Are new materials set to generate new technologies?

Marco Gobbi will be exploring the creation of new materials for state-of-the-art electronics. Gobbi specifically intends to interrelate ultra-thin inorganic materials, characterised by significant electronic properties, with organic molecules that have a unique response to light. That will open up the way for generating new hybrid materials characterised by unique properties that can be programmed in advance. By using these hybrids, Gobbi intends to produce multiple-response devices in which the electrical signals can be handled by means of light irradiation and magnetic fields. Such devices can potentially be applied as components for detection purposes and for state-of-the-art computing.

”la Caixa” Junior Leader Post-doctoral grants

In the second call within this competitive programme 33 top researchers of different nationalities have been selected for the purpose of assisting them in conducting their research and thus promoting high-class, innovative careers in science in Spain and Portugal. Of the 33 grants awarded, 22 will be used to draw research talent to the Severo Ochoa and María de Maeztu centres, Carlos III Institutes of Health Research, and centres judged to be excellent by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, and the other 11 aim to retain talent at any Spanish or Portuguese university or centre.

The Banking Foundation “la Caixa” has awarded grants to the tune of 28 million euros for 79 pioneering research projects with significant social impact. The research falls within three of the lines of work within the field of research of the Banking Foundation “la Caixa”:post-doctoral grants to promote research talent; support for excellence research projects in biomedicine and health; and the CaixaImpulse programme to transfer the results of biomedical research to society.

The bank’s chairman Isidro Fainé said: «Scientists are capable of transforming the world through their imagination, talent and effort, and they are able to offer answers to questions that we may never have even asked ourselves. At the Banking Foundation “la Caixa” we promote projects that help to broaden the horizons of our knowledge like the 79 pieces of research we are presenting and which will no doubt help us to outline a hopeful future».