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Breakthrough in accessing the tiny magnet within the core of a single atom

New method enables identification of different isotopes atom by atom Braga, Portugal — A international collaboration, including INL researchers – Jose Lado (ETH, Zurich), Alejandro Ferrón (CONYCET, Argentina) and Joaquín Rossier ( Theory of Quantum Nanostructures Group Leader at INL) –, have made a major scientific breakthrough by detecting the nuclear magnetism, or “nuclear spin” of a single atom. The experiments have been carried out by IBM Research at Almaden (California), in collaboration with the University of Oxford and QNS (Seoul). The researchers used advanced and novel techniques to measure the nuclear spin of individual atoms on surfaces for the first time. Normally the nuclear spin, which describes the magnetism of the atom’s core, can only be detected in very large numbers. The findings, published today in the journal Science, show that this is now also possible for single atoms on a surface. To do that the team used a Scanning Tunneling Microscope, which consists of an atomically sharp metal tip and allows researchers to image and probe single atoms. The two elements that were investigated in this work, iron and titanium, are atoms that can have a different number of neutrons in the atom’s core, these are the so-called […]

Training Workshop for Pilot Lines

On November 12th-13th, Brussels will be the stage for the “Pitch Training Workshop for NanoMarket” aimed at pilot line owners and powered by the European Pilot Production Network. 142 pilot productions and 41 Projects are already at the EPPN and Marketplace tool. Come and join them at the event that will gather experts from the nanotech sphere in a vigorous debate around the EPPNetwork, the digital platform and the next steps and challenges to be addressed within the WG. Register here and know more about the EPPN project and how it can help you grow.

Regional agents discuss the action plan in the context of the NMP-REG project

Norte Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N) and the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) organised an NMP-REG regional stakeholder group meeting, on 28th September, at the premises of CCDR-N, in Porto (Portugal). This meeting gathered stakeholders from the regional scientific and technological system, clusters and competitiveness poles and entities from the public sector. The session focused on the actions proposed for the Norte Region action plan, which are aimed at improving an investment priority of the Regional Operational Programme – Norte 2020. Additionally, the main challenges faced by stakeholders in this field and the project state of the art were also discussed. The participants took a very active role in this meeting and provided many interesting insights.

“Meat” me at the Lab

In the last 50 years, meat consumption increased by 330%. In 2016, there were 28 billion live animals mostly used for food production for 7.4 billion of humans, worldwide. This demand is causing huge health and environment problems such as soil contamination, antibiotic resistance, green-gas emission, deforestation and tons of animal suffering. You might have never thought about this, but meat is a high-protein food composed of highly organized muscle and fat cells. And, today, we can grow those cells in culture flasks instead of in the animals. This is what the new-born industry of cell-based meats does. They might mitigate many of those impacts by dropping land use by 99%, reducing agricultural gas emissions by 78%-96%, and not using antibiotics. Sara M. Oliveira, Postdoctoral Fellow at Food Processing Group, contributed in the report “You are What you Meat”, recently published by Massive Science and available here. This is a science guide to equip you with everything you need to stay informed as a scientist, consumer or a science-curious reader.

INL and ICVS join researchers for “ideas party”

The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) and the ICVS (Institute of Research in Life Sciences and Health) joined for a new edition of “Hackathon”, an unprecedented initiative that is part of a program created to open channels of communication between researchers from different areas and to generate innovative or even unexpected ideas for the benefit of society. The first edition of the “Hackathon” was held in 2017 and brought together experts from both institutions who randomly formed working groups to discuss ideas and proposals for a full day of joint work together. The group with the best project idea received funding of 20.000€, with a grant of 5.000€ to each of the remaining groups. The “2nd Hackathon” started on September 27th with a kick-off meeting. The main objective of INL and ICVS is to demonstrate how two distinct entities with diverse scientific agendas can make bridges between areas of knowledge that, from the outset, may appear to be difficult to reconcile. The results achieved so far not only prove the opposite but make evident the benefits of joint communication and collaboration between scientists in complementary and multidisciplinary fields. Demonstrating the high potential of this initiative, after the “1st Hackathon”, researchers […]

INL integrates Program IACOBUS to foster scientific cooperation

The INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory is one of the 26 Scientific and Higher Education organisations located in “Galicia – North of Portugal” that signed an agreement for the development of Cultural, Scientific and Teaching cooperation in this Euroregion. IACOBUS Program will promote the cooperation and exchange of human resources between the member institutions, to facilitate the flow of innovation. The protocol was signed on October 14th by the Director-General Lars Montelius on behalf of INL during a ceremony presided by the Portuguese Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Maria Fernanda Rollo, in the presence of the President of CCDR-N (Regional Coordination Agency for the North of Portugal), Fernando de Sousa, and the Vice-President of Xunta de Galicia (Galicia Regional Government), Alfonso Rueda Valenzuela.

INL Researcher awarded with IAAM Scientist Medal

Oleksandr Bondarchuk, INL Facility Manager (PhD) at the Department of Advanced Electron Microscopy, Imaging and Spectroscopy (AEMIS), received the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) Scientist Medal, at its 20th Award Ceremony of the European Advanced Materials Congress, recently held in Stockholm, Sweden. The distinction was given to Oleksandr Bondarchuk for his research on “Materials for Electrical Energy Storage: ionic liquid thin films on HOPG and VN surfaces”. The jury considered this work relevant due to the increasing global demand for better alternatives to fossil fuels, leading to research on more effective, affordable and environmentally friendly energy storage technologies, which are one of the main lines of research at INL, proving that nanotechnology plays a relevant role in offering better and more efficient solutions for today’s energy needs while preserving the planet for future generations.

NNT2018 at INL

From September 18 to the 20 2018 INL will host NNT2018, the 17th International Conference on Nanoimprint and Nanoprint Technologies, the world’s leading symposium on nanoimprint and nanoprint. The date was selected to allow participants at NNT2018 to take part in the MNE 2018. This is the second time that NNT is hosted at INL and by building on the experience gained last time, it will enable us to meet in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. In addition to paper presentations and vendor exhibits of the most recent science & technology advances, NNT2018 will encompass a set of lectures aiming to provide both newcomers and long-standing participants a comprehensive overview of important technological basic concepts of INL, Nanoprinting, as well as an introductory lecture on the important and expanding field of paper electronics. You can still register!

INL-BINA 2nd Workshop – 5th and 6th September 2018

The first INL-BINA workshop was held at Bar-Ilan Institute for Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials (BINA), in Israel, at May 2nd and 3rd 2018, and the highlight was the signature of the Collaboration Agreement to foster cooperation between both research institutions, to entails the exchange of researchers, and to launch the Collaborative Research Call for Projects between both institutions. The 2nd workshop hosted at INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, on September 5th and 6th 2018, was a success and we are glad to announce the selected Collaborative Projects to be supported: – Dr. Laura Rodiguez-Lorenzo and Dr. Adi Solomon for the project “Surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensing platform for multiplexed detection of aromatic pharmaceuticals.” – Dr. Marília Barreiros dos Santos and Prof. Ehud Banin for the project “Innovative antibacterial surfaces for water purification and monitoring technology”. – Dr. João Gaspar and Prof. Zeev Zalevsky for the project “HyperSpectrumMESMS: Realization of MEMS arrays for enhanced photonic sensing”. – Prof. Paulo Ferreira and Prof. David Zitoun for the project “Efficient catalysts for energy storage: tackling failure mechanisms from electron microscopy observation”. Congratulations to all!