcher Marina Giannotti from Nanoprobes and Nanoswitches won coaching sessions.

‘To the Mothers of Science’ is a new initiative from the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) that aims to support women scientists who have the ambition and potential to reach a leading position in research while fulfilling maternity responsibilities at the same time. This first call bestowed 12 grants distributed among the seven BIST centres, plus coaching alone for seven finalists.

Nearly fifty undergraduate and master students attended today’s reSearch4Talent at IBEC, the fourth time we’ve opened our doors to young scholars interested in a career in science.

Held in the Dolors Aleu room of the Barcelona Science Park, the event started with a welcome and presentation about the institute from IBEC’s director, Josep Samitier, followed by specific information about applications and admissions from Ciara Boter of the HR department.

Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies PhD student Jesús Ordoño will spend six months at Michigan State University with a Daniel Bravo scholarship.

He’s one of just three winners in the 2018 call by the Fundació Privada Daniel Bravo Andreu, which aims to to stimulate high impact biomedical research in Catalonia by awarding a monthly stipend plus travel expenses for researcher to stay in some of the most prestigious centers in the world.

Jesús will work at Michigan State University’s Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering on a project entitled “Elucidation of the mechanisms and signaling pathways of lactate on cardiac regeneration”.

To round off its first Faster Future fundraising campaign, IBEC is organizing an exclusive European film première of “I’ll Push You”, the inspiring story of Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray, the first people to complete the Camino de Santiago in a wheelchair.

Over the past 20 years, a progressive neuromuscular disease has slowly taken away Justin’s ability to use his arms and legs. He requires daily assistance in every aspect of life such as eating, bathing and getting dressed. In the spring of 2012, Justin asked his best friend Patrick if he would help him complete the Camino de Santiago, the 500-mile pilgrimage trail in Northern Spain. Patrick’s response was simple and direct: “I’ll push you.”

Representatives from IBEC were in Boston, Massachusetts last week taking part in a business mission to accelerate the application of 3D printing to health.

Alongside companies Avinent, Diopma, Mastertec, Neos Surgery, Servocad Microtronics, Tractivus and Ventura Medical, as well as the Althaia Foundation, Fira de Barcelona and Hospital Clínic, Head of Tech Transfer Xavier Rubies—accompanied by Scientific Coordinator Mateu Pla—visited hospitals, technology centers and local laboratories and meet with investors and companies in the region to find financing, new partners or customers.

IBEC is the recipient of one of twelve MIT-Spain ”la Caixa” Foundation Seed Fund grants under a brand new funding programme in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The media presentation of the grants at Palau Macaya took place this morning, when IBEC Director Josep Samitier took part in a press conference. During the presentation Angel Font, Corporate Director of Research and Strategy at the ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation, remarked particularly on IBEC’s strong capacity for gaining competitive funding.

The ”la Caixa” and MIT grants will aim to support research projects carried out jointly between Spanish universities and research groups and MIT research groups, boosting cooperation between faculty, researchers and students. The inititative is part of the MISTI Global Seed Funds programme, which promotes collaborations between MIT faculty and researchers and their counterparts abroad.