Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems
The Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI) is a research center of the University of Zaragoza devoted to the study of complex systems from a multidisciplinary perspective. In this Institution, biochemists, physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists and researchers from other fields study complex systems, as well as different phenomena and processes related to them (protein folding, interacting diseases, epidemic spreading, multilayer networks, collective social phenomena, etc.). The ultimate goal is to unravel various aspects of complexity, promote basic science and assess the impact of applied research and possible benefits for society.
| Established | 8 October 2002 |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Website | bifi.es |
History
The Institute BIFI was founded in October 2002 by a group of professors from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Zaragoza, belonging to the departments of Theoretical Physics, Condensed Matter Physics and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Its first director was the mathematician, José Félix Sáenz Lorenzo (2002-2011). From November 2003 to 2010, the Institute was located at the Cervantes Building in Corona de Aragón 42, Zaragoza. In October 2006, BIFI joined the Spanish Supercomputing Network hosting the supercomputer CaesarAugusta. This node became operational at the end of 2007.
In 2010, BIFI moved its facilities to the I+D+i Building, located at the Rio Ebro Campus of the University of Zaragoza, in the Actur district. The building was specifically designed to host the research institutes of the University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR). Currently, in addition to BIFI, the building hosts the Institute of Nanoscience of Aragon (INA), the Aragon Institute for Engineering Research (I3A) and the Zaragoza Scientific Center for Advanced Modeling (ZCAM).
Research lines
The research developed at the Institute BIFI is divided into 4 macroareas:
- Biochemistry & Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB)
- Biophysics
- Computing
- Physics
BIFI’s objectives are mainly the following: to achieve research excellence, to transfer the acquired knowledge, to promote innovation and to train a new generation of young scientists in the use of techniques and methods of different disciplines. BIFI also fosters an open and innovative scientific culture and the development of a wide network of collaborations with prestigious Institutions at national and international levels.
The Science of the XXI Century has a strong multidisciplinary character and the study of complex systems on the basis of the holistic principle that considers that “the whole is more than the sum of its parts” is the essence and the starting point of our research.
The Institute's activities also include the organization of seminars and national and international congresses. It is worth highlighting the robust institutional projection achieved during the last years and the increasing number of collaborations that BIFI has been progressively establishing with the business world.
Infrastructures
The Supercomputing Laboratory hosts most part of our computing resources: The powerful cluster "Terminus", our nodes in European projects related to Grid Computing technologies, massive storage servers, an openSUSE mirror, etc. BIFI operates Caesaraugusta, a supercomputer with 3,072 cores and 25 TFLOPs, which is the current node of Aragón in the Spanish supercomputing network. This computing infrastructure is supplemented by more than 10,000 volunteer computing cores (the Ibercivis project) and two special-purpose machines (JANUS I and Janus II) devoted to material science calculations that are equivalent to several thousand cores. Finally, we have recently opened CESAR, the Aragon Supercomputing Center that adds state-of-the-art computing facilities to provide service to many end-users in our autonomous region.
The laboratories of Biochemistry and Crystallography also have important resources and latest generation equipment for the different scientific tasks related to the areas of Biochemistry and Biophysics. LEICA DMI 6000B: a multidimensional microscopy system with structured light (Optigrid) and MMAF (Metamorph) analysis software; VP-ITC: isothermal titration calorimeter for the determination of reaction heat in physico-chemical processes; FluoDíaT70: a thermostated fluorescence plate reader; Biacore T200: a label-free analysis system based on the phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to monitor the interaction between molecules in real time, etc.
In the area of Socio-Physics, different experiments (onsite and online) to study human behavior are conducted by BIFI members. The main purpose is to analyze the behavioral rules and mechanisms that promote the emergence of cooperation in humans. Through the simulation of increasingly realistic scenarios, important conclusions on how individuals behave when dealing with certain social dilemmas like climate change are also drawn. The results of these studies eventually allow policy makers and governmental institutions to evaluate and redesign, in a more efficient way, economic, social and cooperation policies. For this purpose, we have our own software and a pool of more than 6000 volunteers (Nectunt).
See also
External links
Authority control  |
|---|