IDAEA Scientific Report 2017-2018

2
The Institute
2.1
Welcome to
the Institute of
Environmental
Assessment and
Water Studies
IDAEA is an environmental science institute devoted to the study of the footprint of the chemical changes
our species is imposing on the biosphere. Much of the research work at this institute is centred on two
of the great environmental challenges of our time, namely the cleanliness and availability of the WATER
we drink and the quality of the AIR we breathe, guided by the principle that our scientific understanding
of current threats to global ecosystems is best approached from a holistic, systems-based viewpoint.
Founded in 2008, IDAEA was envisaged as a new multidisciplinary research institute bringing together
a wide range of expertise in environmental science and organized under two broad Departments (Environmental
Chemistry and Geosciences). The institute has demonstrated particular strengths in the
analysis of organic pollutants and their impact on ecosystems, the study and management of water
resources, the development of multivariate resolution algorithms in chemometrics, and in the study
of inhalable particulate matter and toxic gases.
The international research profile of the various research groups working at IDAEA is firmly grounded
upon a solid analytical base. To this end, the institute building houses large environmental geochemistry
laboratories focussed on analysing atmospheric and aqueous pollutants. The Institute is also
responsible for prestigious, state-of-the-art air monitoring “supersites” that include advanced on-line
instrumentation for the study of air pollution. These supersites are integrated into international networks
and have enabled the Institute to achieve research dominance in the field of source apportionment
and transboundary migration of atmospheric pollutants.
2.2
Location
IDAEA is located at the
University Campus of Pedralbes,
in C. Jordi Girona, 18-26
08034 Barcelona
Phone: +34 934 006 100
Fax: +34 932 045 904
Jordi Girona St. 18-26
John Maynard Keynes St.
6