Launch of Biodiscovery, a spin-off from IRB Barcelona and the BSC-CNS to speed up drug discovery Blog Post

This morning in Barcelona, the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) –based at Barcelona Science Park (PCB)–  and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) have presented Nostrum Biodiscovery, a new biotech company that applies computational simulation to help new drugs and biotech molecules to reach the market. The creation of this spin-off has also been made possible thanks to the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG) of the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), with the support by the Botín Foundation’s technology transfer programme.

 

The turnonver of the 734 companies of the BioRegion amounts to 7% of Catalonia´s GDP Blog Post

The life sciences and healthcare sector of Catalonia gathers 734 companies with a turnover of 14.360 million euros, 7% of Catalonia’s GDP and employs 42,133 workers. These are some of the data yielded by the 2015 Biocat Report, presented last Thursday at the Palau de la Generalitat, which brought more than 200 politicians, business people and figures from academia and science. The event was presided over by the President of the Government of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, with the participation of Albert Barberà, CEO at Biocat, the organization that coordinates and promotes the health and life sciences sector in Catalonia, and Ella Korets-Smith, executive director of TO Health!, the Toronto´s life science cluster. 

 

The fair “Live Research” takes off at CosmoCaixa Blog Post

Bringing science to society, fostering communication between the public and researchers and promote scientific vocation among the young are the aims of the Live Research fair, that started yesterday at CosmoCaixa Barcelona until Saturday 9th April. The exhibit has been organized by the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) and Obra Social ”la Caixa” with the support of the Barcelona City Council and the collaboration of the University of Barcelona (UB).

 

9th Awards of the UB Board of Trustees and the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation Blog Post

The Board of Trustees of the University of Barcelona and the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation, locat at PCB, announce the 9th Awards of the Board of Trustees and the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation. They announced two awards: the Antoni Caparrós Award, to the best project of transferring knowledge, and the Senén Vilaró Award, to the best innovative firm created by a UB graduate or affiliated with the UB Group. The deadline for applications is 31 May.

 

A study with the participation of CNAG shows that Neanderthals and modern humans crossbred much earlier than was previously thought Blog Post

An international research team has find first genetic evidence of modern human DNA in a Neanderthal individual. The discovery –published in Nature– confirms the interbred between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis and suggests that it happened 100.000 years ago, before the 65.000 years ago previously documented. This earlier genetic exchange, which may have taken place in the Near East, has not been detected in European Neanderthals. The study, led by the Max Planck German Institute, counts among its authors with researchers of CNAG-CRG located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB).  

 

The University of Barcelona sets up a crowdfunding platform Blog Post

The University of Barcelona (UB), through the Barcelona Institute of Entrepreneurship (BIE), has launched a crowdfunding platform to promote solidarity or research projects that do not receive public funding. The first call has been announced this month of February in collaboration with Verkami. Three projects will compete to achieve the financial resources that they need. The initiative is part of the strategic plan of the BIE– promoted by the UB and Bosch and Gimpera Foundation (FBG), from its headquarters offices at the PCB–with the aim of making tools and resources available to entrepreneurs within the framework of Group UB.

 

The 4th edition of the ‘Crazy about Biomedicine’ kicks off Blog Post

On Saturday, the 24 students chosen from more than 200 applicants for the ‘Crazy about Biomedicine course‘ at IRB Barcelona will have their first theory class in the centre, with the collaboration of the Barcelona Science Park (PCB). In fact, the success of first course in this field of science in 2013, an initiative of IRB Barcelona, led the Catalunya–La Pedrera Foundation to increase the number of disciplines on offer and to set up new courses, all of which fall under the umbrella of the ‘Crazy about Science Programme‘. 

 

d·HEALTH Barcelona now a University of Barcelona Masters degree Blog Post

The Design Health Barcelona (d·HEALTH Barcelona) program, promoted by Biocat to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in the biomedical arena, is now an accredited masters degree offered through the University of Barcelona (UB). d·HEALTH Barcelona, inspired by the Biodesign Innovation Fellowship at Stanford University, is an initiative of Biocat, with support from Sanofi and collaboration from UB, Barcelona Science Park and Danish school KaosPilot, that has become a global benchmark for its disruptive methodology. The third edition begins on 18th January. “Probably the best healthcare innovation accelerator in Europe” according to Health Startup Europe, the first two editions of this program have led to several business projects and 100% of the fellows are still working in the health sector.

 

Spain and France join the European Consortium Elixir for managing and analysing biological data Blog Post

At their meeting today in Hinxton (UK), the Board unanimously accepted Spain and France as full members of Elixir, the largest infrastructure of life science data in Europe. The National Bioinformatics Institute (INB), which acts as the Spanish scientific node, will coordinate the Spanish scientific partner institutions. These comprise top-level institutions such as CNAG-CRG and IRB Barcelona, located at PCB. The National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCII) will coordinate the Spanish scientific partner institutions.