Barcelona will host a leading team to research nuclear magnetic resonance

The Government has just approved a subsidy of almost nine million euros to install the first very high-field nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus in all of Spain at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB). This equipment will be part of the state network of Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures (ICTS), which groups large facilities dedicated to promoting research and technological development.

Nuclear magnetic resonance is an essential technology in research in chemistry, pharmacy, and biomedicine. Basically, it allows providing information at an atomic scale of complex biomolecules, as well as analyzing the interactions that take place in vivo. "The UB is a leader in these fields, as shown by the most recent rankings, and the renewal of infrastructures with this new instrument will allow it to maintain leadership at a European and global scale," values the rector of the university, Joan Guàrdia.

The apparatus that will be located in the Catalan capital will have high resolution and sensitivity, and will reduce the time needed to acquire data, thanks to its ability to generate magnetic fields with frequencies of 1 GHz. Given these characteristics and adding the potential of other ICTS facilities, the vice-rector for Research at the University of Barcelona (UB), Jordi Garcia, believes that "it will allow the creation of the main structural biology hub in Southern Europe and will boost emerging fields of application, such as the use of disordered proteins as therapeutic targets or biotechnological drugs."

The subsidy, granted by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, covers 100% of the funding to acquire and install the apparatus, which will take a few years to be operational and will serve the scientific community through calls. It will also revert to the industrial fabric, especially in the biomedical sector, which will have access to state-of-the-art technology, and will be an attraction to draw talent and offer quality training.