The BIST Community centre ICN2 celebrated its 10-year anniversary at an event held at La Pedrera. Attendees included ICN2 members and representatives from partner institutions, celebrating the Institute’s achievements and reaffirming its commitment to innovation and cutting-edge science.
ICN2 institutional representatives. From left to right: Sylvia Daunert, Andreu Mas-Colell, Javier Lafuente, Pablo Ordejón, Núria Montseerat, Carlos Closa, José A. Garrido, Laia Pellejà, and Miquel Salmerón.
The ICN2’s 10th anniversary celebration took place on September 20th at the iconic La Pedrera building in Barcelona. Through a combination of audiovisual presentations, talks, and a roundtable discussion, the event highlighted ICN2’s history and its contributions to advancing the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
The event opened with a welcome address by ICN2 Director, CSIC Professor Pablo Ordejón, who emphasized the importance of ICN2’s three core values: collaboration, transformation, and commitment. These principles have been fundamental in shaping the Institute into the center of excellence it is today.
Speakers from the research community and political institutions connected to ICN2 underscored the Institute’s role as a leading center in both the Catalan and Spanish scientific landscapes. Among the speakers were Núria Montserrat (Minister for Research and Universities of the Catalan Government), Carlos Closa (Vice-President of CSIC), Javier Lafuente (Rector of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Laia Pellejà (Director of CERCA), Sylvia Daunert and Miquel Salmerón (members of ICN2’s Scientific Advisory Board and BIST Board of Trustees), and Andreu Mas-Colell (Chairman of the BIST Board of Trustees).
“ICN2 is one of the jewels of the Catalan research system, a reference centre in the strategic field of nanoscience,” stated Minister Montserrat during her address.
Roundtable “How ICN2 is solving societal challenges through nanoscience”
The event also featured a roundtable discussion titled “How ICN2 is Solving Societal Challenges Through Nanoscience,” moderated by science communicator Pere Estupinyà. Panelists included Carolina Aguilar (CEO of INBRAIN Neuroelectronics), Montserrat Vendrell (Co-founder and Partner of ALIATH), Pablo Pomposiello (Head of Business and Innovation at ICN2), and Daniel Maspoch (ICREA Research Professor and ICN2 Group Leader). The discussion focused on the importance of building and strengthening bridges between the research and business sectors, which is crucial for transforming projects and technologies into real-world solutions that improve lives. ICN2’s success in generating patents and spin-off companies, such as INBRAIN and FutureChromes, was also highlighted.
