The Institute of Materials Science of Madrid, part of the Spanish National Research Council (ICMM-CSIC), has undertaken an institutional visit to China with the aim of strengthening scientific cooperation with several universities in the Asian nation.
The delegation, led by José Ángel Martín Gago, director of the ICMM-CSIC, participated in the International Symposium on China-EU Two-Dimensional Materials and Quantum Technologies and the International Academic Exchange Conference of Moore and More in Shanghai, as well as the International Workshop on Nanofluidics and Advanced Nanoscale Functional Properties in Condensed Matter in Shenzhen. Additionally, the delegation visited the Mingyue Lake High-Tech Industrial Park in Chongqing.
“Our center has been invited to the Asian country to continue strengthening cooperation in scientific research, talent exchange, and joint research platforms between the two institutions,” explained José Ángel Martín Gago, who took the opportunity during the trip to sign a cooperation agreement with Shanghai University—an agreement that the CSIC’s new Quantum Advanced Research Center has also joined.
In this city, the ICMM delegation included Gloria Platero, Carmen Munuera, Irene Palacio, Pablo Merino, Carlos Sánchez, Miguel Muñoz-Rojo, Xi Chen, and Yue Ban, all of whom also gave talks at both events on their respective areas of expertise.
Following their visit to Shanghai, part of the delegation traveled to Shenzhen to participate in the International Symposium on Nanofluidics and Advanced Functional Properties at the Nanoscale in Condensed Matter, where they also delivered lectures. An existing cooperation agreement was already in place with this Chinese university, so the visit served as an opportunity to assess progress and speak with the predoctoral researchers involved in the planned training activities. Javier Pérez and Guilherme Vilhena, both from the ICMM-CSIC, joined the delegation for this part of the trip.
The symposium aimed to bring together prominent scientists, early-career researchers, and innovators to discuss the latest advances in nanoscale transport phenomena, with a particular focus on nanofluidics, ionic transport in nanochannels and nanopores, nanoscale energy conversion and storage, nanotribology, and thermal transport in low-dimensional materials and nanostructures.
Finally, Martín Gago continued his journey to Chongqing, where Vilhena accompanied him on a visit to the Mingyue Lake High-Tech Industrial Park. Both researchers were invited by the institution to exchange views and explore opportunities for cooperation and collaboration.
The Mingyue Lake Technology Park in Chongqing is a state-level platform focused on the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, as well as the incubation of new industries (such as advanced materials, embodied robotics, and intelligent vehicles). It provides technology development and transfer services, intermediary services, project incubation, entrepreneurship support, and incubation space; it also offers feasibility assessments, the valuation of research outcomes, and the incubation of technology-based enterprises.
With this, the ICMM-CSIC strengthens its collaborative ties with leading, internationally renowned Chinese institutions in the fields of materials science and quantum physics research. “We will continue working to conduct the best possible science, for which international alliances allow us to broaden our scope of action,” concluded Martín Gago.
