The ICREAs

ICREA Research Professors form a vibrant community of scientists and researchers in all areas of knowledge that contribute to the advancement of humankind by exploring, interpreting and questioning. Have a look and learn about their amazing discoveries and findings here:

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    Antonio Acín
    Acín Dal Maschio, Antonio
    Research Professor at
    Institut de Ciències Fotòniques (ICFO)
    Engineering Sciences
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    Research interests

    Acín's main research interest is in quantum information theory. This is a scientific area that studies how information is processed and transmitted when encoded on quantum particles. Using quantum effects, new information tasks become possible: more powerful computers, novel cryptographic protocols with unprucedented levels of security or more precise sensing devices. It is a highly inter-disciplinary area combining tools and concepts from mathematics, computer science, physics and engineering. Acín's research activity also covers aspects of foundations of quantum physics, quantum thermodynamics, many-body physics and quantum optics.

    Key words

    Quantum Information Theory, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Thermodynamics, Many-Body Physics and Quantum Optics.
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    Jordi Agustí
    Agustí Ballester, Jordi
    Research Professor at
    Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES)
    Humanities
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    Research interests

    My main field of interest is the environmental and biogeographic changes in the Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems in the last 10 milion years. I accomplish this goal throughout the study of the fossils of small mammals. This key time includes a number of critical climatic phases, such as the onset of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation at 2.6 Ma, the early Pleistocene crisis at 1.8 Ma and the early-middle Pleistocene transition at 0.8 Ma. These crises have modelled the evolution of our own lineage, the hominids, which experienced significant changes following these climatic events. My research has therefore been developed in those areas having extraordinary conditions to follow these changes, either in the Iberian Peninsula (Vallès-Penedès and Guadix-Baza basins) or outside (northern Africa and, most specially, Georgia). Most of these areas are also key ones in order to elucidate the evolution of our lineage during the last 10 Ma, in relation with climatic and environmental changes.

    Key words

    Mammals, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Paleoecology, Paleobiology

    ORCID

    : 0000-0002-7240-1992

    RESEARCHER ID

    : G-5993-2015
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    Tomás Alarcón
    Alarcón, Tomás
    Research Professor at
    Centre de Recerca Matemàtica (CRM)
    Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
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    Research interests

    My research focuses on Mathematical Biology, particularly in multi-scale and stochastic modelling of tumour growth and tumour-induced angiogenesis. The main aim of my research is to understand the mechanisms involved in drug resistance and formulate therapeutic strategies which are robust to such mechanisms. Although tumour growth is my main field of specialisation, I am interested in other areas of Mathematical Biology, particularly regarding cell reprogramming in cancer, senescence and ageing, tumour-induced angiogenesis, and epigenetic regulation.

    Key words

    mathematical biology, stochastic modelling, tumour growth, multiscale modelling

    ORCID

    : orcid.org/0000-0002-8566-3676

    RESEARCHER ID

    : D-9083-2013
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    Mar Albà
    Albà Soler, M. Mar
    Research Professor at
    Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM)
    Life & Medical Sciences
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    Research interests

    As a result of a continuous process of gene birth and death, the genomes from different species contain different sets of genes. Some of these genes encode new functional proteins and facilitate the adaptation of the organism to a changing environment. Some new genes originate by gene duplication, but others emerge de novo from previously non-coding genomic sequences. We study the different mechanisms of gene birth using a combination of comparative genomics, high throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and ribosome profiling data (Ribo-Seq). We have shown that transcription and translation are pervasive and result in many putative precursors of novel proteins. We are aiming at a quantitative and qualitative description of the still poorly understood process of de novo gene formation.    

    Key words

    genomics; molecular evolution; transcriptomics

    ORCID

    : 0000-0002-7963-7375

    RESEARCHER ID

    : B-4793-2009
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    Anna Alberni
    Alberni Jordà, Anna
    Research Professor at
    Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
    Humanities
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    Research interests

    Alberni’s research focuses on the study of medieval Romance poetry as an essential part of Europe’s cultural past. More specifically, she works on issues of poetic genre, intertextuality, discoursive traditions and textual criticism. During the last years Alberni has extensively dedicated her efforts to the consolidation of the research group created in 2009 in order to develop the project The Last Song of the Troubadours. Linguistic Codification and Construction of a Literary Canon in the Crown of Aragon (ERC-StG-2008). Her actual project, Ioculator seu Mimus. Performing Music and Poetry in Medieval Iberia (ERC-CoG-2017), aims at editing and analysing a large corpus of documents on the artists involved in musical life at the courts of the kings of the House of Barcelona (Crown of Aragon) from the mid-13th century to the mid-15th century (1235-1435).   

    Key words

    Medieval Poetry, Textual Criticism, Codicology, Rhetorics, Book Production, Cultural History
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    Rosa Maria Albert
    Albert Cristóbal, Rosa María
    Research Professor at
    Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
    Humanities
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    Research interests

    My scientific interest lies in improving our understanding of the relationship between humans and plants from a long-term perspective. To do this, my research focuses on rebuilding the vegetation of human-occupied landscapes and understanding the human use of plants, including studying fire, agriculture, and grazing practices and their impact on the landscape. Methodologically, I apply a fine resolution multi-proxy analysis based on the identification of the mineralogical composition and microscopic content (not visible to the naked eye) of archaeological sediments, and closely related, to identify plant remains (phytoliths, starches, calcium oxalates ), as well as other microremains of biological origin (diatoms, spicule sponges, chrysophytes, fecal spherulites). In recent years, I have also dedicated part of my time to developing digital platforms for database exchange to enhance the dissemination of microarchaeological research (www.PhytCore.org). As a Phytolith expert, I have been a member of the International Committee on Phytolith Nomenclature (ICPN) since 2014, which led in 2019, to the release of the  ICPN 2.0 contribution to aid in naming and describing phytoliths.

    Key words

    Prehistory, Archaeology, Paleolandscape reconstruction, Vegetal resources, Phytoliths, geoarchaeology, first hominins

    ORCID

    : orcid.org/0000-0003-1722-9445

    RESEARCHER ID

    : ID=7202686146

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