ICMAB-CSIC has been recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence, one of the highest distinctions for research institutes in Spain. The current excellence programme, MATRANS42, reinforces ICMAB’s leadership in advanced functional materials for electronics, energy and health.

The Severo Ochoa accreditation recognises ICMAB as a research institute of international excellence in materials science. This distinction supports long-term scientific strategy, breakthrough research, talent development, knowledge transfer and societal impact.

Through the MATRANS42 programme, ICMAB strengthens its role as a leading centre for advanced materials research and innovation in Spain and Europe.

The ICMAB became a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence in 2016 (FUNMAT), becoming one of the top research centers in Spain in Materials Science. We renewed the seal of excellence in 2020 (FUNFUTURE) and again for the third consecutive time in 2024 (MATRANS42).

MATRANS42 ("MATerials TRANSition FOR TOmorrow’s world") is a research project led by the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB) under the Severo Ochoa excellence program.

The project focuses on developing innovative and sustainable materials to address global challenges in electronics, energy, and health.

By leveraging cutting-edge research in synthesis, processing, characterization, and modeling, MATRANS42 aims to create transformative materials with real-world applications.

Additionally, the project emphasizes knowledge transfer, industry collaboration, and societal impact, promoting innovation, open science, and gender diversity to ensure long-term scientific excellence and sustainability.

The associated research programme brings together the researchers in three research lines:

• Materials for Electronics → Developing advanced materials for electronic applications, including molecular electronics and oxide-based systems.
• Materials for Energy → Focusing on sustainable energy storage, superconductivity, and conversion technologies.
• Materials for Health → Innovations in bioactive materials, theranostics, and biomedical applications.

Main Objectives of MATRANS42

SG1: Actions for Breakthrough Research

• Develop transformative and sustainable materials with unprecedented properties.
• Focus research on three strategic areas: Materials for Electronics, Energy, and Health.
• Utilize ICMAB’s expertise in synthesis, processing, characterization, and modeling to advance the field​

SG2: Facilitate Knowledge Transfer

• Strengthen intellectual property management and boost innovation.
• Increase patent applications and spin-offs to ensure real-world impact.
• Improve industry collaborations to transition cutting-edge research into marketable technologies​

SG3: Consolidate Strategic Projects Unit

• Secure long-term funding for high-impact research projects.
• Streamline administrative processes to enhance efficiency and decision-making.
• Provide dedicated resources and support to researchers for securing competitive grants​

SG4: Enhance Social Impact

• Promote science outreach and public engagement through media and educational initiatives.
• Develop a "Materials Inspire" Open Data Library to make scientific research accessible.
• Improve gender diversity and inclusivity in scientific leadership and research teams​

The ICMAB excellence accreditation supports a research strategy focused on transformative materials for electronics, energy and health.

1. Train and Support Staff
To maintain excellence, MATRANS42 will implement an enhanced training schedule for all staff promoted by our new Talent Office. This includes leadership programs, mentoring for emerging researchers, and structured career development paths. The goal is to nurture future leaders and create a collaborative research environment that fosters innovation.

2. Encourage Knowledge Transfer and Innovation
A major focus of the project is strengthening the Knowledge Transfer Unit to ensure research results lead to real-world applications. This includes increasing patents and spin-offs, hiring additional personnel specialized in industry collaborations, and improving infrastructure to support prototype development.

3. Boost Large-Scale Funding Applications
To sustain high-impact research, MATRANS42 will provide dedicated support for securing large-scale grants, particularly ERC Advanced and Synergy grants. The Strategic Projects Unit will assist researchers in preparing competitive proposals and managing projects efficiently.

4. Promote Interdisciplinary Collaboration
A key challenge is reducing fragmentation in research activities. To address this, MATRANS42 will pre-assign resources to interdisciplinary teams, ensuring a streamlined research process. This will foster an open innovation approach, utilizing expertise from multiple disciplines.

5. Enhance Social and Scientific Impact
The project aims to broaden public engagement and outreach by expanding its Communication & Outreach Unit. It will also monitor and promote gender diversity in research leadership and ensure that materials science contributes to addressing societal challenges in health, energy, and electronics.

The SOMM Alliance (Alliance of Severo Ochoa Centres and María de Maeztu Units) is a collective of Spain's leading research institutions recognized for their excellence. Established to promote and enhance the quality and impact of Spanish scientific research, SOMMa aims to:

• Elevate the national and international profile of Spanish science: By showcasing the groundbreaking work of its members, SOMMa seeks to position Spain as a global leader in research and innovation.

• Facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practices: The alliance promotes collaboration among its members and with the broader international scientific community, fostering the sharing of insights, technologies, and methodologies.

