SciTech DiploHub, the Barcelona Science and Technology Diplomacy Hub, has organized the Science and Technology Diplomacy Summer School: the first training in scientific diplomacy that will take place from 1 to 5 July 2019 in Barcelona. This initiative is a joint effort between SciTech DiploHub and IBEI, the Barcelona Institute for International Studies. Are you interested in attending it?

If you follow the Twitter of the RSEQ (@RSEQUIMICA) you will find on their timeline a bunch of articles devoted to the Peridic Table Elements. The RSEQ is preparing a special issue of the journal "Anales de Química", that will come out on May 5, 2019, to celebrate the International Year of the Periodic Table (IYPT) 2019. The article about Boron is written by Clara Viñas, researcher at ICMAB, who has been working for a long time with this element!

Pamela Machado, Mateusz Scigaj, Jaume Gazquez, Estel Rueda, Antonio Sánchez-Díaz, Ignasi Fina, Martí Gibert-Roca, Teresa Puig, Xavier Obradors, Mariano Campoy-Quiles, and Mariona Coll*. Chem. Mater., 2019, 31 (3), pp 947–954

Michael Foerster, Ignasi Fina, Simone Finizio, Blai Casals, Ania Mandziak, Francois Fauth and Lucia Aballe.  J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 31 084003 (2019)

ICMAB researchers have collaborated in a study led by ICIQ researchers that look in detail at the interfaces in perovskite solar cells to understand the differences observed in their performance.

On 29 March 2019, the Presidency of the CSIC signed the institutional mandate of Open Access. It is a strong impulse for the open access of different types of CSIC research results, including peer-reviewed publications and associated research data, through the DIGITAL.CSIC repository.

Mathieu Mirjolet, Florencio Sánchez, Josep Fontcuberta. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 1808432 

Mengdi Qian, Ignasi Fina, Milena Cervo Sulzbach, Florencio Sánchez, Josep Fontcuberta. Adv. Electron. Mater. 2019, 1800646.

On Wednesday, 27 March 2019, we received the visit of Engineering Undergraduate students from the Escola Universitària Salesiana de Sarrià (EUSS) (Salesian University School of Sarrià). The EUSS is a center afiliated to the UAB created in 1994 and located in Barcelona. Xavier Obradors gave a first overview to the ICMAB research and then the students could visit some of our labs.

One of our workshops for primary school students called "Become a Materials Detective" is the star of the TV children's show "Catacrak" from Barcelona Televisió (betevé), showcasted on Sunday 31 March 2019! Students from the school "Escola Mestre Morera" from Barcelona came to ICMAB to participate in the activity, in which they are introduced to the nanoworld and to the daily life of minerals. Do you want to see the video?

On Friday, 29 March 2019, the "Matheroes: Supermaterials, the materials of the future" were presented for a school class of students aged 11-12 (6è Primària) from Sabadell in the Ponent Library in Sabadell (Biblioteca de Ponent). Núria Crivillers, Juan-Luís García-Pomar and Anna May Masnou, presented some of the supermaterials and their properties and applications.

The Nature Chemistry journal celebrates its 10th anniversary asking some scientists working in different areas fo chemistry what did they think about the future development of their main field of research: the most amazing, exciting, important or challenging aspects they think are the most relevant. 

In last RECERCAT newsletter, our vice-director and researcher, M. Rosa Palacín, was interviewed. She talked about her research in batteries, about the arrival of the electric vehicle, about gender equality in reserach and about materials science in general. Read the interview here!

One PhD fellowship is offered to talented and enthusiastic individuals with a background in physics, nanotechnology or materials science. The selected candidate will work in the context of the 5-year ERC project Ferrites-bydesign for Millimetre wave and Terahertz Technologies (FeMiT), supervised by Dr. Martí Gich, within the Nanoparticles & Nanocomposites group at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC). Deadline for applications: 8 June 2019.

On Thursday 21 March, the Superconducting Materials group was at the "Espai Ciència" of the "Saló de l'Ensenyament" at the CSIC-Catalunya stand, which included different kinds of activities from different Catalan CSIC research centers. The Superconducting team showed the visitors the science behing the levitating train, liquid nitrogen and the properties of nanoparticles. 

