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:

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
Sturm, Thomas

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

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Sturm, Thomas
Research Professor at
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
Humanities
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Research interests

How is rationality understood in philosophy and the human sciences? How should it be understood? What is its function in various domains? These are the guiding questions for my research, which comprises topics reaching from early modern philosophy - esp. Immanuel Kant's philosophy - up to current discussions at the interface of philosophy, psychology, and the social sciences. I study aspects of reason in Kant's philosophy in relation to his notions of truth and the systematicity of science; I analyze the history as well as the potentials and limits of current psychological and philosophical theories of rationality; and I also study their role in politics, ethics, and education. I'm moreover interested in the philosophy of knowledge, mind, and science. Methodologically, I combine tools of analytic philosophy and history of science: I am unconvinced by widespread opinions according to which they cannot, or should not, be integrated.

Key words
Rationality, Immanuel Kant, Philosophy of Mind & Psychology, Philosophy & History of Science

ORCID
: 0000-0001-5698-3542

RESEARCHER ID
: C-6548-2015
Supèr, Hans

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

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Supèr, Hans
Research Professor at
Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

My interest is studying the cognitive brain, To get a grasp of its immense complexity, I studied the development of the cortex and the functional organization of the neocortex. Current research focuses on neural circuit dynamics using computer simulations and cognitive behavior with psychophysical experiments. We described novel roles for fixational eye movements in cognitive processing. These studies support the idea that vision is an active process, which can be trained to improve cognitive behavior. The exploitation of these findings is protected by patents, which are licensed. Currently, my research investigates 1) the neural mechanism and function of vergence/synchrony, 2) clinical applications of Cognitive Vergence and eye synchrony, and 3) interactive eye-tracking games to improve cognitive behavior.

Key words
Cognition, Cortical Circuitry, Computational Modeling, Figure-ground Perception, System Neurophysiology, Visual Cortex

ORCID
: 0000-0001-9328-0096

RESEARCHER ID
: L-3324-2014
Surrey, Thomas

Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG)

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Surrey, Thomas
Research Professor at
Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG)
Life & Medical Sciences
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Research interests

Living cells are internally highly organized, yet also very dynamic. How is dynamic order generated? The cytoskeleton plays a critical role in this process by forming an active filament network that provides a mechanically stable coordinate system for the internal organization of cells. The Surrey lab studies the properties of the microtubule cytoskeleton with a particular interest in its ability to organize itself into different networks in different cell types or at different times of a cell's life cycle. The Surrey lab has pioneered several biochemical in vitro reconstitution approaches in which minimal cytoskeletal subsystems can be generated from purified components. Observing the behaviour of these reconstituted systems by advanced fluorescence microscopy provides insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying cytoskeleton dynamics and function. Our goal is to uncover the design principles governing active biological network organization which is essential for cell function.

Key words
Cytoskeleton, intracellular architecture, self-organization, microtubules, motor proteins, in vitro reconstitution, molecular mechanism, dynamic systems, fluorescence microscopy, quantitative imaging

ORCID
: 0000-0001-9082-1870
Swart, Marcel

Universitat de Girona (UdG)

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Swart, Marcel
Research Professor at
Universitat de Girona (UdG)
Experimental Sciences & Mathematics
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Research interests

He focuses on the study of electrons in transition-metals during catalysis and in the formation of nanomaterials. He paved the way and designed new density functionals which enabled him to show how electrons flow in transition metal catalysts by jumping from one spin state to another, enabling the corresponding fingerprinting through computational spectroscopy (IR, NMR, UV-Vis, Mössbauer). His scientific excellence has been recognized through several honors and awards: he was awarded the 5th MGMS Silver Jubilee Prize for promoting young molecular modelers (2012), and was selected to contribute to “The next generation” 40 years anniversary issue of Inorg. Chim. Acta (2007). Recently, he received a special award in honor of his continuous support for advancing chemical sciences in Serbia (2017), as the first and only foreigner who has received it.

Key words
Density Functional Theory, polarizable force fields, bioinorganic and organic chemistry, multi-level (QM/MM or QM/QM) approaches, molecular simulations.

ORCID
: 0000-0002-8174-8488

RESEARCHER ID
: A-5083-2008