Research News

Characterization of the rainfall intensity, duration and frequency for Catalonia

A study led by researchers from the Fluid Dynamics and Geophysical and Technological Applications group (DF-GeoTech) at UPC presents a new methodology to calculate rainfall values of hydrological interest across Catalonia

Preictal high-connectivity states in epilepsy: Evidence of intracranial EEG, interplay with the seizure onset zone and network modeling

Extension of the High-Connectivity States (HCS) analysis to other databases

Estimation of seasonal methane fluxes over a Mediterranean rice paddy area

esearchers of IONHE group have recently published results of the PhD thesis of Roger Curcoll, supervised by Claudia Grossi and Arturo Vargas, within the Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics journal on the: 'Estimation of seasonal methane fluxes over a Mediterranean rice paddy area using the Radon Tracer Method (RTM)'

Eco-friendly ferroelectric oxides for energy applications

Ramon G. F. Dornelas defended his thesis, co-advised by Jose Eduardo García and José de los Santos Guerra, on July 18th on the Campus Nord. Entitled “Lead-free BaTiO₃-based ferroelectric ceramics for energy storage and related applications”, the thesis focuses on the structural, dielectric, and ferroelectric study of tin-modified BaTiO₃ ceramics, aimed at their application in energy storage and solid-state cooling.

Respiratory viruses in Catalan childhood: lessons, status and predictions after the pandemic.

Aida Perramon Malavez defended her thesis co-directed by Clara Prats Soler and Antoni Soriano Arandes on July 16, 2025 at the Baix Llobregat Campus. Titled "Respiratory viruses in childhood: surveillance, analysis, and modelling of their epidemiological dynamics. The case of Catalonia.", the thesis presents the history and evolution of the main respiratory infections in Catalan childhood, from a perspective of dynamic analysis of complex systems and providing tools for monitoring, understanding and predicting these epidemics in Catalonia.

Charting multidimensional ideological polarization across demographic groups in the USA

A methodology to quantify multidimensional ideological polarization has been proposed by researchers of the department of Physics.

Characterization of the thermal response under hydrostatic pressure in organic and ferroelectric compounds with orientational disorder

Alejandro Salvatori defended his thesis co-directed by Michela Romanini and Pol Lloveras, on July 1, 2025 at the Besòs Campus. Entitled "Barocal effects in organic and ferroelectric plastic crystals", the thesis investigates the caloric effects induced by hydrostatic pressure through first-order phase transitions in molecular crystals that present orientational disordered phases, called plastic crystals. These effects promise more efficient and sustainable refrigeration technologies than current gas compressors, and also thermal batteries. The materials studied are of two types: organic plastic crystals, which present giant latent heats, and ferroelectric plastic crystals, novel compounds that present multiaxial ferroelectricity, orientable with an electric field