Cristiano Matricardi, PhD fellow at the NANOPTO group (Nanostructured Materials for Optoelectronics and Energy Harvesting) is one of the recipients of the 16h edition of the science photography contest "FOTCIENCIA" awards. From a total of 697 photographies, 7 photos have been chosen by the jury as the winners, and "Trampa de luz" is one of them. Congratulations! 

Jike Lyu, Ignasi Fina, Josep Fontcuberta, and Florencio Sanchez. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

Deyaa Abol-Fotouh, Bernhard Dörling, Osnat Zapata-Arteaga, Xabier Rodríguez-Martínez, Andrés Gómez, J. Sebastian Reparaz, Anna Laromaine,* Anna Roig* and Mariano Campoy-Quiles*.  Energy Environ. Sci., 2019, Advance Article. 

On Monday, 18 March, the meeting "Science and Research in the Agenda 2030" (Ciencia e Investigación en la Agenda 2030) took place in La Moncloa (Madrid), with the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Pedro Duque, and the High Comissioner for the Agenda 2030, Cristina Gallach. The CSIC President, Rosa Menéndez, participated in the event, and Mariano Campoy-Quiles, from ICMAB-CSIC, attented the event, together with 150 representatives of the science, research and innovation field in Spain. 

Many of the people (researchers, students, technicians, administrative staff) that have worked at ICMAB since its foundation in 1986, are now developing their career and continuing their training in leading academic institutions and industries all over the world. Are you one of them? Would you like to keep in touch with your former colleagues? Then continue reading...

Last week, during the International Battery Association (IBA) 2019 meeting in San Diego, Alexandre Ponrouch, researcher at ICMAB, received the IBA 2019 Early Career Award. The International Battery Association (IBA) awards significant contributions to battery research and technology development that have impacted the advancement of energy storage systems, and for lifelong service to the IBA. The awards were recognized at the banquet of the IBA meeting on Thursday, March 7, 2019. Congratulations to all the winners of IBA2019! 

The 50th General Assembly & 47th IUPAC World Chemistry Congress "Frontiers in Chemistry: Let’s create our Future! 100 years with IUPAC" will take place on Paris, from 5 to 12 July 2019. 

Three days to talk about communication, science and outreach, at the University of Burgos, from 9 to 11 October 2019, organized by the AECC (Asociación Española de Comunicación Científica) and the University of Burgos. Call for proposals and registration is open!

At the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB) we celebrate Sant Jordi 2019 with the second edition of the Book Exchange. This year, we also included two bookmarks to give as a souvenir to all our staff.

CARBAT, the FET-Open European project on Calcium Rechargeable Battery Technology, coordinated by M. Rosa Palacín at ICMAB, has a new video that explains their project! If you want to know more, check it out here!

A new edition of the photo and video contest of the ICMAB, FOTICMAB 2019, is now open, until 26 May 2019 (included). All the ICMAB staff can participate in this contest, which is already a tradition of our Institute!

FunNanoSurf is a multidisciplinary group based at the ICMAB (Spain) interested in the integration of molecules as active elements in nano-/micro-devices with the goal of developing functional molecular-based platforms for electronic and/or sensing applications. We are looking now for a postdoctoral fellow to join in our team to work on hybrid graphene-based devices. Deadline for application: applications will be considered as they are received until September 2019.

Projects offered by ICMAB during 2019

One of the seven awarded photos in this year's edition of FOTCIENCIA, the photo from our PhD fellow, Cristiano Matricardi, "Trampa de luz" is the star of the HERALDO newspaper article "Juegos de luces entre la naturaleza y el laboratorio" by María Pilar Perla Mateo. You can read here the article. 

Ferran Macià, researcher at ICMAB in the MULFOX group has been selected to participate in the Spanish edition of the international science outreach programme “I’m a scientist, get me out of here!”. The 2019 edition of “Somos científicos, ¡Sácanos de aquí!” takes place from 1-12 April 2019. During this time, Ferran will chat in a multidisciplinary group of scientists – the CSIC zone – that includes researchers from other CSIC centres.

Within the MOTHER project (Molecule-based materials and supramolecular organizations for therapy, diagnosis and tissue engineering), the NANOMOL group from ICMAB collaborates with the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR), on the developement of a new nanomedicine for the treatment of high risk neuroblastoma, one of the most typical childhood cancers. Now, researchers from VHIR have identified new microRNAs that reduce the progression of this type of cancer.

