The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), part of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, has published a catalogue that compiles a hundred of its cutting-edge technologies in knowledge areas such as agriculture, biotechnology, energy and the humanities, among others.
The CSIC technology catalogue, on the day of the presentation. Image: CSIC
The catalogue, with open access, brings together technologies that are at an advanced level of development, propose innovative approaches and offer advantages over those already commercialised, which places them in an outstanding position for their transfer to the market with the aim of contributing to the development of society.
The presentation of the catalogue took place on 25 April in the Converge space, the CSIC's open innovation hub, in the presence of the institution's president, Eloísa del Pino, and the director of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM), Aida Fernández.
The CSIC president stressed the importance of public and private institutions implementing an intellectual and industrial property protection strategy to promote innovation and knowledge transfer. ‘The protection of an invention gives researchers security, is essential in accompanying the idea to the market and is a key instrument for promoting collaboration with companies,’ Eloísa del Pino said. She also pointed out that the CSIC has been the leading Spanish organisation applying for patents, whether Spanish, European or international, for more than two decades.
‘The catalogue compiles a hundred innovative and disruptive technologies developed by the institution, most of them protected by an industrial or intellectual property title, with high levels of maturity and with advantages over technologies that are currently being commercialised or under development, which places them in an outstanding position to be transferred to companies that participate in their arrival on the market,’ explained Ana Castro, vice-president for Innovation and Transfer (VIT) at the CSIC.
Some relevant examples of the technologies included in the catalogue range from compact, digital, high-precision equipment to assess the safety of steel pipe installations in situ to hybrid hydrogels for more efficient 3D cell cultures, the design of advanced therapies based on CAR-T cells or more sustainable and drought-resistant plant varieties.
Other remarkable projects include the development of low-cost electrochemical sensors for monitoring water quality and detecting pollutants in surface water, and magnetic ferrite magnets for storing renewable energies as a more efficient and sustainable alternative to those based on rare earths.
In food technologies, the CSIC has developed a microbial method to produce urolithins useful as nutraceuticals, and in the area of human and social sciences, a panoramic, virtual and interactive tour of different areas of tourist and cultural interest has been presented.
Access the catalogue (in Spanish) via this link.
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