Five Momentum projects are carried out at CSIC Galicia

February 19th, 2025

* This article has been translated into English using Google Translate and may contain errors.

MOMENTUM research projects are developed at the MBG, IEGPS, IIM and INCIPIT and include the hiring of personnel with an individualized training plan during the four years of the research.

In computational biology, algorithms and computational systems are used to understand biological problems.

Santiago de Compostela, February 19, 2025.

The Momentum programme, launched by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) to position the institution and Spain as leading players in the field of advanced digital skills, is starting in Galicia with the start of five research projects in the Biological Mission of Galicia, the Padre Sarmiento Institute of Galician Studies (CSIC, Xunta), the Institute of Marine Research and the Institute of Heritage Sciences.

Momentum, which was launched in July, offered predoctoral, postdoctoral and graduate contracts with an individualised training plan during the four years of the contract, with the possibility of stays at other research centres, highly specialised courses, training activities, master’s degrees, workshops, conferences and/or seminars. The contracts were part of research projects.

Two Momentum projects in the Biological Mission of Galicia:

“High-performance phenotyping from unmanned aerial vehicles in forest research”, a project launched by the Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform (PTI) Horizonte Verde and coordinated at the MBG through the Forest Genetics and Ecology group, for which Dr. Erica Lombardi is hired. The objective is the specialized training of a doctor in the post-processing of RGB, multispectral, hyperspectral and thermal images, and LiDAR data to infer phenotypic characteristics of interest in trees and forest stands. The principal investigator is Rafael Zas together with Jordi Voltas from the University of Lleida.

“Enhancing the computational biology of microorganisms and plants with new artificial intelligence and supercomputing methods”, from the Computational Biology group, for which Dr. David R. Penas is hired. The project proposes the combined use of new methods based on two strategies: High Performance Computing (HPC), in order to provide the computing power needed to calibrate, simulate and analyse these systems; and new Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques for the automatic discovery of mathematical models from large data sets. The principal investigator is Julio R. Banga.

Proyectos Momemtum en otros centros del CSIC en Galicia

The IEGPS is launching the project “History and emotions: Characterization and evaluation of computational linguistics techniques and language models in emotion mining from historical sources”, with Patricia Martín Rodilla as principal investigator and including the hiring of Albina Sarymsakova.

The main objective is to characterize and evaluate the existing computational linguistics techniques in emotion mining from historical sources. Therefore, tasks will be carried out to study the state of the art in computational linguistics and emotion mining (emotion extraction from text), select historical documentary corpora of interest, annotate and evaluate the techniques on the selected corpora, as well as empirical evaluation with historians of the results obtained. In addition, the project includes the development of user guides for emotion mining in historical contexts.

The IIM is launching the project “Generation of Predictive Models integrating Artificial Intelligence and Mechanistic Knowledge of Bioprocesses and Biosystems in the Food Industry” of the Biosystems and Bioprocess Engineering group (Bio2Eng) and for which Artai Rodríguez Moimenta is hired.

The project is based on the potential of computational biology modelling for the automation of bioprocesses and biosystems in the food and biotechnology industry. It proposes training a graduate in the field of computational modelling and the development and validation of methods and software tools for the automatic generation of predictive models. To this end, knowledge-based models will be integrated with machine learning. Finally, three industrial applications will be validated in the fields of waste valorisation, food fermentation and integrated multitrophic aquaculture. The principal investigator is Eva Balsa-Canto and the co-PI is Patricia González from the University of A Coruña.

At INCIPIT, the project is “Digital technologies and information for cultural heritage”, whose principal investigators are César Parcero Oubiña and César González Pérez and which has led to the hiring of Jorge Rouco Collazo.

The project is aimed at developing models for the management of digital information generated in the field of archaeological and cultural heritage. A large part of this information is spatial in nature and characterises the location, shape and geographical context of archaeological and cultural assets. For this reason, Geographic Information Technologies (GIT) are widely used for the creation of digital data whose management involves challenges such as the combination of geospatial information with 3D data and the connection of tools such as GIS or BIM.

Momentum

Funded by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service through Red.es. It is part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), which is articulated through the National Digital Skills Plan.