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February 12, 2024

IMDEA Energy Director receives the Miguel Catalán Research Award from the Community of Madrid for his scientific career

David Serrano, Director of IMDEA Energy received this Monday, February 12th, the Miguel Catalán Research Award from the Community of Madrid in recognition of his scientific career during a ceremony organized at the Real Casa de Correos in Madrid.

This important recognition highlights his scientific achievements, his contribution to the training of researchers and the creation of schools and the national and international repercussion of his work throughout his professional career.

More information

February 9, 2024

IMDEA Energy reviews the role of women scientists throughout history on Women and Girls in Science Day

Once again IMDEA Energía has organized a series of outreach activities aimed at students on the occasion of the Day of Women and Girls in Science.

This Friday, February 9th, we welcomed groups of 3rd year ESO students from IES Melchor Gaspar de Jovellanos in Fuenlabrada, who had the opportunity to learn about the situation of women in STEAM areas through an initial presentation, and to get to know the work of IMDEA Energía’s female researchers and the scientific facilities they use on a daily basis by visiting the laboratories.

In addition, several of the center’s researchers have stepped into the shoes of famous women scientists to highlight their work throughout history through an interactive ‘Who’s Who’ in which students have guessed their identities and discovered more information about their work.

February 8, 2024

IMDEA Energy connects research and industry in a series of conferences at the Genera 2024 Trade Fair

IMDEA Energy has once again participated in the International Energy and Environment Fair GENERA, with the organization of a series of conferences that took place on February 7 at the IFEMA North Convention Center and brought together speakers from the scientific and industrial sectors.

The first of the round tables focused on the new materials being developed for proton exchange membranes and how they can have an impact on improving the operation of electrolyzers that produce green hydrogen and fuel cells that consume it to generate electricity, as well as on the cheapness of the materials and the difficulties involved in working with critical materials.

The debate, moderated by Félix Marín, head of technology transfer at IMDEA Energía, was attended by Catalina Biglione, senior researcher at IMDEA Energía; Teresa Pérez, Professor at the University Carlos III of Madrid and participant in the H2MOF project; Sandra Herrero, head of the H2GREEM R&D laboratory; Berta Moreno, Senior Scientist at Repsol; and Javier Dufour, Research Professor at IMDEA Energía and coordinator of the SH2E project.

The second day also dealt with hydrogen, but focusing on the perspective of sustainability and eco-design, taking into account the critical materials, how to extend the life of those that work best and the state of maturity of the technologies. The implementation of these developments for the eco-design of electrolyzers, fuel cells and, in general, the entire hydrogen sector was also analyzed, addressing the eco-(re)design of technologically mature products, such as a PEM type fuel cell, as well as other emerging ones.

The speakers were Diego Iribarren, senior researcher at IMDEA Energía and coordinator of the HyPEF project; Lola Storch de Gracia, Head of Innovation at Redexis and Javier Dufour, Research Professor at IMDEA Energía and coordinator of the eGHOST project.

During the afternoon it was the turn of the digital twins of batteries based on the use of Artificial Intelligence. This day analyzed issues such as the prediction of battery behavior in complex environments where the variability in the conditions of use makes it difficult to make reliable predictions about their behavior, degradation and lifetime or the reliability of the predictions of digital twins, also addressing issues related to the requirements of artificial intelligence for this application, such as the difficulty to generate the huge amount of experimental information needed for machine learning, the possibility of sharing experimental information in open access databases or the feasibility of using synthetic data based on physical models instead of experimental data.

The speakers were Jesús Palma, Head of the Electrochemical Processes Unit at IMDEA Energía and Principal Investigator of the Best-Moda project; Milan Prodanovic, Head of the Power Systems Unit at IMDEA Energía; Jaime Sánchez, Storage Engineer at China Three Gorges Europe CTGE; Fernando Carbonero, Senior Software Engineer at Empresarios Agrupados and Enrique García-Quismondo, Senior Researcher at IMDEA Energía, who was in charge of coordinating the round table and generating an interesting debate with the attendees.

