Thematic Lines
Radiopharmaceutical Sciences and Health Physics
Radiopharmaceutical Sciences
Biological Efects of Ionizing Radiation and Metrology
Radiation Protection and Dosimetry
Radiopharmaceutical Sciences
- Development and pre-clinical evaluation of targeted radiopharmaceutical for imaging or theranostic applications, including multimodal systems (e.g. combining SPECT/PET imaging with optical imaging or MRI).
- Collaborative research with academic and industrial partners involved on drug development, using nuclear imaging and animal models of disease, as well as molecular modelling and computational tools for a more rational drug design.
Biological Efects of Ionizing Radiation and Metrology
- Evaluation of the biological effects of ionizing radiation at the molecular (e.g. DNA repair systems) and cellular levels (e.g. radiomicrobiology), in combination with radioprotective or radiosensitizer agents.
- Computational and modelling studies in micro- and nanodosimetry of external and targeted radiotherapy.
Radiation Protection and Dosimetry
- Quantification of the risks associated to radiation exposure, including low dose and protracted exposures.
- Dosimetry of ionizing radiation in medical applications for new and emerging diagnostic and therapeutic techniques by combining clinical data, biokinetic models and Monte Carlo simulations using voxel phantoms.




Earth Systems, Radioactivity and Cultural Heritage
Environment and Climate Change
Environmental Radioactivity
Geoprocesses, Strategic Geological Resources and Global Change
Cultural Heritage
Environment and Climate Change
- Establishment of the natural background of surficial environments, sources and levels of pollution, biotransfer of contaminants through the trophic chain and chemical and radionuclides in surficial environments.
- Identification of pollutant sources in groundwater and superficial water systems by environmental stable and radioactive isotopes; wastewater treatment processes by ionizing radiation and its reuse.
- Study of the physico-chemical properties of air pollutants, evaluation of the human exposure in indoor and outdoor environments, source apportionment and health risk assessment.
- Development of strategies and tools to reduce the carbon footprint and promote a low carbon economy in buildings and cities.
Environmental Radioactivity
- Application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the radiological monitorization of continental areas with enhanced natural radioactivity.
- Investigations on soil to plant transfer of radionuclides in uraniferous zones.
- Assessment of natural radioactivity in the estuarine biota.
- Studies on adsorption/desorption kinetics of radionuclides in clayey soils to be used as retention barriers in near-surface radioactive waste repositories.
- Assessment of the indoor radon exhalation from building materials.
Geoprocesses, Strategic Geological Resources and Global Change
- Study of the earth surface geochemistry, distribution and behavior of trace and major elements in surface environments, evaluation of the natural background and anthropogenic contributions.
- Investigations about rare earth elements, primary and secondary resources, natural background, anthropogenic sources, transfer mechanisms among environmental compartments, and risks evaluation on the environment and human health.
- Paleoenvironmental reconstruction, chronostratigraphic frameworks, geological records, evaluation of geological accumulation processes by luminescence and geochemistry.
Cultural Heritage
- Studies about the spatial and chronological evolution of raw materials exploration strategies and production technologies of artefacts and structures from prehistory to modern times.
- Chronological framework of human occupation and material culture, including the evaluation of authenticity and typological chronology.
- Identification of degradation mechanisms of materials and development of radiation technologies for the preservation of artefacts and structures.
- Absolute dating techniques of artefacts and geoarchaeological contexts by luminescence and radiocarbon.




Advanced Materials
Singluar Synthesis and Processing
Unconventional Characterization
Selected Research Topics
Singluar Synthesis and Processing
- Ionizing Radiation Facilities (IRIS), for materials functionalization through γ radiation (experimental 60Co irradiator) and electron/photon beam (linear electron accelerator).
- High-temperature Synthesis and Crystal Growth Laboratory (able to handle U and Th), for synthesis and crystal growth (Czochralski, Bridgman, Floating Zone, Flux and Flux Methods), Hot-press processing, Splat Cooling/Melt Spinning for metallic glasses/nanograined materials, and Electrospinning for micra/submicra fibers production.
Unconventional Characterization
- Emission Channeling for lattice location of dopants/impurities in crystals with sub-angstrom precision. EC-SLI is an on-line experimental setup at CERN/ISOLDE to probe short-lived isotopes, which is complemented by three off-line setups suitable for longer-lived isotopes (half-lives higher than few hours).
- Perturbed Angular Correlations probes hyperfine interactions studying atomic scale electrical and magnetic properties. At CERN/ISOLDE, there are four state of the art digital and analogue setups (higher than 30 minutes half-life isotopes) and a portable on-line setup for very short-lived isotopes.
- Oxford Microbeams® type scanning nuclear microprobe, with several Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) techniques, for elemental distribution maps with micrometer resolution, composition and elemental depth profiles with resolution of dozens of nanometer. In-vacuum and open-air setups to characterize a wide type of materials.
- XAHRM-Lab: X-ray Advanced HiREDS Research and Metrology Laboratory, makes available High Resolution Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (HiREDS), and Total-IBA (holistic X-ray and Backscattered particle spectra measurements). Covering X-rays from 1.0 keV up to 120 keV, allows improved Total-IBA characterization of low mass and/or nanoparticle samples.
- Positron Annihilation Lifetime spectroscopy, for voids and defects studies.
- Low Temperature and High Magnetic Field Laboratory for physical measurements: electrical and thermal conductivities, thermoelectric power, magnetoresistance and Hall Effect (0.3 K-300 K, 18 T); Mössbauer spectroscopy (2-300 K); Magnetic facilities for DC and AC (6 T SQUID, 0.3-320 K; 14 T VSM, 1.8-360 K); 12 T multipurpose characterization system for magnetism (2-400 K) and specific heat (2-200 K).
Selected Research Topics
- Impurities and defects in diamond and semiconductors as qubits using implanted radioactive ion at CERN/ISOLDE.
- Strongly correlated electronic systems.
- Single molecular magnets of d- and f- ions for quantum computing and spin crossover materials.
- Novel 2D molecular metals and superconductors with a bilayer structure and soluble conducting materials based on a single neutral molecule.
- Macromolecular and hybrid organic/inorganic materials processed by ionizing radiation.
- Green thermoelectric materials for energy recovery.



