The researchers are part of the Martí i Franquès COFUND Fellowship Programme which is jointly funded by the European Union as part of its Horizon 2020 programme. This new programme at the URV will recruit 25 predoctoral researchers this year and another 25 next year, all on three-year contracts. The call for applications is open from 15 February to 15 April 2017
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Researchers at the URV have developed a pioneering method that will allow city authorities to levy fairer charges on vehicles that enter their city centres. The method analyses data in real time in order to identify congestion hot-spots at any given moment so that only drivers who pass through these hot-spots have to pay a charge rather than all drivers who take their vehicles into the city centre
In 2016 the Universitat Rovira i Virgili’s Unit of Scientific Communication developed a new educational and communication tool: a series of 12 videos which, with the support of animated illustrations and in little more than 60 seconds, give explanations for common scientific doubts. Researchers from the University have advised on the content of these short audiovisuals, which have been posted on YouTube and are useful for explaining science to students
Research by the URV has demonstrated, for the first time, that the polyphenols in grapes can re-establish the control mechanism that the brain has on appetite and which is altered in obesity. The study reports that adding these phenols to the diet of obese individuals, in conjunction with other therapies, would be a good strategy to reduce the appetite and the excess of body fat
29/11/2016
Quicker and twice as accurate predictions
With ever-increasing amounts of online information available, modelling and predicting individual preferences for certain products is becoming more and more important. Good predictions enable better advice to be given to users and provide a better understanding of the socio-psychological processes that determine those preferences. Researchers at the URV have created a new algorithm that provides better predictions than existing algorithms
This discovery may raise concerns about safety of nanomaterials for public health and may suggest to revise the security norms at nanoscale bringing attention to the safety of nanomaterials in general
The European Commission has awarded four million euros to the Universitat Rovira i Virgili’s Martí Franquès COFUND project, which will allow it to contract 50 predoctoral researchers. The recruitment process will take place in 2017 and 2018 and the successful candidates will have be awarded three-year contracts. The University will contribute a further four million euros to the project which will conclude in 2021
A study led by the URV has demonstrated that virgin olive oil enriched with its own polyphenols and with those from thyme protects the DNA from oxidation. When these two types of polyphenol are added to olive oil (or indeed any other product) they decrease the risk of DNA damage, which can affect the metabolism and cell reproduction and lead to pathologies such as cancer, among other negative consequences
This is the conclusion of a study conducted by URV researchers Manlio de Domenico and Àlex Arenas, who have analysed the mobility indicators of EU scientists, the capacity of countries to attract new researchers and to retain talent, and the correlation between these measures and GDP investment in research. The results have been published in Nature
Researchers at the URV and the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) have discovered why people with obesity not only accumulate glycogen in their muscles and liver, like other people, but also store it in their adipocytes, the cells that make up body fat. These fat cells stop working properly, causing the individual to develop insulin resistance and, potentially, type 2 diabetes. This is the first time that this metabolic pathway has been described and it makes glycogen a new player within the pathology of obesity