During the last of the round tables, presentations were made by Marta Liras, senior researcher at IMDEA Energía, Laura Collado, senior researcher at IMDEA Energía and participant in the SolFuture project, on the advances in photo (electro) catalytic processes for CO2 valorization and their contribution to decarbonizing the industry by obtaining synthesis gas and hydrocarbons, hydrogen production, waste oxidation and nitrogen fixation generating ammonia and other compounds; María Rosario Rodríguez, Energy Transition Research Coordinator at Cepsa; Tomás Sanchez-Corral, Director Operational Roadmap CO2 Emea at CEMEX and Jesús María Lata, CTE (Chief Technical Engineer) in Energy at SENER.

February 1, 2024

CALL FOR APPLICANTS: 12 PhD positions for the development of Yeast-based solutions for sustainable Aviation Fuels

We are seeking 12 highly motivated doctoral candidates eager to undertake one of the 12 research projects we are offering in the field of biotechnology and systems analysis for applications in sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) under the Horizon Europe MSCA-Doctoral Network (DN) YAF – “Yeast-based solutions for sustainable Aviation Fuels”.

Positions offered
  • DC1 – SAF intermediates production (FA) from short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) (IMDEA Energy, Spain)
  • DC2 – SAF intermediates production from sugars (CIEMAT, Spain)
  • DC3 – A highly multiplexed CRISPR platform for the production of SAF in Y. lipolytica (Imperial College London, UK)
  • DC4 – Design of improved SAF blends using synthetic microbial communities and division of labour (Imperial College London, UK)
  • DC5 – SAF production from residues with newly obtained R. toruloide (TUT, Estonia)
  • DC6 – Advancing Debaryomyces hansenii for production of SAF precursors from algal biomass in open fermentations (DTU, Denmark)
  • DC7 – Direct selective catalytic conversion of FA/terpenes to SAF (ABO, Finland)
  • DC8 – Cascade platform conversion of waste-derived-FA into SAF by one-pot catalytic reaction (CEPSA, Spain)
  • DC9 – Production of SAF precursors at industrial relevant environment: Sustainable recovery and downstream processes (BBEPP, Belgium)
  • DC10 – Modelling, optimization and sustainability assessment of alternative systems for SAF production from waste (IME, Spain)
  • DC11 – Protein design towards SAF production for R. toruloides (TUT, Estonia)
  • DC12 –High-thorughput Adaptive Laboratory Evolution for identification and further optimization of alternative yeasts for lipid precursors accumulation using saline residues containing SCFAs and methanol (DTU, Denmark)
More information

For any questions please send an email to info@yaf-project.eu

Application process

The application process will start on 1st of February 2024 and will end on 29th February (23:59, Europe/Brussels).

January 22, 2024

The technology developed by IMDEA Energy stands out at the Science for Industry S4i forum.

Institute IMDEA Energy has participated in the stand of the IMDEA Institutes network in the Madrid Regional Government Pavilion at the Science for Industry, S4i forum, which brought together on January 18 and 19 the main research centers, universities, large innovative corporations, technology-based companies and other players in the innovation ecosystem.

IMDEA Energy Institute was represented by the Head of Development and Technology Transfer, Felix Marin, who attended the visit of a delegation of large corporations from the energy sector with representatives from ABB, Acciona, ArcelorMittal, Cepsa, EDP, Elewitt, Enel, Ferrovial, Naturgy, Repsol and Sacyr, among other companies. It also attended the visit of an institutional delegation from the Community of Madrid headed by the Regional Minister of Education and Universities, Emilio Viciana, with the presence of the Director General of Research and Technological Innovation, Ana Isabel Cremades, and the Deputy Director General of Technological Innovation, Vicente Parras, among other authorities.

