The Plant Growth Service facilitates the cultivation and growth of plants as well as of plant cells and tissues. For this purpose, CRAG is equipped with confined greenhouses, chambers for plant cultivation in soil and in vitro, and laminar flow cabinets for work under sterile conditions.
The greenhouses, which occupy more than 510 m2 on the upper level of the CRAG building, are currently operating at Biosafety Level I, allowing to grow genetically modified organisms. Each of the cabins has an independent and programmable control of climate and irrigation. CRAG greenhouses are designed to work in a continuous cycle and at an experimental scale.
The Plant Growth Facility also has a large number of walk-in chambers and reach-in chambers. These chambers allow growing plants under very precise and uniform conditions, or under very specific light-source or temperature requirements.
In addition, the Plant Growth Service has an off-site glass-greenhouse that is designed to cultivate larger populations and larger plants, and that also operates a Biosafety level I.
External researchers interested in using our plant growth facilities should directly contact the Plant Growth Manager.
The Microscopy and Imaging Facility consists of a fully equipped laboratory with advanced instrumentation for optical microscopy and microanalysis, and a laboratory to work with photodocumentation, photography and different techniques related to the light detection.
The Microscopy service covers complete processes, from sample preparation and sectioning to observation, as well as the application of immunotechniques and in situ-hybridization techniques. The Service also has a laser microdissection platform that allows recovery of cells or cell groups, selected under microscopic control from complex tissues, for the specific molecular analysis of those cells.
The Microscopy and Imaging Facility provides advice on experimental design, and applications and support for image data analysis to internal and external customers. Training to use the Facility equipment is also provided to CRAG users.
The Genomics Core Facility provides support to CRAG researchers as well as researchers at other institutions.
The Facility provides a suite of advanced high-throughput technologies for gene expression analysis, genotyping and other molecular genetics assays.
The scientific facility for lithic materials displays the resources of the ICAC Archaeometric Studies Unit.
The remote sensing and geomatics facility is coordinated by the ICAC
Computational Archeology research team and supports the archaeological
topography and remote sensing work of the different research groups and
scientific-technical services of the Institute.
This facilty includes a UAV (drones) operator and certified pilots
with the ability to carry out flights throughout the European Union,
even in restricted areas. It give technical support to remote sensing
works, combining different types of sensors (Panchromatic,
Multi-spectral, thermal and LIDAR) and using satellite images, aerial
image repositories and images obtained with the UAVs themselves.
Bioarchaeology Laboratory (Archaeozoology and Archaeobotany)
The microscopy platform offers ICAC research teams a range of instruments for observing and capturing images for detailed analysis of archaeological artifacts (lithic materials, biological specimens, sediments, etc.).
The Computational Archeology Laboratory is a facility created to support researchers interested in the development of computational applications for the study of the past:
geospatial applications (remote sensing and GIS), geostatistics, 3D
reconstruction and modeling, network analysis, simulation and artificial
intelligence applications (machine learning, deep learning).
The
Biostatistics and Data Management Unit (UBIOES-GD) began its journey in 1994
with the goal of providing support in the field of data to the research groups
at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and its collaborators.
Currently, the
mission of UBIOES-GD is to offer advice, services, and training to meet the
data management and statistical analysis needs of biomedical, clinical, or
environmental research projects.
This support
covers the entire data lifecycle, including data creation, management,
analysis, preservation, and sharing, with the aim of transforming collected
information into knowledge.
To meet all
these needs, UBIOES-GD is composed of data managers and data analysts who
enable the Unit to offer the following set of services:
Graphic documentation understood as the representation and interpretation of archaeology, is a basic instrument for our knowledge of archaeological sites, monuments, and archaeological findings. The ICAC scientific-technical service on Technologies of Graphic Documentation (TDG) offers an effective graphic documentation service applied to historical heritage (representing, interpreting, explaining) and promotes continuous technological innovation.
Since 2019, the TDG service has been working with a new internal organization that encourages collaboration between the Institute’s research teams and the TDG staff, fostering innovation in the methodological and technological fields of archaeological graphic documentation.
TDG activity, therefore, focuses on technical support for ICAC research teams, while external orders are managed according to the research interests of ICAC research groups.
