News

INL Propels Europe’s Agenda on Advanced Materials and Emerging Technologies at the IAM-I Symposium

The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory is honoured to spotlight the participation of INLer Andrea Capasso at the inaugural IAM-I Symposium, held in Brussels on 11 December. This landmark brokerage event falls under the Innovative Advanced Materials Initiative (IAM-I), a major European effort driving the IAM-I4U partnership and supporting Europe’s industrial leadership and sustainability goals. With over 300 participants, the full-day symposium served as a dynamic platform for dialogue among policymakers, industry leaders, and researchers within Europe’s advanced materials ecosystem. The programme featured Working Group and Task Force breakout sessions, fostering high-level discussions on the future of advanced materials in Europe. Key topics included the forthcoming Advanced Materials Act, the EU Advanced Materials Strategy, and the most pressing challenges faced by industry and research communities. Beyond his role as Research Scientist and Principal Investigator, and as coordinator of the transversal line on advanced materials at INL, Andrea Capasso is co-leader of Working Group 4 – Electronics within the IAM-I. At the symposium, he presented the status of WG4 activities and the first consolidated results of the community survey. WG4 focuses on advancing materials for next-generation electronic technologies, including semiconductors, flexible devices, and quantum components. At a broader level, Dr Capasso’s contribution underscores […]

INL Delegation Visits Fiocruz to Strengthen Cooperation

Between the 1st and the 5th of December 2025, a delegation from the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory carried out an institutional visit to the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Fiocruz is Brazil’s leading public health institution and has expanded its activities in nanotechnology, namely through the Translational Research Network in Nanotechnology – Fio-Nano. The mission was part of the ongoing collaboration established through the Memorandum of Understanding signed in April 2025, between Professor Ado Jório de Vasconcelos, Deputy Director-General of INL, and Dr Mário Santos Moreira, President of the Fiocruz Foundation. The INL delegation included Dr Begoña Espiña, Dr Ernesto Alfaro-Moreno, Dr Rui Domingues, Dr Manuel Bañobre and Dr Lorena Diéguez, research group leaders in the Life Sciences Grand Thematic Area, and accompanied by Dr Carolina Baptista, International Relations and Internal Affairs Communication Officer of the DG Office. Part of the programme, visits to several units were held, including Biomanguinhos, Farmanguinhos, the National Institute for Quality Control in Health and the clinical and research facilities at the Instituto Fernandes Figueira. Aside from the technical and scientific interest, these highlighted the integrated ecosystem of Fiocruz, which spans from basic research to full production capabilities. A central element […]

When less is more: a minimal approach to low-noise circuits

Electronic systems, from brain-monitoring implants to precision sensing devices, rely on an unseen but fundamental element: a stable voltage reference. If this reference drifts with changes in the chip’s process, supply voltage, or temperature, even the most advanced circuit can struggle to detect subtle signals or correctly interpret biological activity. Engineers have spent years refining these reference circuits, making them less sensitive to process, voltage, and temperature variations, while also reducing noise and shrinking their footprint. Yet the challenge remains – how do you design something stable enough to deliver clear signals, but small and energy-efficient enough for sensitive applications like neural implants? Researchers from Piteira’s Engineering Group at INL have shown that a simple idea can deliver meaningful results. Instead of adding complexity for noise reduction, i.e. adding more circuitry which implies more area and more power, they asked a different question: could noise be controlled with just a single, simple element? Piteira’s group proposes a bandgap reference design where noise performance can be tuned using just one resistor placed between two points in the circuit’s core. That single element reshapes how different sources of noise behave, shifting low-frequency flicker noise into a range where it does less harm. […]

INL and BME announce the launch of a Joint Research Programme

INL is pleased to announce the launch of a joint programme with the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME). Scheduled to begin on 1 January 2026, the BME-INL collaboration initiative will support 5 research projects to be carried out over a period of 12 to 18 months. Last May, INL welcomed a prestigious Hungarian delegation, including representatives of the Embassy of Hungary in Lisbon and the BME. The meeting resulted in the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), a significant landmark in the partnership of the two institutions. Following this commitment, INL and BME opened a call for proposals, inviting submissions for targeted, small-scale R&D activities, researcher exchanges (including competence transfer and PhD training), the creation of consortia, and support for joint research projects. After due assessment, by a bilateral evaluation committee, 5 scientific projects were approved to receive a €6,000 grant each. Covering themes such as plasmonic sensing, graphene surface functionalization, detection of microplastics in water, supramolecular assembly of graphene materials, and hybrid 2D catalytic heterostructures, the awarded projects are: :: Investigation of Novel Nanomaterial Systems for Plasmonics SensingLeaders: Attila Bonyár (BME VIK) and Sara Abalde (INL- Diéguez Research Group) :: Fluorescence detection of microplastics in aqueous mediaLeaders: […]

INLer Sara Abalde-Cela wins ERC Consolidator Grant

INL is honoured to announce that one of its researchers, Dr. Sara Abalde-Cela has been awarded with the prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant. On November 9th, the European Research Council revealed the 349 mid-career researchers selected to receive a total of €728 million in Consolidator Grants. This year’s recipients, including Dr. Abalde-Cela, represent universities and research centres across 25 EU Member States and associated countries. The ERC grant, first established by the European Union in 2007, is Europe’s leading funding organisation for frontier research. Supported by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme, the grants follow a bottom-up approach, enabling mid-career researchers in any field to pursue groundbreaking ideas. Consolidator Grants provide up to €2 million over five years. This year’s call attracted more than 3,000 applications, a 35% increase compared to last year. Dr. Sara Abalde-Cela, Research Scientist PI in the Diéguez group, earned the grant with her proposal titled “Deciphering multilevel cell-to-cell communication through microfluidic and plasmonic decoders” , marking the first ERC grant awarded to a researcher at INL. Academically, Dr. Abalde-Cela holds a PhD in Nanotechnology from University of Vigo and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge. She joined INL in 2017, as an Marie Skłodowska-Curie […]