The meeting also served to present and discuss specific projects and technologies in face-to-face meetings with representatives of some of the large corporations that visited the stand and with other companies such as Catalyxx, Prosegur, Tecnac or W’wave.

January 18, 2024

PhD thesis defense: “Study of the Aging of Lithium Ion Batteries in Emergency Luminaires”

Next January 25th, at 11:30 a.m., will take place the public defense of the PhD thesis “Study of the Aging of Lithium Ion Batteries in Emergency Luminaires” by Jesús Medina, developed at the Electrochemical Processes Unit of IMDEA Energía and directed by Jesús Palma and Enrique García-Quismondo.

The thesis will be publicly defended in person at the Sala de Grados, module 8 of the Faculty of Sciences of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

January 10, 2024

IMDEA Energy launches 26 scholarships for internships for Bachelor’s and Master’s students

IMDEA Energy offers undergraduate and Master students the possibility of paid internships in companies in areas related to
renewable energies and low carbon footprint energy technologies.

Students will be integrated in IMDEA Energía’s research units in a dynamic working environment which will allow them to start their training in the field of R&D in the field of renewable energies and low carbon footprint energy technologies.
training in the field of R&D in the energy sector.

Application and selection process

Applications will be sent exclusively to the e-mail address indicated in the respective research line. Each candidate can only submit one application to the program. The application must include the following information:

Curriculum Vitae
Proof of being enrolled in an official Bachelor’s or Master’s degree program.
Academic transcript of the degree
Letter of motivation

Places will be awarded on the basis of the following criteria:

  • Academic record
  • Motivation
  • Knowledge of English
  • Other merits

Deadline for applications: 5 February 2024

Requirements and eligibility criteria

  • Be enrolled in a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree program.
  • Have a residence permit in Spain for the duration of the internship.

Conditions of the grants

The internship has a maximum duration of 350 hours.

Financial aid:

  • Undergraduate internships: up to 2,200 € (depending on the number of hours completed).
  • Master’s Degree Internships: up to 2,500 € (depending on the number of hours completed).

CHECK HERE FOR ALL AVAILABLE POSITIONS

January 3, 2024

Opening of the IMDEA Energy 4th call for proposals of visiting researchers

IMDEA Energy launches the fourth call for proposals to host distinguished Principal Investigators and Senior Researchers that would like to perform a research stay at IMDEA Energy, within the framework of the “María de Maeztu” Unit of Excellence strategic programme. The main goal of the stays will be to perform and promote collaborative research, training and innovation initiatives in the field of sustainable fuels and transportation.

Selected visiting researchers, as an outcome of the call funding decision, will receive economic support. The travel cost from the home institution to Madrid (return ticket in tourist class), will be covered. In addition, an economic contribution of 2,500 € per week of stay will be given to the researcher.

Eligibility criteria:

This call is dedicated to fund research stays that fulfil the following eligibility criteria:

  1. i) Research stay
  • Topic: The stay programme must address a topic in the sustainable transportation field, included in at least one of the research lines of the Maria de Maeztu scientific workprogramme:

– Research line 1) New concepts for electromobility

– Research line 2) Production of solar fuels

– Research line 3) Fourth generation fuels from residues and wastes

  • Objectives: The proposed stay programme should lead to the performance of research, training and innovation activities of mutual interest during the stay in the selected research lines, and explore or provide inputs for establishing strategic R&I collaborations between IMDEA Energy and the research group or institution of the visiting researcher.
  • Duration: It is considered that a stay of 2 weeks could be sufficient to address the objectives declared above, however other durations will be accepted, between a minimum of 1 week and up to a maximum of 4 weeks, if necessary, for the achievement of the objectives of the stay.
  1. ii) Visiting researcher
  • Research experience: Candidates to the stay programme are Senior researchers and Principal Investigators with a relevant scientific track-record in the field proposed.
  • Affiliation: The visiting researcher must be affiliated to excellent research centres or groups not located in Spain. The excellence of the research centre or group will be justified in relation to their positioning regarding indicators on scientific publications either innovation in a specific topic of interest.

