Research

Innovation and Sustainability Data Lab (ISDaLab)

ISDaLab aims to become a young, dynamic and competitive research lab that has a positive impact on people and organisations, and that contributes to the improvement of society.

Our group belongs to the UPF Barcelona School of Management, from Universitat Pompeu Fabra. One of the biggest projects in our university is called Planetary Wellbeing, which has been one of the main strategic lines of the university during the last years and that is totally aligned with our institution’s mission.
Our research group has a strong vocation for positive social impact, oriented towards sustainability by means of different methodologies of data analysis. Not just sustainability, but also innovation, is one of our research objectives. We pursue innovation through all our research lines, not just as a goal, but also as a tool. Our data-driven research is performed using cutting-edge methodologies, including artificial intelligence or specific methods to deal with big data analytics.

We develop three different lines of research, which are based on global challenges and are coherent with the areas in which the research group is prominent. These research lines are directly aligned with 3 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals announced by United Nations.

3 Research lines aligned with 3 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals

Since 2017, the members of the research group have contributed with more than 50 articles published in Q1 journals, receiving more than 1000 citations and achieving more than 1 million euros in competitive R+D projects. All these research work has been data-driven with a clear focus on sustainability.
ISDaLab is composed of 14 members, 11 of them doctors (one part-time). Female researchers are represented by a 42.86%, having also a female coordinator. 21% of the group members have non-Spanish nationality.

Even though some members of the group has an interdisciplinary approach, we are grouped in the different research lines as indicated by the following diagram. We highly promote the collaboration between the members of the group and external research institutions, having a wide world net of national and international collaborators. Thus, most of the achieved contributions are the result of collaborative work between 3 or 4 different institutions, which enriches the research processes and methodologies.

Circular Diagrama Sustainability SDG with each leaders and teams

Members

Ana Freire (coordinator), doctor, full time dedication, female, national member
Jordi Perramon, doctor, full time dedication, male, national member
Nia Plamenova, doctor, full time dedication, female, international member (Bulgaria)
Marc Oliveras, doctor, full time dedication, male, national member
Erola Palau, PhD student, full time dedication, female, national member
Josep Llach, doctor, full time dedication, male, national member
Llorenç Bagur, doctor, full time dedication, male, national member
Natalia Pascual, doctor, full time dedication, female, national member
Jordi Pereira, doctor, part time dedication, male, national member
Andrei Boar, PhD student, full time dedication, male, national member
Ramon Bastida, doctor, full time dedication, male, national member
Alexandra Theben, doctor, full time dedication, female, international member (Germany)
Rodrigo Cetina, doctor, full time dedication, male, international member (Mexico)
Fàtima Vidal, PhD student, full time dedication, female, national member

Recognitions

AGAUR & xarxa TECSAM logos
  • Emerging Research Group (AGAUR): The Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) of the Generalitat de Catalunya has recognized the 14 researchers of the UPF Barcelona School of Management that form the ISDaLab (Innovation and Sustainability Data Lab) as an Emerging Research Group. It is an important recognition for the entire school, since ISDaLab brings together the research carried out throughout the institution.
  • Member of the TECSAM R+D+i Network: an important mental health innovation network, which accelerates valorization and transfer of research results in mental health and technology to improve people's quality of life.

Publications

Not just sustainability, but also innovation, is one of our research objectives. We pursue innovation through all our research lines, not just as a goal, but also as a tool. Our data-driven research is performed using cutting-edge methodologies, including artificial intelligence or specific methods to deal with big data analytics.