Direction team of the ICMM and the University of Shanghai representatives

Researcher Jianhua Zhang, Vice President of Shanghai University, visited the Madrid Institute of Materials Science (ICMM-CSIC) this Friday, where he met with the center's management team and some researchers to explore potential collaboration paths. ICMM Director José Ángel Martín Gago welcomed the visitors together with the Deputy Directors, Pilar Aranda and Jesús Ricote.

The visit, which also included Shanghai researcher Zhenya Wang and ICMM researchers Xi Chen and Yue Ban, is part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Shanghai University in 2023. Moreover, it takes place just after the visit of CSIC President Eloísa del Pino to the Chinese institution's headquarters last week: "We outlined areas of mutual interest and existing institutional opportunities for exchanging researchers and preparing research projects, particularly in energy, biomedicine, quantum, microelectronics, and archaeology," Del Pino commented after that meeting.

In that document, the two institutions commit to cooperating in developing a collaborative relationship based on mutual interests, while maintaining and respecting the independence of each entity.

Among the lines of action included are the exchange of scientific and technological information, international visits, exchange of researchers in training, organization of international conferences, and joint research projects.

During the meeting held at ICMM-CSIC headquarters, these lines of action were discussed, and some of the most cutting-edge laboratories of the Madrid Institute of Materials Science were shown to the Chinese visitors. Specifically, the Shanghai University researchers learned about the photonics work of Ceferino López; the ultra-flexible electronics research of Andrés Castellanos-Gómez; and the low-dimensional systems equipment of José Ángel Martín Gago, which includes the Stardust machine — a one-of-a-kind apparatus that simulates the process of star death.

Thursday, April 23, 2026 - 12:06