The aim of the internal call is to select a maximum of three projects from among all the proposals presented by research groups at the university, related to research on COVID-19 and the repercussions it might have on different fields of knowledge.

 

The three proposals have been selected by the Vice-Rectorate for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer (VRIT) for their social impact, the range of topics they cover and the research groups’ profiles. The proposals will now begin a process of sponsored funding led by Corporate Development Management at UIC Barcelona.

 

Each of the university’s research groups had the chance to enter the call with just one project directly related to the crisis sparked by COVID-19. The VRIT has recognised the work carried out for the selected proposals as a competitive external research project.

 

Aside from the proposal’s social impact, the projects’ presentations, in which more than one university research group can participate, their interdisciplinary nature and student participation, have also been positively valued. The campaign is co-financed by European Regional Development Fund (FEDER).

 

The three projects that have been selected are:

 

• Additional balconies: reclaiming al fresco life at home

A home’s intermediate zones, better known perhaps as balconies, improve people’s quality of life as they open their doors to the outside world and with it, light and green ventilation. 

 

Over the past few years, however, the massive expansion of cities and socio-economic change means that balconies and terraces have been steadily losing value. A value that’s been appreciated more than ever throughout the current COVID-19 crisis, questioning the need to rethink housing from a perspective of quality and liveability.

 

This project, led by researchers Dr Vicenç Sarrablo and Dr Isabel Villanueva, proposes a technical solution that makes it possible and cheaper to produce and transport these gateways to the outside world.  The project has used sustainable materials to fix the balconies to buildings organically and adapt them to the urban environment in question.

 

Improving living standards is a priority for the international initiatives, rehabilitating urban areas that will serve as a guide for the housing market over the coming years.  Our balconies don’t just offer a innovative and technical solution, they also do so organically, efficiently and aesthetically, adapted to the needs of each community. 

• Changes in cultural management in a post-COVID-19 Catalonia. From on-site to online

COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the culture sector.  Despite the evident negative effects, it’s also important to highlight the positive aspects such as innovating new cultural management plans, especially in terms of the move from on-site to online management.  Are we moving towards a paradigm shift in cultural management? POST-COVID-19 CULTURE, led by researchers Dr Judith Urbano, Dr Marta Crispí and Dr Miquel Bastons, will also analyse the strategies and good practices observed by cultural institutions during the lockdown in order to maintain and increase public interest, as well as outline new management model profiles that have emerged due to the changes in cultural consumption.

 

The project seeks to: 

● Identify which factors have caused a shift in cultural management and consumption. 

● Identify new management models developed to overcome the challenges posed by the new normal.

● Determine new strategies for managing culture and outlining cultural policies. 

 

• New hurdles in the face of COVID-19: treatment to reduce infection

The COVID-19 outbreak has taken us all by surprise, including those of us in the research world. A virus about which very little is known and which has not allowed society time to take the necessary precautions. The world is now entering into a phase where in-depth knowledge about the virus’ character is needed to be able to find a way to successfully fight it. 

 

If we add to this challenge the lack of peer-reviewed scientific evidence on populations under these kinds of circumstances, we run the risk of seeing an outbreak of rumours, which in actual fact are extremely harmful and have no impact on preventing the spread of infection.  One such rumour is that smoking reduces the risk of infection or, that it can eliminate the virus altogether.  For this reason, a group of researchers led by Dr Josep Clotet and Dr José M. Martínez wants to call this rumour out as false by proving that what actually reduces the risk of infection is one substance in particular: nicotine. 

 

The virus enters the body via the protein ACE2, present in the mouth and lung epithelium in very varying amounts depending on the patient. Currently, the only solution to block the virus’ entry into the body is the use of masks and physical social distancing. However, a priority objective in the fight against this pandemic is to find a substance that can reduce the presence of the ACE2 protein in the body in order to minimise the entry pathways of COVID-19 into the body. One of these substances could be nicotine.  What’s more, this research project will have an immediate impact on infection prevention in healthcare workers and nursing home and geriatric staff, by making it possible to identify those people who are most susceptible (who have a greater amount of ACE2 protein in their saliva) and provide them with greater protection using treatment that involves pharmacological doses of nicotine.