Last October, the second edition of the Synergy Day took place at the CosmoCaixa. Without a doubt, one of the most relevant events of the year for the IQAC community. The first edition was held in 2021 and, following the good results obtained, this second edition has been organised in a more complete and up-to-date format.
“The first edition was a success because it highlighted all the things we have in common and the possible projects that each research group could not carry out separately,” explains Alexandr Shafir, researcher in the ‘Synthetic methodology and new building blocks’ group and one of the organisers of the event.
And it is precisely this — finding points of collaboration and joining forces — that is the key to this day, which brought together almost 50 people, including research and technical staff, the Office of Excellence and Internationalisation, and the communication team.
The event began with a welcome by Olga López, director of the IQAC, who set the framework of the meeting by outlining the four lines that structure the institute’s research. She also presented the new corporate image which, after months of work, will be officially made public at the beginning of 2026. This was followed by a dynamic activity carried out by ‘La Mandarina de Newton’, a cultural company focused on science and technology. This activity made it possible to identify the strengths and areas for improvement of each group and of the institute, reinforcing the idea that the institute is a benchmark in the field of chemistry. The activity showed that, in addition to scientific impact, the impacts of the research we carry out are in health, followed by technological and economic impact, and it also opened the debate on how to increase social and political impacts.
In short, the activity proved to be very useful in seeing how, together, we can move towards a better future for the institute, as explained by Ibane Abasolo, researcher in the ‘Nanomedicine for therapeutic applications’ group: “This day has been very special because it has given us the opportunity to stop and look towards the future, which is something scientists like to do, but we are always short of time to do so”.
We then moved on to the highlight of the day, the synergy initiative itself: meetings in small groups to encourage mutual knowledge and detect common interests. “The IQAC is a multidisciplinary centre with complementary themes. It is about getting to know what the other groups do and finding synergies,” comments Xavier Gómez-Santacana, Ramón y Cajal researcher in the ‘Medicinal Chemistry’ group. “And, in addition, the Synergy Day is an ideal context to transform these ideas into concrete projects and possible new sources of funding,” adds Laia Josa, researcher in the ‘Drug discovery and medicinal chemistry’ group.
The day not only featured the protagonism of research staff, but also the participation of those responsible for the institute’s services, organised into three technological platforms, whose support is essential for the development of research at the IQAC.
“Now it’s time to return to the institute and, with all these ideas, create new projects,” comments Olga López, director of the IQAC. “Synergy and collaboration are where success lies,” she states emphatically.
Synergy Day 2025 concluded with a very positive balance and with an eye on the coming months, in which the ideas that emerged during the day can be translated into new collaborations and projects.
Initiative coordinated by the IQAC Plan MaX.