The ICMAB is involved in the Open Innovation Forum 2019, where companies launch technological challenges and universities and research centres suggest solutions. Our Technology Transfer Officer, Alfonso del Rey, and some of our researchers are their to present their innovations, tackle the existing challenges and have meetings with multiple companies that might be interested in them. The first meeting takes place on 3 April in CaixaForum. 

Juan Carlos Gonzalez‐Rosillo, Rafael Ortega‐Hernandez, Benedikt Arndt, Mariona Coll, Regina Dittmann, Xavier Obradors, Anna Palau, Jordi Suñe, Teresa Puig. Adv. Electron. Mater. 2019, 1800629.

The students of physics and chemistry of 4th ESO of the highschool "La Tordera" in Santa Maria de Palautordera received the visit on 6 February 2019 of Anna Laromaine, researcher at ICMAB. Anna visited the highschool in the framework of the #11F2019, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, in which many researchers gave talks in primary and secondary schools during that week. 

We are seeking a dynamic and organized person with good communication skills to be in charge of administrative tasks within the groups of "Inorganic materials for battery applications" and "Nanoparticles & Nanocomposites" at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) located at the Campus of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). Deadline for application: 22 April 2019

Davide Beretta, Neophytos Neophytou, James M.Hodges,  Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, DarioNarducci, Marisol Martin- Gonzalez, Matt Beekman, Benjamin Balke, Giacomo Cerretti, Wolfgang Tremel, Alexandra Zevalkink, Anna I. Hofmann,  Christian Müller, Bernhard Dörling, Mariano Campoy-Quiles, Mario Caironi. Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports. 

One PhD fellowship is offered to talented and enthusiastic individuals with a background in chemistry. The selected candidate will work in the context of the 5-year ERC project Ferrites-by-design for Millimetre wave and Terahertz Technologies (FeMiT), supervised by Dr. Martí Gich, within the Nanoparticles & Nanocomposites group at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC). Deadline for applications: 8 June 2019.

On 11 April, at 6 pm, the meeting of the Spanish Association for the Advancement of Science (AEAC) will take place in Palau Macaya, Barcelona. A meeting to place the AEAC in the panorama of Spanish scientific associations, starting with their mission to be a pro-science association that, although promoted by the scientific community, is open to citizen participation.

The Open Science Day in the context of the Working Group on Open Science within the network of Severo Ochoa Centers and María de Maeztu Units (SOMMA), led by BCAM and DTIC-UPF, will take place on 8 April 2019 at the Dept. of Information and Communication Technologies, Univ. Pompeu Fabra (DTIC-UPF) in Barcelona.

Hello!!
I'm Alex, a last year physics student from Sant Andreu, Barcelona. I will be in the Materials Simulation and Theory group for a 3 month internship. I love music, snorkelling and scuba diving and also other mainstream activities as going out, do sport or travelling.
See you!!

 

On 12 March 2019, and in the framework of the Women's International Day, 8 March, the Châtelet team went to Sant Cugat to perform the dramatised reading that visibilizes the women scientists along history "Madame Châtelet and her Instagram followers". The students, of 11-12 years old, were really attentive and asked many questions after the lecture. Thank you for inviting us!

Rafael Cichelero, Mikko Kataja, Mariano Campoy-Quiles, and Gervasi Herranz, "Non-reciprocal diffraction in magnetoplasmonic gratings," Opt. Express 26, 34842-34852 (2018). 

Soledad Roig-Sanchez, Erik Jungstedt, Irene Anton-Sales, David C. Malaspina, Jordi Faraudo, Lars A. Berglund, Anna Laromaine and  Anna Roig*.  Nanoscale Horiz., 2019, Advance Article. 

Hello!! I’m Carlota and I’m from Sant Cugat del Vallès. This year I’m finishing my studies in Chemical Engineering and thanks to the JAE Intro fellowship, I will be joining the Solid State Chemistry group to develop my final degree thesis.
In my spare time I enjoy being outdoors, hiking with my dog and discovering new places. I also love to travel. See you around!

 

The online website "Motor Pasion" about the cars and motor word, opens their site today with a news post about the electric vehicle and the future batteries. M. Rosa Palacín, researcher at ICMAB, was consulted by the author of the article, Victoria Fuentes, and appers in the article giving her point of view and state of the art. Read it to know more about it!