Welcome to the Optical Trapping Lab - Grup de Biofotònica website. The BiOPT lab belongs to the Applied Physics Department of the University of Barcelona, Spain. 

The group, which has an increasingly interdisciplinary composition, develops photonic tools to address problems of biological interest. Specifically, we explore the capabilities of optical tweezers technology for the study of living matter at the molecular and cellular scales.

Our systems combine fluorescence microscopy, holographic optical manipulation, force measurement and high speed imaging, allowing us to reach inside cells and help study their inner processes.

News

Some other news coming soon...

July 2017

• Frederic, Dorian, Raúl and Rafa attend the ICFO Symposium on New Frontiers in Optical Trapping and Optical Manipulation (in honour of Prof. Dimitri Petrov) (6 July).
• We are glad to announce that we have been awarded with a Knowledge Industry Grant (Modality A. Llavor Grants for innovative projects with the potential for being incorporated into the production sector) for the next six months.
  

May 2017

• Raúl is giving the internal Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology seminar "Rheological studies inside living cells with optical tweezers: from calibration-based methods to direct force measurements" (4 May, 12h).

April 2017

• Estela participates in the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology I Transversal Workshop, devoted to put in common the research on the Biomedical field performed within the Institute.
  

February 2017

• The paper "Extending calibration-free force measurements to optically-trapped rod-shaped samples" is now available on-line.
  
• Dorian was at the Interdisciplinary Meeting of Predoctoral Researchers, organised by the University of Barcelona (9 February).
  
• We are glad to welcome a new undergraduate student, Rafa Serrano. He will be mainly working in FDTD simulations.
  

January 2017

• Estela, Frederic, Raúl and Dorian are representing the group in the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 10th anniversary (26 January).
• We are glad to know that our paper "Extending calibration-free force measurements to optically-trapped rod-shaped samples" has been accepted for publication in Scientific Reports.
  
• Frederic is presenting his studies related to sample heating in optical tweezers in the 1st Biology for Physics conference: is there new Physics in living matter?, held in Barcelona (15-18 January).
• Very good news just after Christmas: Josep successfully defended his extraordinary PhD thesis "Investigation on force detection methods for optical trapping and sensing inside living cells". Well done, Josep!

December 2016

• The great book "Optical Tweezers: Methods and Protocols", edited by Arne Gennerich, has just been published. Arnau, Mario and Ferran contributed to one chapter devoted to direct measurements of optical forces, while Josep participated in the active-passive calibration chapter.

November 2016

• Raúl attends the NanoBio&Med2016 conference (Barcelona, 22-24 November) to present his “Intracellular Rheological Studies with Optical Tweezers”.

September 2016

• The undergraduate student Max Serra joins the group to participate in our research related to AODs (Acousto-Optic Deflectors). Glad to have you here, Max.
  

July 2016

• Estela, Raúl and Frederic attended the 15th Workshop on Information Optics held in Barcelona (11-15 July). Estela participated as a chairman and gave the invited talk "Force measurement in the manipulation of complex samples with holographic optical tweezers", while Raúl and Frederic helped the local organizers and presented the poster "Optical tweezers for force measurements and rheological studies on biological samples".
  

June 2016

• Neus Allande presents her final Degree in Physics project "Optical tweezers in complex samples". Good work, Neus!

January 2016

• Neus Allande starts her final Degree in Physics project on the simulation of forces exerted by optical tweezers on cylindrical samples in the ray-optics regime. Welcome, Neus!

• The video "The science of light - Accomplices of light", presented last November during the Science Film Festival.is now available in Spanish and English.

December 2015

• We are glad to announce that a new PhD student, Dorian Treptow, is moving from Germany to join the group and work on optical tweezers systems using acousto-optic and liquid crystal modulators. Welcome, Dorian!
  

November 2015

• On November 18th, we have attended the first IN2UB workshop to exchange ideas with other researchers of the Institute. Thank you for the initative, it was a productive morning.

• Estela participated in the roundtable discussion "Science of light", held at the University of Barcelona on November 12th during the 2015 International Year of Light. The video "The science of light - Accomplices of light" (available in Catalan) was presented during the Science Film Festival.
  

• On November 4th, Estela travels to Valencia the give the invited presentation "Force measurement in complex samples with holographic optical tweezers" during a Workshop organised by the Fiber Optics and Signal Processing (FOPS) group (University of Valencia).
  

• A new interview to the Impetux team was published at the specialised newspaper L'Econòmic (in catalan). You can view the interview here.
  

September 2015

• Raúl Bola joins the group to start his PhD thesis related to force measurement in living cells. Welcome, Raúl!
  

• Frederic, Mario and Estela are attending the XI Reunión Nacional de Óptica to present our last results to the Spanish Photonics community. A special Day of Light will celebrate the 2015 International Year of Light.

• Rafael Perpiñán successfully presented his final Degree in Physics project, entitled "Optical tweezers with controlled force profiles".

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