Els ICREA

Els professors d'investigació ICREA formen una comunitat dinàmica de científics i investigadors de totes les àrees del coneixement, que contribueixen al progrés de la humanitat amb els seus estudis, interpretacions i preguntes. Entreu i descobriu-ne els increïbles descobriments i troballes:

Sturm, Thomas

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

CLOSE

Sturm, Thomas
Research Professor at
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
Humanities
view profile

Research interests

How is rationality understood in philosophy and the human sciences? How should it be understood? What is its function in various domains? These are the guiding questions for my research, which comprises topics reaching from early modern philosophy - esp. Immanuel Kant's philosophy - up to current discussions at the interface of philosophy, psychology, and the social sciences. I study aspects of reason in Kant's philosophy in relation to his notions of truth and the systematicity of science; I analyze the history as well as the potentials and limits of current psychological and philosophical theories of rationality; and I also study their role in politics, ethics, and education. I'm moreover interested in the philosophy of knowledge, mind, and science. Methodologically, I combine tools of analytic philosophy and history of science: I am unconvinced by widespread opinions according to which they cannot, or should not, be integrated.

Key words
Rationality, Immanuel Kant, Philosophy of Mind & Psychology, Philosophy & History of Science

ORCID
: 0000-0001-5698-3542

RESEARCHER ID
: C-6548-2015
Supèr, Hans

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

CLOSE

Supèr, Hans
Research Professor at
Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
Life & Medical Sciences
view profile

Research interests

My interest is studying the cognitive brain, To get a grasp of its immense complexity, I studied the development of the cortex and the functional organization of the neocortex. Current research focuses on neural circuit dynamics using computer simulations and cognitive behavior with psychophysical experiments. We described novel roles for fixational eye movements in cognitive processing. These studies support the idea that vision is an active process, which can be trained to improve cognitive behavior. The exploitation of these findings is protected by patents, which are licensed. Currently, my research investigates 1) the neural mechanism and function of vergence/synchrony, 2) clinical applications of Cognitive Vergence and eye synchrony, and 3) interactive eye-tracking games to improve cognitive behavior.

Key words
Cognition, Cortical Circuitry, Computational Modeling, Figure-ground Perception, System Neurophysiology, Visual Cortex

ORCID
: 0000-0001-9328-0096

RESEARCHER ID
: L-3324-2014
Surrey, Thomas

Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG)

CLOSE

Surrey, Thomas
Research Professor at
Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG)
Life & Medical Sciences
view profile

Research interests

Living cells are internally highly organized, yet also very dynamic. How is dynamic order generated? The cytoskeleton plays a critical role in this process by forming an active filament network that provides a mechanically stable coordinate system for the internal organization of cells. The Surrey lab studies the properties of the microtubule cytoskeleton with a particular interest in its ability to organize itself into different networks in different cell types or at different times of a cell's life cycle. The Surrey lab has pioneered several biochemical in vitro reconstitution approaches in which minimal cytoskeletal subsystems can be generated from purified components. Observing the behaviour of these reconstituted systems by advanced fluorescence microscopy provides insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying cytoskeleton dynamics and function. Our goal is to uncover the design principles governing active biological network organization which is essential for cell function.

Key words
Cytoskeleton, intracellular architecture, self-organization, microtubules, motor proteins, in vitro reconstitution, molecular mechanism, dynamic systems, fluorescence microscopy, quantitative imaging

ORCID
: 0000-0001-9082-1870
Swart, Marcel

Universitat de Girona (UdG)

CLOSE

Swart, Marcel
Research Professor at
Universitat de Girona (UdG)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
view profile

Research interests

He focuses on the study of electrons in transition-metals during catalysis and in the formation of nanomaterials. He paved the way and designed new density functionals which enabled him to show how electrons flow in transition metal catalysts by jumping from one spin state to another, enabling the corresponding fingerprinting through computational spectroscopy (IR, NMR, UV-Vis, Mössbauer). His scientific excellence has been recognized through several honors and awards: he was awarded the 5th MGMS Silver Jubilee Prize for promoting young molecular modelers (2012), and was selected to contribute to “The next generation” 40 years anniversary issue of Inorg. Chim. Acta (2007). Recently, he received a special award in honor of his continuous support for advancing chemical sciences in Serbia (2017), as the first and only foreigner who has received it.

Key words
Density Functional Theory, polarizable force fields, bioinorganic and organic chemistry, multi-level (QM/MM or QM/QM) approaches, molecular simulations.

ORCID
: 0000-0002-8174-8488

RESEARCHER ID
: A-5083-2008
Tarancón Rubio, Albert

Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya (IREC)

CLOSE

Tarancón Rubio, Albert
Research Professor at
Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya (IREC)
Engineering Sciences
view profile

Research interests

The research work carried out by Albert is in advanced materials for energy applications. In particular, he has been developing innovative concepts for improving the performance of different solid state energy devices such as Solid Oxide Fuel and Electrolysis Cells (SOFC/SOEC), ThermoElectric Generators (TEGs) or Li-ion batteries for energy storage and portable power applications. In the last years, Albert has been specifically developing new concepts for the unexplored field of Nanoionics and Iontronics. They are called to drive a new revolution similarly to Nanoelectronics, underlining the relevance of size effects and interfaces on mass transfer, transport and storage. Albert's group is pioneer in implementing interface-dominated nanomaterials in devices for radically new applications. In this direction, he was awarded with an ERC CoG to implement disruptive Nanoionics concepts in Si-integrated micro-SOFC technology and two FET Proactive projects on new microenergy technologies. From this recent activity, Albert's group developed unprecedented synaptic transistors based on oxide-ion conductors in the frame of their Transionics ERC-PoC project. This can be considered the starting point for a new class of switchable devices that will boos the future Ion Age.

Key words
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, High Temperature Electrolysis, Nanoionics, Micropower sources, Power-to-Gas ,Micro fuel cells

ORCID
: 0000-0002-1933-2406

RESEARCHER ID
: AAJ-6513-2020
Tarruell, Leticia

Institut de Ciències Fotòniques (ICFO)

CLOSE

Tarruell, Leticia
Research Professor at
Institut de Ciències Fotòniques (ICFO)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
view profile

Research interests

Leticia Tarruell leads the Ultracold Quantum Gases experimental group at ICFO, which uses ultracold (nanokelvin) atomic gases as model systems to explore fundamental phenomena in quantum many-body physics. By exploiting atom-light interactions, the group engineers highly controllable artificial quantum materials and probes their properties. The goal is to employ these systems as quantum simulators (i.e. special purpose quantum computers) for studying open problems in various fields of physics, in particular in the condensed-matter context, and for realizing novel quantum phases of matter. This research is carried out in three different platforms: quantum mixtures in the continuum, ground state atoms in optical lattices, and arrays of atoms in Rydberg states.

Key words
ultracold quantum gases, Bose-Einstein condensates, ultracold Fermi gases, unconventional superfluids, optical lattices

ORCID
: 0000-0002-0564-1435

RESEARCHER ID
: I-8152-2012