ICFO – Instituto de Ciencias Fotónicas – Ficha de Socio

Actividad:I+D+I

Organismo:

• Otro

Breve descripción

ICFO is a research institution that aims to advance the limits of knowledge using photonics, namely the science and technology of harnessing Light. Our research aims to tackle several of the key challenges faced by our society at large, focusing on current and future problems in Health, Energy, Information, Safety, Security and caring for the Environment.

Specifically, ICFO’s research lines on photovoltaics focus on the fabrication and characterization of 3rd generation photovoltaic materials, including organic, perovskite, quantum dot and other inorganic nanocrystal and Pb-free solar cells. Such research is fully integrated into ICFO’s “Clean Planet Program” (cleanplanet.icfo.eu) – an initiative that brings together all of the Institute’s research in the fields of renewable energy and environmental protection, training future research leaders within these scientific disciplines and exploiting synergies with the fields of solar fuels, carbon capture, non-toxic nanomaterials, and artificial photosynthesis.

Furthermore, ICFO is also proactive in translating newly generated knowledge into products and technologies to society by means of a strong in-house Knowledge & Technology Transfer (KTT) Team, whose activities include:
-Managing a particularly strong IP portfolio of 100+ patent families, including licensing agreements.
-Fostering entrepreneurial activities and spin-off creation, with 11 start-up companies to date: Radiantis, Signadyne-acquired by Keysight, Cosingo, ProCareLight, HemoPhotonics, QuSide, Droplite, Qurv,SixSenso, LuxQuanta and Vitsolc, the latter specialized in transparent photovoltaics.
-Establishing industrial partnerships and collaborating with our industrial allies, with more than 50 projects with different corporations to date, as for example IBM, Graphenea, Procter & Gamble, Puig, Zeiss, IRIS, Monocrom, B. Braun, Accelerate Diagnostics, Sorigué, Alter Technologies, Thales, M Squared, Time Bandwidth, and Nokia.
-Coordinating different public and private funded projects aiming at pushing ICFO technologies closer to the market and increasing the TRL level of various prototypes. Those projects include more than 15 grants from the ERC proof of concept and FET Innovation LaunchPad schemes.
-Promoting entrepreneurial activities, encouraging researchers to take their new ideas and discoveries out of the lab and into society.