INL Director-General Receives Prestigious Klemens Lifetime Achievement Award

The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory is proud to announce that the International Condensed Matter Physics Community has bestowed one of its highest honours upon Professor Clivia Sotomayor, the Director-General of INL. Presented during the Phonons 2025 conference in Buenos Aires by Professor Andrea Bragas of the University of Buenos Aires, Professor Clivia was named the recipient of the 2025 Klemens Lifetime Achievement Award. A Distinguished Legacy Established in 1986, the Klemens Lifetime Achievement Award recognises scientists whose work has profoundly shaped the field of phonon physics. Each edition of the Phonons 2025 conference presents this recognition, celebrating exceptional lifetime contributions that advance both fundamental understanding and the cohesion of the global phonon research community. Previous recipients represent the field’s most influential figures, including Paul G. Klemens (1986), A. C. Anderson (1989), R. Berman (1992), Lawrence J. Challis and Wolfgang Eisenmenger (1998), Humphrey Maris (2007), Manuel Cardona (2012), Tsuneyoshi Nakayama (2015), Bernard Perrin (2018), and David Cahill (2023). Therefore, this distinguished lineage underscores the exceptional significance of the honour. The 2025 award citation acknowledges Professor Sotomayor’s remarkable contributions to the field: “We are delighted to share that the recipient of the 2025 Klemens Lifetime Achievement Award is Clivia Sotomayor, for her […]

Celebrating “20 Years of INL: The beginning of a vision”

On 28 November, INL proudly celebrated the 20th anniversary of the decision that gave rise to its campus. This event posed as a heartfelt tribute to a legacy of scientific excellence and the everlasting Iberian collaboration that defines INL’s mission. Adding to the prestige of the occasion, INL welcomed partner institutions, the Municipality of Braga, and distinguished governmental figures, including: :: Fernando Alexandre, Portugal’s Minister of Education, Science and Innovation :: Eva Ortega, Secretary General of Research of Spain :: João Rui Ferreira, Portugal’s Secretary of State for the Economy :: Helena Canhão, Portugal’s Secretary of State for Science and Innovation The ceremony began with an address by INL’s Director General, Clivia Sotomayor, who eloquently recalled the institution’s origins as a diplomatic vision, created to unite Portugal and Spain in the noble pursuit of scientific progress. Her words set the tone for a day dedicated to honouring the past while embracing the future. Following her remarks, the afternoon went on to feature inspiring speeches from INL leaders, a captivating theatrical performance, and presentations from the Postgraduate School, the Early-Stage Researchers Association, and the Research Board, underscoring two decades of innovation and global impact. As the event drew to a close, […]

Nanostars push SERS sensing to new performance levels

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy has become a powerful tool for ultrasensitive and rapid chemical analysis. Its effectiveness comes from how light interacts with tiny metallic structures, generating electromagnetic fields that dramatically strengthen the Raman signal. However, turning this principle into reliable and scalable sensing platforms has been a long-standing challenge, limiting wider use of SERS in medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and molecular biosensing (if you would like to learn more about the current challenges of taking SERS into real-world applications, you can also read a previous review article published by the group). In a study led by Sara Abalde-Cela, INL researchers from the Diéguez group have developed a plasmonic substrate that notably improves the stability and reproducibility of SERS-based sensing. Their work, published in Advanced Optical Materials, introduces a fabrication approach that combines precision nanopatterning with controlled chemical growth. The process begins with electron beam lithography to create highly regular nanodisk arrays. These disks are then transformed into nanostars with sharp tips capable of producing extremely strong electromagnetic fields, leading into “hot spots”. “Compared to nanodisks, which produce weaker and more homogeneous field enhancements, the nanostars show highly localised electromagnetic intensification at their tips,” explains Sara Abalde-Cela. “Both simulations, […]

Portuguese Secretary of State for Digitalisation Visits INL

On 20th November 2025, the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory welcomed the Secretary of State for Digitalisation of Portugal, Mr Bernardo Correia, for a visit aimed at highlighting the laboratory’s pivotal role in advancing Portugal’s digital agenda. The programme started with a presentation led by Professor Ado Jório de Vasconcelos, INL’s Deputy Director-General, which was then joined by Dr Ivan Prieto, Head of Micro and Nanofabrication Facilities, and Mr Marcelo Viegas, Cybersecurity Lead. The session represented an opportunity to reinforce INL’s strengths, research priorities and its contributions to European technological development. A crucial moment of the visit was the tour to INL’s research facilities and laboratories, where the Secretary of State gained insight into the work conducted across the groups. Dr Prieto presented the Micro and Nanofabrication facilities, whilst Dr Alex Jenkins demonstrated the Spintronics Laboratory’s innovative research. Afterwards, Dr Enrique Carbo guided the delegation through the Electron Microscopy and X-Ray facilities and Dr Marco Martins showcased the Technology Engineering Group’s technological achievements. Marking a milestone in the ongoing discussions, the visit proved to be a success by reinforcing the role of research infrastructures in fostering a prosperous society grounded in digital transformation. Therefore, a strong commitment to deepening collaboration at […]

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