Advanced Training

The ICIQ Graduate Student Programme ICIQ’s PhD student programme is at the core of our commitment to education. We foster graduate students in their path to think, design and execute a research project under the supervision and mentoring of an ICIQ Group Leader. The programme targets highly qualified and talented graduate students with an enthusiastic interest in chemical research and has been successful in attracting students from all over the world.

In 2020 we launched three calls of our PhD Fellowship Programme. A total of 22 graduate students joined ICIQ through ICIQ’s fellowship programme. We also incorporated PhD students through other funding calls: 3 FI (AGAUR); 1 FPU (MECD); 2 Estancias breves FPU(MECD); 7 FPI (MICIU).

PhD theses defended in 2020

Postdoctoral researchers at ICIQ have an outstanding opportunity to develop their research careers in a collaborative and international environment. We believe in empowering postdoctoral researchers and strengthening their leadership skills. In 2020 we succeeded in obtaining six Marie Curie Sklodowska Actions – Individual Fellowships (MSCA-IF) grants. Moreover, ICIQ benefited from one Beatriu de Pinós (AGAUR) and one postdoctoral grant from the COFOUND programme ICIQ Impulse for Talented Postdoctoral Fellows.

We participated in two Master programmes. The URV/ICIQ Master in Synthesis, Catalysis and Molecular Design provides scientific training in the design of new methods of synthesis, development of catalysts, computational design and management of environmentally friendly chemical processes. The Master also focuses on providing the skills needed to address research and development tasks and innovative activities in the industry. Eleven ICIQ Master students were awarded one of the institute’s master projects fellowships. 13 students enrolled in this master thanks to the ICIQ master research projects grants.
We also participated in the Master of Multidisciplinary Research in Experimental Sciences (BIST-UPF), which provides in-depth hands-on research training in multiple fields. Students undertake a 6-month major project and a 10-week minor project in two different research disciplines in different BIST centers. Two ICIQ students obtained grants to pursue the BIST-UPF master programme.

ICIQ Summer Internship Programme, which is sponsored by Fundació Bancària La Caixa, brings together outstanding undergraduate students who make the most of their Summer holidays by working in one of ICIQ’s research groups during the months of July, August, and September. In 2020, due to COVID-19 pandemic, we had to cancel this programme. Instead, we had nine undergraduate students who did short internships in different research groups throughout the year.