The Alba Science, Technology and Innovation Park (ASTIP) will be a new interdisciplinary research hub for complex materials and biological systems. The ICN2 is one of the several Catalan institutes involved in the project.
The ICN2 will participate in the creation of the new Alba Science, Technology and Innovation Park (ASTIP), a large advanced research centre to be set next to the ALBA Synchrotron, in Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona). This project is one of the Next Generation EU proposals of the Catalan Government to apply for the funds of the European Recovery Plan.
ASTIP aims to be an interdisciplinary hub for complex materials and biological systems, which will include three new collaborative institutes: the Complex Materials and Technologies Centre (COMTEC), the Advanced Multiscale Bio Imaging Centre (AMBIC), and the Innovation Hub (SYNDUSTRY), as well as a service complex with an auditorium and a guest house. It will focus on research in health, green energy and digital transition and will provide a unique combination of characterization and imaging tools, big data, material growth and device fabrication facilities. COMTEC will host, among others, METCAM-FIB (Microscopi electrònic de transmissió amb correctors d'aberracions monocromat i feix d'ions focalitzat), an advanced equipment for electron microscopy funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
This ambitious project can count on the synergies and expertise of the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB), the Institute for High Energy Physics (IFAE), the Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona (IBMB) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), as well as of the ICN2. Together, they will constitute a large research hub, using the future light lines of ALBA II at the ALBA Synchrotron. The project is coordinated by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology (BIST), with the participation of the Technology Centre of Catalonia (EURECAT).