Barcelona's reasons to continue growing in research and science

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A notable representation of prominent scientists and researchers who carry out their activity in research centers in Barcelona and Catalonia, linked to the main universities, obtain European Research Council (ERC) grants each year. This is the first pan-European organization that funds so-called "frontier research or research at the frontier of knowledge."

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TheNBP gathered four scientists at Cosmocaixa* who obtained funding for their projects in 2019 and they explained to us the strengths, and also the weaknesses, of science and research in the city. Barcelona and Catalonia have talent and the capacity to attract it, but they fail to consolidate it. The work environment is excellent, with theoretical and experimental groups that are cutting-edge, but the average age of researchers is increasingly higher and local mechanisms are lacking to finance more science and research.

Even so, Catalonia is one of the great regions of Europe with the highest success rate in attracting ERC funds that allow the creation of interdisciplinary groups that collaborate with universities around the world, to achieve great scientific advances. In the last call of 2020 and, according to data from the Department of Business and Knowledge, ten programs have been granted scholarships in Catalonia, which represent 70% of the aid granted in the entire State and 5.4% of those granted to different institutions in Europe.

The meeting was attended by Professor of the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) at the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) Antonio Acín; Professor of Computer Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) Antonio González; also ICREA Professor at ICFO Maciej Lewenstein, and ICREA Research Professor at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) Antoni Rosell Melé.

They are part of the group of the most outstanding and creative European scientists, and all of them are already immersed in the development of their projects, in which they integrate doctoral students, postdocs, and collaborate with research teams from other universities. More than 5,000 scientists from all over Europe have managed, like them, to finance their projects in different phases of their careers for the most audacious projects, with a high component of risk, but also with high possibilities of success to achieve giant steps in scientific advancement.

The best resource, people

Antonio Acín leads the Quantum Information Theory group at ICFO. He holds a degree in Physics from the University of Barcelona (UB) and a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from UPC, as well as a PhD in Theoretical Physics from UB. With his project Certification of Quantum Technologies, he aims to design a method to certify that quantum tools for new devices "work" and meet the estimated advancement expectations compared to what currently exists. "I am a researcher who develops theoretical physics, and the best resource I have, in addition to computers and software, are people: doctoral and postdoctoral students."

The local mechanisms to finance research are missing

In his opinionBarcelona is a quantum technology hubwith theoretical and experimental groups that are cutting-edge. The work environment is excellent, and it's good that people know that things are done well here, with a good competitive level. "I feel supported by the Institute of Photonic Sciences, but if ERC resources are not obtained, local mechanisms to finance research are lacking," Acín points out.

Research also requires innovation

Antonio González is a professor at the Department of Computer Architecture at UPC. He leads the ARCO (Architecture and Computing) Research group. With his project CoCoUnit: An Energy-Efficient Processing Unit for Cognitive Computing, he seeks to explore the energy unit so that new computing "functions in a similar way to how human cognitive thought works."

It is likely that this will require changing the way computers are designed, González notes. Today's computers are efficient at performing fast calculations, "but we want to investigate revolutionary designs that follow very different systems, very similar to how the human brain works, which is the most efficient machine that exists." As an example, he compares how computer image recognition consumes hundreds of kilowatts for accuracy, while the human brain barely consumes 20 watts, because it is built more efficiently.

It is necessary to improve the link between university and business, give more support to startups and attract venture capital

For González,Barcelona offers a good working environment for science"It is an attractive city for technological areas and with the capacity to attract people from all over the world, and with some success in European Union aid and national plans." In his opinion, it is necessary to put more emphasis on innovation, to close the circle and make it possible for the ideas and achievements obtained from research to be transformed into services and products with socioeconomic impact for citizens. It is at this point that industry support is required.

"It is necessary to improve the link between university and business, give more support to startups and attract venture capital. Having large companies to enrich this ecosystem is fundamental and only in such an environment can research and science grow," he maintains.

ICFO, one of the most important centers in the world

Polish theoretical physicist Maciej Lewenstein is an ICREA professor at ICFO. He trained in Warsaw, completed his doctorate in Germany and then, already as a doctor, assisted Roy J. Glauber at Harvard for three years, who in 2005 was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence. On his return to Germany, for eight years, he met his now Catalan wife, for whom he applied to move to Barcelona.

With the research grant Novel Quantum Simulators-Connecting Areas, he funds doctors and postdocs for five years. He describes ICFO as one of the most important centers in the world and his assessment is very satisfactory, but he acknowledges that if it were not for ERC grants, it would be very difficult to do research. Lewenstein complements his fruitful scientific activity with a love for art and culture. "I am a jazz critic, and I listen to creative and avant-garde music. The connection with art helps me," he defends.

Young talent must be consolidated

ICREA research professor at ICTA-UAB Antoni Rosell Melé trained as an engineer at the Institut Químic de Sarrià (IQS), but as a researcher he trained in the United Kingdom, where he obtained his doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Bristol. In 2001 he returned to Catalonia as one of the first ICREA researchers and from the UAB he contributed to creating the new ICTA. He confesses that the United Kingdom marked him and he considers himself a British researcher, but he wanted to return to Catalonia to do research at the same level as the Anglo-Saxon country.

We must consolidate talented young people here and also attract international talent

Because this was his big gamble and because he also believes that Barcelona has an excellent environment of great scientists that has grown thanks to the drive of professionals, he also allows himself a constructive critical vision. "Our biggest deficiency at the university is the lack of capacity to consolidate young talent," warns Rossell.The average age of researchers and university professors is increasingly higher, around 50 years old, when we should have more creativity, competitiveness, and dynamism. We need to consolidate talented young people here and also attract international talent. Perhaps it is the lack of structural resources. In fact, Rosell allocates a part of the funding to the purchase of scientific instrumentation.

New geochemical approach to reconstruct tropical palaeo-atmospheric dynamics is the project awarded in 2019 and in which he is immersed to study the atmosphere, the impact of smoke from tropical fires and their effects. "The climate has always changed, but we show great resistance to the unknown, when the human species is, however, the one that has shown the most resilience, tenacity, and capacity to adapt on the entire planet," he points out. The difference is that now "we want to understand the unknown, to know where we are going to be prepared for the future."

* These images were recorded before the pandemic.