ICFO to hire fifty scientists due to patronage of Cellex

The Fundación Cellex, the charity of the industrialist and philanthropist Pere Mir, has donated €16 million. This money has enabled the Institut de Ciencies Fotòniques (ICFO), a center of excellence in the field of physics located in the Universitat Politécnica de Barcelona campus in Castelldefels, to inaugurate a brand new building yesterday, where some fifty scientists will take up their posts.

Thanks to the ICFO's donation, the Nest-Cellex building was built, team leaders were hired, and part of the cost of the research programs, which are mainly focused on laser and other light-orientated technologies, was paid.

The Nest is considered a modern facility for the innovative design of the 4000 square meter building, the research areas being undertaken, and its inner workings. "We aim to be like La Masia (the grassroots football school of FC Barcelona) of the science world," insists Lluís Torner, director of the ICFO." As team leaders, we are hiring outstanding young researchers and encouraging them to establish new ways of working," he added. The Nest has taken on Ignasi Cirac, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute in Munich, as co-director.

"To gather the desired total of 50 researchers (ideally local)," says Lluís Torner, "it will be necessary to wait a while, as we have to be a bit conservative given the current situation."

Photonic technology, which has experienced major growth in recent years, is a branch of science stretching across many boundaries and offers applications in areas such as medicine, energy, telecommunications, and nanotech.

Source: El Periódico, La Vanguardia