Gabriel M. Silberman appointed new General Director of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology

At its annual meeting held today at the new Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) headquarters (the Escola Industrial), the BIST Board of Trustees, chaired by Andreu Mas-Colell, approved the appointment of Gabriel M. Silberman as the new BIST General Director. In addition, the Board approved the expansion of the BIST Foundation with the incorporation of the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC).

Prior to joining BIST, Gabriel M. Silberman was Senior Vice President and Chief Scientist of Cerebri AI, a company developing artificial intelligence products, and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at Texas A&M University. He brings with him extensive experience in the intersection between public and private research.

As Executive Director of Dell Research (2013-2016), Silberman was responsible for strategic alliances with universities to define and drive innovation across the company's various departments and venues. Previously, he had been a promoter of such collaborations in large companies such as IBM, where he held various positions for 15 years (Director of the Center for Advanced Studies program [2000-2005], Director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Toronto [1997-2000], and Researcher and Group Manager at the IBM TJ Watson Research Center [1990-1997]). He subsequently created and managed CA Labs, a new research organization for CA Technologies (2005-2012), which carried out more than 30 projects with the participation of a hundred academic researchers from 34 institutions around the world. 

Silberman replaces Miquel A. Pericàs, Director of the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), who was, throughout the past year, also responsible for the management of the BIST. Miquel A. Pericàs has presented to the Board of Trustees an exhaustive report on the work carried out during the last 12 months, highlighting the deployment of the organic structure of the BIST, with the incorporation of a high-quality team, the institution’s strategic projects in the fields of Chemical Biology and Advanced Microscopy, and the promotion of collaborative multidisciplinary research between the BIST centers. He presented, in a very positive light, the high quality of projects that were selected for the first edition of the Ignite Program, intended precisely to promote the implementation of the aforementioned collaborative projects. 

He also particularly emphasized the success of the BIST Founding Conference, held on March 31st, in terms of its very relevant speakers, and the implementation in collaboration with the UPF of the first Master of Multidisciplinary Research in Experimental Sciences, for which classes are scheduled to start this September.

"We have only taken a few steps, but firm and in the right direction. The challenges that I leave on the table of the new Director are ambitious and complex, but we have an enthusiastic and committed BIST community, which now grows in capabilities and potential with the incorporation of a new center of excellence, IBEC," said Miquel A. Pericàs.

The President of the BIST Board, Andreu Mas-Colell, stressed the importance of two milestones achieved this year. First, he spoke of the approval by the European Union of the two projects submitted by the BIST to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND call, through which 10 million euros will be received in the next five years to fund 28 pre-doctoral research fellowships and 61 postdoctoral fellowships. "These programs reinforce our ability to attract international scientific talent, which is the key piece of any project that, like the BIST, aims to boost the excellence and social impact of research," said Mas-Colell. 

The President also spoke very positively about the fact that the agreement with the Barcelona Regional Council (Diputación de Barcelona) signed a year ago, has allowed BIST to install itself in its new headquarters at the ‘Escola Industrial’, where it has a space of approximately 300 m2, with offices, work rooms and classrooms, a space that is expected to expand in the future as the Institute's programs grow. 

New patrons

With the incorporation of IBEC, the BIST Community expands to 2,347 people, 40% with international origin and 43% of which are women. The expanded BIST has 147 principal investigators, 565 postdoctoral researchers and 588 predoctoral students (PhD). IBEC brings to BIST its expertise and research excellence in the juncture between biology and engineering in areas such as the design of nanodevices for drug delivery, biosensors, cellular engineering, biomimetics, and regenerative medicine, among others. IBEC, which, like all other BIST members, is accredited as a Severo Ochoa center of excellence, has 11 grants from the European Research Council, which were received by its researchers between 2007 and 2016.

At the meeting today, the incorporation of a new scientific member of the BIST board was also approved, namely, of Professor M. Carme Calderer, physicist, and mathematician with a PhD from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh (Scotland), who currently teaches at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities). With a long academic career and numerous publications, Dr. Calderer has focused her research on the mathematical modeling of fluid and crystal behavior.

The BIST Board is composed of researchers (Professors Ignacio Cirac, Max-Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, Joan Massagué, Sloan Kettering Institute, Miquel Salmeron, University of California-Berkeley, Sergi Verdú, Princeton University, Sylvia Daunert, Nanotech Institute of the University of Miami, and Rolf Tarrach, European University Association, to which Professor Calderer is added), of the BIST centre Directors (Luís Serrano, CRG, Miquel Àngel Pericàs, ICIQ, Pablo Ordejón, ICN2, Lluís Torner, ICFO, Ramon Miquel, IFAE, Joan Guinovart, IRB Barcelona, and now also Josep Samitier, IBEC), of representatives of five private foundations (la Caixa Banking Foundation, Banco Sabadell Foundation, FemCat (Fundació Privada d'Empresaris), Cellex Foundation, and Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera), and of the Minister of Business and Knowledge, Jordi Baiget, representing the Generalitat de Catalunya.

About BIST 

The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) is an initiative of six research centers of excellence in Catalonia whose objective is to increase their collaboration in order to build a common scientific project. Its strength is based in the research capacity of its centers and in its potential to promote leading multidisciplinary research projects. The founding centers of the BIST were the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), the Institute for High Energy Physics (IFAE), and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). These are now joined by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC).

About IRB Barcelona

Created in 2005 by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia) and University of Barcelona, IRB Barcelona is a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence, a seal that was awarded in 2011. The institute is devoted to conducting research of excellence in biomedicine and to transferring results to clinical practice, thus improving people’s quality of life, while simultaneously promoting the training of outstanding researchers, technology transfer, and public communication of science. Its 24 laboratories and seven core facilities address basic questions in biology and are orientated to diseases such as cancer, metastasis, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and rare conditions. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts more than 400 employees and 36 nationalities. It is located in the Barcelona Science Park. IRB Barcelona forms part of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) and the “Xarxa de Centres de Recerca de Catalunya” (CERCA).