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:

Bagaria i Pigrau, Joan

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

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Bagaria i Pigrau, Joan
Research Professor at
Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
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Research interests

I am a mathematical logician working mainly in Set Theory. Set Theory is the strongest and most encompassing of mathematical theories. It is both the theory of infinity and the standard foundation for mathematics, in the sense that all of mathematics can be interpreted and formally reduced to it. I develop sophisticated techniques, such as the method of Forcing for building models of Set Theory and the theory of Large Cardinals, and apply them to the solution of hard problems in Set Theory itself and in other areas of logic and mathematics. Most interestingly, one can prove sometimes that a given problem cannot be solved using standard mathematical tools, which are embodied in the standard Zermelo-Fraenkel with Choice (ZFC) axioms of Set Theory, and therefore new axioms are needed for its solution. Finding and classifying new axioms, thereby expanding the frontiers of mathematical reasoning, is also an essential part of Set Theory, and of my work.

Key words
Set theory, logic, foundations and philosophy of mathematics.

ORCID
: 0000-0002-4686-8222

RESEARCHER ID
: L-5958-2014
Baizán Muñoz, Pau

Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)

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Baizán Muñoz, Pau
Research Professor at
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)
Social & Behavioural Sciences
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Research interests

My research focuses on improving our understanding of the patterns and causes of family formation and dissolution in various social, economic, cultural, and political settings. I investigate questions such as, “What is the impact of changing gender roles on fertility behaviour? To what extent does employment insecurity affect the likelihood to have a child? Why are there socio-economic differentials in parental child care?”. A second line of research focuses on international migration and seeks to answer such questions as “Does economic restructuring influence international migration? How international migration impacts family dynamics? Does migration lead to an increase in educational investments in the origin countries?”.

Key words
fertility, migration, family formation, social policies, event history analysis

ORCID
: 0000-0003-0117-8794

RESEARCHER ID
: B-7571-2014
Ballester Balaguer, Pablo

Institut Català d'Investigació Química (ICIQ)

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Ballester Balaguer, Pablo
Research Professor at
Institut Català d'Investigació Química (ICIQ)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
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Research interests

My scientific background lies in the areas of organic chemistry (making molecules) and supramolecular chemistry (study how molecules fit together). My current research focuses on the design, synthesis, study and characterization of functional molecular aggregates. I consider myself a mixture between a molecular architect and a molecular engineer. We study matter but we also produce matter and new materials. We apply molecular self-assembly processes as a methodology to construct large and functional supramolecular aggregates, i.e. molecular machines, molecular sensing assemblies and devices. A second area of my current interests resides in the design and application of molecular containers. These are molecular or supramolecular structures with an internal cavity sufficiently large to include or encapsulate other molecules. Unfortunately, although we construct monumental and even artistic structures they are not visible to the naked eye due to their reduced nanometer size.

Key words
Supramolecular Chemistry, Molecular Recognition, Physical Organic Chemistry

ORCID
: 0000-0001-8377-6610

RESEARCHER ID
: B-6436-2011
Baroni, Marco

Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)

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Baroni, Marco
Research Professor at
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)
Social & Behavioural Sciences
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Research interests

Current deep-learning-trained artificial neural networks ("deep nets") have revolutionized AI, but they are highly specialized devices, each optimized to solve a specific task. Taking inspiration from communities of human experts, that can solve problems together by collaborating through language, I want to teach specialized deep nets to communicate with each other in order to solve complex tasks. The key insight is that it would be hopeless to specify an exhaustive communication protocol for deep nets by hand. By relying on their strong learning capabilities, I let them instead evolve their own protocol by exposing them to joint tasks which they can only solve by cooperating through communication, and I study the characteristics of this emergent protocol.

Key words
linguistics, cognitive science, deep learning, neural networks

ORCID
: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5066-3580
Bartumeus, Frederic

Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CSIC - CEAB)

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Bartumeus, Frederic
Research Professor at
Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CSIC - CEAB)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

Knowing how animals use the information to search and disperse in dynamic environments can generate direct applications (robotics, bioinformatics) and improve our baseline predictive power with consequences for fields as diverse as behavioural ecology, invasion ecology, or epidemiology. We are contributing to the sudden generation of massive, high-throughput animal movement and behavioural data in the context of vector-borne diseases with the use of novel technologies (internet, smartphones) and citizen participation. We also seek to understand organizational and dynamical principles of search behaviour by developing high-tech infrastructures for tracking movement behaviour at an unprecedented range of scales. More broadly, our work aims at building-up mechanistic links between animal behaviour, dispersal and population dynamics, including the development of data mining algorithms for behavioural annotation of high-resolution trajectories and biologging data, and spatial population modelling.

Key words
theoretical and computaitonal ecology, animal behaviour, movement ecology, vector-borne diseases, model organisms

ORCID
: 0000-0001-6908-3797

RESEARCHER ID
: D-1911-2010
Bassat Orellana, Quique

Institut de Salut Global Barcelona (ISGlobal)

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Bassat Orellana, Quique
Research Professor at
Institut de Salut Global Barcelona (ISGlobal)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

As a paediatrician, my research is based on the premise that there is no greater public health intervention than that which can reduce child mortality, particularly in poor contexts. I have worked in LMICs (Mozambique, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, India, Brazil and Bhutan) to understand and prevent malaria, pneumonia and other infectious diseases that most impact child survival. I’m interested in biomarkers of host response as diagnostic and prognostic tools to help risk stratify children and better prioritize care. My research has included the clinical development of malaria vaccines and new or repurposed drugs and drug-based strategies for malaria and other IDs. To improve the poor existing data on the causes of child mortality. we have developed and implemented in resource constrained settings the minimally invasive autopsy (MIA) method for mortality surveillance purposes. During the pandemic, I've been particularly interested in studying transmission and pediatric COVID-19 disease, advising the Spanish MoH on the strategy for school reopening.

Key words
Child mortality, Cause of death, Paediatric infections, Pneumonia, Malaria, Eradication, Yaws, COVID-19

ORCID
: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0875-7596

RESEARCHER ID
: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Quique_Bassat