New Projects

The first call for Frontier Interdisciplinary Projects within the Smart FUNctional materials for a better FUTURE (FUNFUTURE) Severo Ochoa Programme boosts 7 new collaborative projects.

The FIP are an internal call of proposals for researchers of the Institute aimed for the development of both experimental and theoretical frontier interdisciplinary research projects through the exploration of innovative and radical novel ideas, the development of new methodologies or the reinterpretation of already established paradigms in the field of new functional materials.

Launch of the cross-european PHOENIX project, which will provide a new infrastructure available to research laboratories, SMEs and start-ups to facilitate the transfer of nano-pharmaceuticals from the laboratory to clinical practice. PHOENIX will have a duration of 4 years and a total budget of 14.45 million euros. Two CSIC Institutes, ICMAB (CSIC) and INMA (CSIC-UNIZAR), and one CSIC spin-off, Nanomol Technologies, participate in the project.

Unit U6 of NANBIOSIS (Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit) has expanded its capabilities with two new instruments for the characterization unit. The new equipment will allow the characterization of some physico-chemical properties of different nanomaterials.

ICMAB participates in a project that wants to significantly improve the energy density, cost and sustainability of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. Batteries with such improved parameters are highly sought-after in the growing electric vehicle (EV) industry.

The European Energy Research Alliance Joint Programme intends to align research and development activities in the fields of energy storage.

The ICMAB will be the host institution of four new postdoctoral researchers within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Individual Fellowships (IF) H2020 programme, granted by the European Commission.

The program offers a mentor to PhD researchers to aid them during this part of their career.

ICMAB Researchers are collaborating with others around the world. These three projects related to energy applications will receive funding to take their research further than they could before.

The AGenT Postdoctoral Programme is an European H2020 Marie Sklodowska COFUND that offers training opportunities for researchers at CRAG and other associated partner organizations like ICMAB. The AGenT programme will aims to improve career prospects for plant and farm animal researchers in Europe and contribute to the their training in the areas of plant and agricultural sciences.

We are very happy to announce that the NFFA-Europe project that enables the use of shared research infrastrucures in nanoscience and nanotechnology will continue during the next years as NFFA-Europe Pilot (NEP). The project, in which the ICMAB participates as partner, will be strengthened bya new consortium with third parties, which will enhance the impact on European research.

The project “Targeted Quatsome nanocarriers for the delivery of microRNA for neuroblastoma therapy” (TAG-SMARTLY), coordinated by Nora Ventosa from the Nanomol Group at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), has been selected for a valorization program from the Biomedical Research Networking Center - Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN).

Training of young researchers in the field of materials science for energy applications receives funding from the European Commission. The ICMAB-CSIC is one of the eleven partners of this MSCA-ITN international project that aims to advance in the field of organic thermoelectrics. 

We are very happy to announce that the ICMAB has been granted the project "Matheroes: The Box" in the last FECYT 2019 projects call for the promotion of science, technological and innovation culture. This project is the second part of the project "Matheroes: Supermaterials, the heroes of the future" and also counts with the participation of many ICMAB researchers and staff, and with our collaborators, ESCIENCIA. The mission is to explain our 5 Research Lines in Materials for Energy, Superconductors, Oxide Electronics, Molcular Electronics and Biomaterials to young students! 

The project to improve the rechargeability of zinc-air batteries, led by ICMAB researchers from the Solid State Chemistry group, has been featured this week in R+D CSIC news. These batteries have more capacity than the lithium-ion ones, and are made of cheap materials, which are widely available in nature as well as safe.

Researchers from the Superconducting Materials and Large Scale Nanostructures (SUMAN) group will be joining researchers from 13 other countries in the development of a network with the intention to push for the implementation of Hight Temperature Superconductors (HST) to all the different parts of the electrical energy chain, in the framewor of a European COST Action.

The researchers from four ICMAB Research Groups will be joining another 35 groups from 14 different universities, as well as research and technology centers, with the objective of boosting the energy sector in Catalunya and turning it into a strong international referent for innovation, at the R+D+I Energy for Society Network (XRE4S). 

Nora Ventosa and Nathaly Segovia, from the NANOMOL Group at the ICMAB, have been selected as part of the NARTIC Project team for an incubation program by Barcelona Activa. NARTIC is a biotech project for the development of molecular therapy based on Quatsomes for diseases such as cancer.

A project to improve the security of the identification systems using magnetic memories, a project to enhance the duration of Zn-air batteries, and a project to treat corneal wounds with nanocellulose patches.

The kick-off meeting of FusionCAT project took place on 29 January 2020 at the UPC Rectorat and was organized by Barcelona SuperComputing (BSC), who coordinate the project. From the ICMAB,  Xavier Granados and Joffre Gutierrez from the SUMAN group participate in this project, which aims in establishing an active fusion community in Catalonia.

On the occasion of the "Marató de TV3: Minories que fan una Majoria", which is this year devoted to rare diseases, we would like to show you a project in which we participate and which tackles a rare disease: the SMART-4-FABRY project. One of the main objectives of the project is to use nanotechnology to increase the efficiency of the current treatment for the Fabry disease, based on the GLA enzyme. Nora Ventosa and her team, from CIBER-BBN and NANOMOL group at ICMAB-CSIC, coordinate the project, in which fourteen partners from different countries participate.

The Catalan Association of Scientific Communication (ACCC), together with many research centers and universities, including the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB), have initiated an art project that will represent in a different way thw world of nanotechnology: NANOCAEDRE. Susagna Ricart, from the ICMAB, participates in this project with her expertise in the superconducting phenomena. The presentation of the project will take place at the Basilica Sants Màrtirs Just i Pastor (Barcelona), on Tuesday, 10 December, at 7 pm.

"SENSORAÏM: Autonomous Distributed Sensor Networks for a Smart Viticulture" is the new project led by Mariano Campoy-Quiles from the NANOPTO group at the ICMAB funded by FEDER (Fons Europeu de Desenvolupament Regional), Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) and Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca del Departament d'Empresa i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya, within the modality "PRODUCTE" grants (2018 PROD 00191), aimed at obtaining prototypes of the research results generated by research groups in Catalunya. These projects are excellent to reinforce the technology transfer of the Catalan research centers. 

The project "Synthetic nanoparticles as an innovative treatment in sepsis (SPRINT-4-SEPSIS)" will be funded by the Ramón Areces Foundation within the framework of the XIX National Contest of Life and Material Sciences Research Grants. Anna Roig will be part of the project.