Collaborations

The μFabLab is an inter-institutional project led by EMBL Barcelona. It is a space for collaboration and development of new micro-to-macro scaled tools, open to the entire PRBB community. The project is a joint initiative promoted by EMBL Barcelona, the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the University Pompeu Fabra (UPF) and PRBB. 

Flow Cytometry Unit is a joint facility and provides to PRBB researchers technical expertise and training to access the state-of-the-art instrumentation, as well as technical and scientific advice to develop efficient and reliable flow cytometric assays with the highest quality control standards and productivity.

EMBL Barcelona made a critical contribution to this facility with the BigFoot Spectral Cell Sorter. This piece of equipment is high-speed and high-throughput, capable of sorting a 96-well plate in as little as 11 seconds and a 384-well plate in 20 seconds. It can help users master the full range of sorting experiments such as deep immunophenotyping, genomics, cell and gene therapy research, single-cell sorting, and other high-performance, high-throughput cell sorting applications.

The Barcelona Collaboratorium for Modelling and Predictive Biology is a growing initiative led by EMBL Barcelona and the Centre for Genomic Regulation. It is a space for interaction of computational biology – promoting researchers to collaborate, share ideas and synergise across disciplines and scales.

The Collaboratorium main initiatives are:

• Host extended visits by leaders in their fields from theoretical biology, complex systems, engineering, computer science and artificial intelligence/machine learning.
• Bring together experts from different disciplines into the same space, from molecular, cellular and tissue biology, up to epidemiology and ecosystems.
• Create a uniquely open and collaborative physical space, to host a dynamic mix of both local researchers plus a strong visitors’ program, ranging from senior sabbatical professors, to junior researchers and students.
• A program of Extended Colloquia, and Advanced Study Periods, drives the cross-fertilisation of concepts and tools between various disciplines of predictive modelling.

The Mesoscopic Imaging Facility (MIF) at EMBL Barcelona and the Advanced Light Microscopy Unit (ALMU) are closely located and give service to the PRBB community and beyond. 

Both facilities share an histology laboratory that serves for sample preparation and analysis. 

The Barcelona CryoZoo is a biobank of animal cell lines dedicated to conservation and scientific research. Its mission is to support biodiversity preservation and help protect endangered animal species.

This initiative is the result of a collaboration between the Barcelona Zoo Foundation, Pompeu Fabra University, the Barcelona Museum of Natural Sciences, and EMBL Barcelona. Together, these institutions have brought the Barcelona CryoZoo to life.

The project reflects a shared commitment to safeguarding biodiversity through science. Zoological centers and aquariums across Europe are also contributing to this effort, working to preserve as much biological material as possible from threatened species.

The Barcelona CryoZoo is part of the EMBL’s Planetary Biology Transversal Theme.

Collaborators
Tomás Marquès Bonet, UPF

Synterra is focused on biological soil crusts (BSC), a complex ecosystem of microorganisms found in the top few centimetres of the soil. The project develops modelling tools and omics-based analysis to predict early warning signatures and quantitative indicators of ecosystem health. The specific climatic chambers allow the researchers to develop a framework to design synthetic microbial inoculum strategies to boost the resilience and avoid desertification.

The Synterra Project is part of the EMBL Planetary Biology Transversal Theme

Collaborators
Ricard Solé, UPF
Fernando Maestre, University of Alicante, KAUST

One of its crucial agreements is the enrolment of EMBL Barcelona PhD students at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. This builds a strong tie and makes UPF the reference institution for international PhD students coming to the city.

In line with EMBL’s training mission, the collaboration between EMBL and UPF incorporated the possibility for UPF students to join the unit for traineeship. 

Group and Team Leaders at EMBL Barcelona are lecturers for several scientific modules at the University Pompeu Fabra. 

In addition to formal advisory roles, many UPF members are often part of recruitment panels at EMBL Barcelona, have joint retreats and are speakers at both internal and external events organised by the unit.

Researchers and members of the UPF are highly interconnected with EMBL and its activities, and EMBL counts with their participation in critical committees and boards:

• Jordi García-Ojalvo is Senior Fellow at the Collaboratorium and member of the Expert Panel at Theory@EMBL transversal theme 
• Ricard Solé is Senior Fellow at the Collaboratorium

The EMBL-IBEC conference is a biennial event that brings together experts to exchange and promote discussion on challenges and opportunities of the expanding field of engineered multicellular systems.

The sessions of the conference often approach topics like organoids, cell and tissue mechanics, self-organisation of tissues, in vitro vascular systems, organ-on-chip and modelling tissue organisation.

This event is part of the Memorandum of Understanding between EMBL and IBEC.