Los ICREA

Los catedráticos de investigación de ICREA forman una comunidad dinámica de científicos e investigadores de todas las áreas del conocimiento, que contribuyen al progreso de la humanidad con sus estudios, interpretaciones y cuestionamientos. Entre y descubra sus increíbles descubrimientos y hallazgos:

Sombra, Martín

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

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Sombra, Martín
Research Professor at
Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
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Research interests

Polynomials appear in a wide variety of contexts in Mathematics, Engineering and Computer Science. Polynomials in those situations are not random but come up with a certain structure which is important to exploit. I am interested in systems of structured polynomial equations and particularly in questions like: how many solutions does a given system have? How complicated those solutions can be? Can we predict where they will accumulate? Can we efficiently solve systems of polynomial equations? These problems have conduced me to study combinatorial objects like polytopes and fans, geometrical objects like curves and surfaces, and arithmetic objects like height of points and Diophantine equations. This gives a rich interplay between Complexity Theory, Combinatorics, Algebraic Geometry and Number Theory, leading to interesting results and stimulating research directions.

Key words
Algebraic & Diophantine geometry, Arakelov theory, incidence geometry, combinatorics, computer algebra, complexity of algorithms

ORCID
: 0000-0002-3400-4240

RESEARCHER ID
: B-5181-2019
Sort Viñas, Jordi

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

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Sort Viñas, Jordi
Research Professor at
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
Engineering Sciences
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Research interests

Jordi Sort investigates the nanomechanical, magnetoelectric and nanomagnetic properties of innovative and advanced materials, including lithographed structures, thin films and bulk specimens. Among his most relevant achievements one can mention: the use of nanoindentation and selective ion irradiation to create magnetic structures embedded in non-magnetic matrices; the ductilization of metallic glasses by development of nanostructured morphologies; the growth of new types of coatings with enhanced mechanical, magnetic, corrosion-resistance and catalytic properties; the development of advanced biodegradable materials; the characterization of mesoporous materials and onion-type nanoparticles with interlayer magnetic interactions; or the observation of magnetoelectric and magneto-ionic effects in different kinds of heterostructures combining ferromagnetic, ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic layers. Further information at: https://jsort-icrea.uab.cat/.

Key words
nanomagnetism, nanomechanics, lithographed systems, nanocomposites, spintronics, nanotechnology

ORCID
: orcid.org/0000-0003-1213-3639

RESEARCHER ID
: F-6582-2014
Soto-Faraco, Salvador

Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)

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Soto-Faraco, Salvador
Research Professor at
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)
Social & Behavioural Sciences
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Research interests

I am interested in multisensory perception and attention in humans. Like many other animals, humans are endowed with a wide range of sensory capacities such as hearing, feeling, seeing, smelling and so on. This rich variety of senses allows our brains to represent the surrounding environment with fidelity and precision, so that we can parse information, maintain it as memories, make decisions, and plan and carry out actions. However, to achieve coherent mental representations our brains must coordinate the distinct sources of sensory information effectively across their different temporal scales, spatial frames of reference, and representational formats. I am interested in the neural and behavioural principles underlying the selection, integration and representation of such multisensory information. To achieve this, I use experimental approaches based on psychophysics, a variety of neuroimaging methods to measure neural activity (EEG, fMRI), and brain stimulation techniques (TMS).

Key words
Cognitive Neuroscience; Psychology; Attention; Perception; Multisensory Integration; Speech Perception; Touch; Vision; Audition; Body Representation

ORCID
: 0000-0002-4799-3762

RESEARCHER ID
: B-8400-2011
Soucek, Laura

Vall d'Hebron Institut d'Oncologia (VHIO)

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Soucek, Laura
Research Professor at
Vall d'Hebron Institut d'Oncologia (VHIO)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

Our focus is the Myc oncoprotein, whose deregulation is implicated in almost all human cancer types. We have designed a Myc dominant negative, Omomyc, to investigate the therapeutic benefit of inhibiting Myc in cancer. We demonstrated that Myc inhibition has a remarkable therapeutic index in many mouse models of cancer, while only causing mild and reversible side effects in normal tissues. We also showed that Myc is a safe pharmacological target for many, perhaps all, cancers. Our goal is now to push such a therapeutic approach further towards the clinic. To do so we are making use of a new generation of Myc inhibitory cell-penetrating miniproteins. Our first compound, OMO-103, successfully completed Phase I clinical trial in 2022. These innovative treatments could boost our therapeutic arsenal against the majority of human cancers.

Key words
cancer, myc, oncogene, molecular therapeutic, metastasis, miniproteins

ORCID
: orcid.org/0000-0002-4750-7971

RESEARCHER ID
: AAG-8377-2019
Staliunas, Kestutis

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)

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Staliunas, Kestutis
Research Professor at
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Engineering Sciences
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Research interests

Spatial quality of laser beams is of high importance in technologies: good quality beams propagate better collimated, can be more tight focused. Not all lasers, however, produce good beams: the radiation of especially very important semiconductor microlasers, microchip lasers,VCELSs, are too random and divergent. We develop new physical concepts and new techniques to manipulate the spatial structure of radiation, by using micro-modulated photonic materials: photonic crystals, metamaterials, Non-Hermitian optical materials. We develop these novel light-manipulation techniques in fundamental level and implement them in photonic industry. Also the good quality beams of microwaves, sound waves, or matter waves are required. We apply our experience in "smart manipulation of light patterns" to the other types of waves, to produce "clean" and well directed sound beams by so called "sonic crystals" in acoustics, as well as "clean" matter wave ensembles in modulated Bose condensates.

Key words
Lasers, Photonic Crystals, Nonlinear Optics, Metamaterials and metasurfaces, Non-Hermitian Optics.

ORCID
: 0000-0002-0539-9538

RESEARCHER ID
: E-8582-2014
Stengel, Massimiliano

Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (CSIC - ICMAB)

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Stengel, Massimiliano
Research Professor at
Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (CSIC - ICMAB)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
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Research interests

My research develops and uses frontier electronic-structure methods to tackle key fundamental and technological questions in ferroelectricity, magnetism, surface science and metal/oxide interfaces. In the past few years I have focused on perovskite thin films, and in particular on understanding how the reduced size affects their functional properties. I am currently interested in the study of novel functionalities in oxide-based systems (e.g. flexoelectricity, magnetoelectric effects, confined electron gases, improper ferroelectricity) and in development of accurate modeling strategies to bridge the gap between the microscopic and macroscopic worlds.

Key words
first-principles theory, ferroelectrics, magnetoelectrics, interfaces, thin films

ORCID
: 0000-0003-4175-3888

RESEARCHER ID
: E-2934-2010