The BIST Founding Conference brought together 300 participants and leading scientific experts from Barcelona and internationally. Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016, opened the conference as the keynote speaker. The conference included many thought-provoking sessions including dialogues run by experts in the four research areas that BIST has identified as strategic: chemical biology, graphene, big data, and microscopy. At the end of the ceremony, the winners of the BIST Ignite call were announced, including two projects participated by ICN2.
The BIST Founding Conference, the first international scientific meeting organized by the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, was held on March 31st with roughly 300 participants at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) in the centre of Barcelona.
The conference aimed to promote the debate on multidisciplinary scientific research and its impact on advancing the frontiers of knowledge. It brought together some of the world’s leading experts in the four areas that the BIST has identified as strategic for the development of multidisciplinary projects: chemical biology, graphene, big data and microscopy.
The day opened with a keynote address by Jean-Pierre Sauvage, winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and continued with a series of dialogues between leading researchers from the BIST centres and international experts. A number of other notable sessions were included in the day, such as presentations about the European Research Council, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
The event ended with the announcement of the first BIST Ignite call winners. This initiative aims to promote multidisciplinary research through the collaboration of diverse teams from multiple research institutes, including BIST centres and external ones. The 200,000 € initiative takes place in two phases: in the first phase, the five selected projects that have been announced will receive 20,000 € each and by the end of 2017, the two projects with the highest potential will be selected to receive additional funding of 50,000 € each.
The five winning projects announced include two projects participated by ICN2: Near-Infrared Graphene Optoelectronic Devices with Atomically Controlled Nanostructures (Nirgraph), participated by ICN2 and ICFO, and Towards the implementation of a multi-electrode array for retinal prosthesis (THEIA), a collaboration of ICFO, ICN2, IFAE and Barraquer Ophthalmological Center. Learn more about all the excellent awarded projects at BIST website.
Information via BIST: www.bist.eu