Evaluation of candidates:

Candidatures received within the present call will be evaluated by members of the IMDEA Energy’s Scientific Council. The following evaluation criteria will be considered:

  • Excellence of the visiting researcher
  • Excellence of the research institution or group
  • Complementarity of the research teams
  • Relevance and potential impact of the activities performed during the research stay

Call calendar:

  • 8 January 2024: Call open for the submission of proposals.
  • 16 February 2024: Deadline for submission.
  • 29 February 2024: End of evaluation process and funding decision.
  • April 2024 – December 2024: Hosting of the visiting researchers.

How to apply:

To submit your proposal, you must fill in the Application form (download template here), and send it to mdm.energy@imdea.org before the call deadline. The application must also enclose the following documents:

– Your CV, including your complete scientific track-record.

– A letter of support signed by a senior researcher at IMDEA Energy with whom the collaboration is expected during the research stay.

The technical programme for the stay, including the selected duration, activities and expected results, will be defined jointly between the visiting researcher and the host senior researcher. Check the research lines and contact details of IMDEA Energy senior researchers here.

For administrative support and clarification of procedures regarding the call, you may send your request to mdm.energy@imdea.org.

 

MORE INFORMATION

IMDEA Energy has been accredited and funded by the Spanish State Research Agency, MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, through the Unit of Excellence “Maria de Maeztu grant with reference number CEX2019-000931-M (2020-2023) awarded in the “Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence” and the “María de Maeztu Units of Excellence” call 2019 of the Spanish State Programme for Knowledge Generation and Scientific and Technological Strengthening of the R&D&I System.

 

January 3, 2024

IMDEA Energy shares the progress of its research with the Directorate General Energy of the European Commission

On January 2nd, IMDEA Energy received a visit of the Head of Unit Relations with Member States and Neighbourhood, Yolanda García, and the Policy Officer, Carlos Maravall, from the General Directorate of Energy of the European Commission, DG Energy EC. The meeting made it possible to present the advances, results and technologies developed in different lines of research at the IMDEA Energy Institute and to explore opportunities for application or industrial exploitation.

Attendees showed special interest in the options to decarbonize the industrial sector through solar concentration technologies, particularly in cases where higher temperatures are required, such as the manufacture of cement, ceramic materials or glass, the metallurgical industry or the processes of minerals calcination, the development of both thermal and electrochemical storage solutions with batteries or supercapacitors of different chemistries, technologies to make electrical grids more efficient while improving their stability and managing the demand, as well as, the valorization of different types of waste (plastics, batteries, urban rubbish, etc.) and the production of sustainable fuels applied to sectors that are difficult to electrify such as aviation.

After a lively debate on specific opportunities for cooperation with industry and the business sector for the decarbonization of the European economy, a visit was made to the laboratories and pilot plants of the Institute.

December 20, 2023

BatteryPlat holds its General Assembly at IMDEA Energy

The Spanish Energy Storage Technology and Innovation Platform, BatteryPlat, held its 2023 General Assembly at the IMDEA Energy auditorium on December 19. During the Assembly, the members of the Platform’s Steering Group, whose president is Luis Santos, from EDP, its vice-president Jesús Palma, from IMDEA Energy, and Technical Secretary Francesco Gramendola, from Secartys, discussed the 2050 vision for energy storage, the taxonomy and state of the art report, the capabilities map, the inventory of projects, use cases and other topics, while the representative of the Administration, María Ángeles Ferre, from the State Research Agency of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, presented the activities for the promotion of storage. The Assembly also discussed other initiatives and internal issues. The attendees, who represented companies of different sizes and research centers involved in energy storage using various technologies, had the opportunity to exchange experiences and discuss issues of common interest during, before and after the meeting.

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