• Strengthen the Spanish R&D+i system: Through cooperation with other research centers across Spain, SOMMa endeavors to bolster the nation's research, development, and innovation infrastructure.

• Influence science policy: The alliance serves as a unified voice in Spanish and European science policy discussions, advocating for the interests and needs of the research community.

The Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) is a distinguished member of the SOMMa Alliance. As a multidisciplinary research center, ICMAB-CSIC focuses on cutting-edge research in functional advanced materials, with applications spanning energy, electronics, and nanomedicine. Its involvement in SOMMa underscores its commitment to scientific excellence and collaboration.

Through the alliance, ICMAB-CSIC benefits from enhanced visibility, access to a network of top-tier research institutions, and opportunities to influence science policy at both national and international levels. This collaboration amplifies ICMAB-CSIC's efforts to advance materials science and contribute to addressing global challenges.

Research institute indicators and annual research impact of the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona.

ICMAB facts and figures provide a clear overview of the institute’s scientific activity, people, collaborations and international research performance.

This page brings together research institute indicators such as publications, European projects, personnel categories, frequent collaborators and gender balance. Together, these data help explain the annual research impact of ICMAB-CSIC as a materials science institute in Barcelona.

Explore ICMAB facts and figures through interactive indicators covering scientific publications, European projects, people, collaborations and gender balance.

Publication indicators show the evolution of ICMAB scientific output and help understand annual research impact through materials science publications.

European projects reflect ICMAB’s participation in competitive research programmes and international collaborations.

Personnel indicators describe the composition of the ICMAB research community, including researchers, technical staff, trainees and support teams.

Gender balance indicators support transparency, institutional monitoring and responsible research culture.

Explore the origins, milestones and scientific evolution of ICMAB-CSIC, a materials science institute in Barcelona advancing research in functional and advanced materials.

The history of ICMAB is the story of a research community dedicated to advancing materials science from Barcelona and contributing to international scientific progress.

Since its creation, ICMAB-CSIC has grown as a multidisciplinary materials science institute, bringing together researchers, technical staff and international collaborators around a shared mission: understanding, designing and applying advanced functional materials.

This page brings together the main ICMAB milestones and historical facts that have shaped the institute’s scientific identity, research areas and contribution to society.

Key moments in the development of ICMAB as an advanced materials research centre and materials science institute in Barcelona.

The dynamic historical facts below reuse the existing ICMAB content source. Keep this section connected to the current Joomla category/articles so future milestones can be managed from the CMS.

ICMAB has evolved alongside the transformation of materials science into a strategic field for future technologies. Its history reflects the growth of a scientific discipline that connects physics, chemistry, nanoscience, engineering and technology transfer.

Today, ICMAB’s historical trajectory supports its current role as an advanced materials research centre working on energy, electronics, nanomedicine and sustainable materials.

Editorial note: replace this section with a more detailed institutional narrative if you have official archive texts, director quotes or anniversary material.

A leading materials science institute in Barcelona focused on functional advanced materials for energy, electronics, nanomedicine and emerging technologies.

At ICMAB-CSIC, we create knowledge and technologies based on advanced functional materials to address global challenges in energy, health, sustainability and future electronics.

The Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona is a multidisciplinary advanced materials research centre located in the Barcelona research ecosystem. We combine fundamental science, interdisciplinary collaboration and technological innovation to accelerate the development of materials that can transform society.

As part of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), ICMAB contributes to scientific excellence while fostering international collaboration, open science and technology transfer.

ICMAB develops functional materials that enable future technologies and respond to major scientific and societal challenges.

ICMAB is located at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) campus, within the Barcelona Nanocluster in Bellaterra (BNC-b), one of Southern Europe’s most important scientific and technological ecosystems.

The institute collaborates closely with UAB, ALBA Synchrotron, ICN2, IMB-CNM, PRUAB, IRTA and international universities and research centres.

This strategic environment provides access to world-class scientific infrastructures, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation opportunities for materials science and nanotechnology research.

ICMAB provides state-of-the-art scientific infrastructure supporting frontier research in advanced materials, nanoscience and nanotechnology.

ICMAB promotes knowledge transfer and collaboration with industry through applied research, scientific services, innovation projects and technology development.

The institute works with companies, startups, universities and public institutions to accelerate innovation based on advanced materials.

• Industry collaboration and applied R&D
• Technology transfer and patents
• European and international projects
• Scientific services for academic and industrial users

Researchers, postdoctoral fellows, technical staff and students from around the world join ICMAB to work in a collaborative and interdisciplinary environment.

The institute offers PhD opportunities, postdoctoral positions, international collaboration, scientific training, advanced facilities and an open research culture.