MIT Spain

Faculty > Seed Fund

MIT-Spain/La Cambra de Barcelona Seed Funds

2009-2010 Call for Proposals

The MIT-Spain/La Cambra de Barcelona Seed Fund is a part of the MISTI Global Seed Funds.

Funded by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the MIT-Spain Seed Fund encourages collaboration between the MIT community and companies, universities, and research laboratories in Spain.

Grants may be used to explore the potential for collective collaboration and technological transfer in a start-up phase. MIT-Spain welcomes proposals from all disciplines represented by the five schools at MIT: architecture and planning; engineering; humanities; arts and social sciences; management; and science.

MIT-Spain/La Cambra de Barcelona Seed Fund

  • For collaboration with companies, universities and research laboratories in Spain
  • Spanish colleague(s) must be identified in advance; proposal will be submitted jointly by two teams
  • Priority given to projects that propose a balanced exchange between MIT and Spain and demonstrate complementarity between the two teams
  • Maximum award: $30,000 ($20,000 maximum for faculty and researcher expenses / $10,000 maximum for students)

MIT-Spain funds cannot be used to support salaries or to cover materials or instrument usage costs.

Students
MIT students and postdocs are encouraged to participate in projects but may not apply directly for funding. MIT students funded to participate will be expected to attend country-specific training through MISTI.

Funding available
Funding may be used to cover travel, meeting and workshop costs to facilitate international projects and collaboration. Funds may not be used to cover salaries* or materials. Applicants should include 10% for MIT overhead in their grant requests.

Travel expense guidelines
Awards may cover up to 75% of the US Department of State maximum per diem rate

http://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp

for the proposed travel plus a reasonable estimate of the transportation. For instance, if the maximum per diem rate for Paris is $454, you may request up to $340 per day for a trip to Paris, plus airfare. If you have any questions or concerns about these guidelines, please contact us.

Application process and deadline
Please complete the PDF application form and email it to misti-gsf@mit.edu by Monday, September 14, 2009. If you have trouble with the PDF form, please contact us.

Review and selection process

  1. Projects will first be evaluated by MIT faculty knowledgeable about the field within which the proposal falls. These evaluators will review a proposal taking into consideration the importance of the scientific problem or project and its potential contribution to the field.
  2. The finalists will then be selected by the MIT-Spain Advisory Board. The advisory board will review proposals based on the requirements and priorities of the specific fund. In addition, priority will be given to:
    1. new projects or projects that are entering a new phase
    2. projects that involve students
    3. projects that are likely to be sustainable beyond the grant period.

Results
Awards will be announced in fall 2009. Funds will be available for use starting in January 2010 through August 2011.

Funded Projects:

2008-2009 Grant Recipients

Better-than-Human Sensory Skin for Robots

A collaboration between:

  • Brian Wardle, Professor, Technology for Advanced Materials and Structures, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
  • Antonio Miravete, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Univesidad de Zaragoza

The Role of Microbes in the Ocean Sulfur Cycle and the Role of Sulfur in Ocean Microbial Interacions: A Pioneering Microfluidic

A collaboration between:

  • Roman Stocker, Assistant Professor, Environmental Microfluidics Group, Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Rafel Simó, Senior Researcher, Institut de Ciències del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC)

Nanophotonic Technologies for the Treatment of Athersclerotic Plaque: Nanoparticles vs. Molecular Bioconjugates

A collaboration between:

  • Mercedes Balcells, Research Scientist, Harvard-MIT Biomedical Engineering Center, HST
  • Santiago Nonell, Professor, Organic Chemistry Department, Institut Químic de Sarrià/Universitat Ramon Llull

Predictive Solar Cell Performance Modeling by Defect Engineering

A collaboration between:

  • Tonio Buonassisi, Assistant Professor, Laboratory for Manufacturing Productivity, Mechanical Engineering
  • Carlos del Cañizo, Professor, Instituto de Energia Solar, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Magnetic Nanostructures for Data Storage

A collaboration between:

  • Caroline Ross, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Fernando Castaño, Department of Physical Chemistry, Universidad País Vasco

2007-2008 Grant Recipients

Flow of Electrolytes Induced by Large AC Voltages

A collaboration between:

  • Martin Bazant, Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics, MIT Department of Mathematics
  • Antonio Ramos, Associate Professor, Department of Elctronica y Electromagnetismo, Universidad de Sevilla

Numerical Modeling of Nano Electronic Devices

A collaboration between:

  • Tomas Palacios, Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT Microsystems Technology Laboratories
  • Enrique ZuaZua, Professor, Madrid Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics (IMDEA), Universidad Autonoma de Madrid
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles/Underwater Acoustic Communications

A collaboration between:

  • Milica Stojanovic, Principal Scientist, MIT Sea Grant College Program, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Lab
  • Javier Fonollosa, Professor, Signal Theory and Communications, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya

 

  • MIT China
  • MIT France
  • MIT Germany
  • MIT India
  • MIT Israel
  • MIT Italy
  • MIT Japan
  • MIT Mexico
  • MIT Spain
  • MISTI Africa