The Barcelona Collaboratorium

Modelling life. Predicting biology.

The Barcelona Collaboratorium for Modelling and Predictive Biology is a joint initiative by EMBL Barcelona and the Centre for Genomic Regulation, created in 2022 to strengthen a theory-first approach to biology, spanning modelling, biophysics, complex systems and AI, within Barcelona’s scientific ecosystem.

Missions

1.       Strengthen research in “Theory in Biology”, including mathematical biology, predictive modelling, AI in biology, physics in biology and theoretical biology.

2.       Serve as a “theory refuge” for theoreticians and modellers embedded in the PRBB ecosystem, particularly within largely experimental environments.

3.       Consolidate Barcelona’s theoretical biology community beyond the founding institutions through an attractive, inter-institutional scientific programme.

4.       Build operational bridges between experimentalists and theoreticians to stimulate genuinely interdisciplinary collaborations, through dedicated formats and initiatives.

5.       Develop international connectivity to position Barcelona as a hub in a global network, through exchanges, joint seminars, workshops and conferences, visits and sabbatical programmes.

Successes and achievements 2022–2026

• Since 2022, we have brought together more than 40 fellows and visitors, with around 25 resident or regular members using the space each week.
• We rely on a network of more than 20 partner institutions, split roughly evenly between Barcelona and international partners. Our Barcelona partners include the UPF, UPC, UB, CRM, IQS as well as other academic and scientific institutions. Internationally, our network extends across Europe and beyond through fellows, visitors and scientific collaborations.
• Our programme includes more than 100 seminars so far. Our impact on early-career scientists is reinforced through structured mentoring, with around 400 one-to-one meetings organised with speakers since 2022.
• Our annual symposium has become a major Barcelona rendezvous, with around 300 registered participants from roughly 25 countries in 2025.

Founding idea

The 21st century has seen a revolution in biology. We can sequence whole genomes cheaply and fast, image gene activity from microscopic bacteria up to the whole human body, and precisely modify the DNA of almost any organism. Our ability to generate quantitative data at scale is essential and still improving, giving us the tantalising hope of being able to control, repair and engineer living systems.

Yet these impressive technical advances have not fully translated into an ability to accurately predict, let alone control, the behaviour of most real living systems.

Biology is complex, and a remaining revolution is still ahead of us: converting data into understanding and prediction through stronger computational and theoretical modelling, from the design of new proteins and the repair of human organs to the prediction of whole ecosystems.

The Collaboratorium was created to make that step possible in practice: a space dedicated to interaction in predictive and computational biology, where researchers collaborate, share ideas and build synergies across disciplines and scales.

• We host extended visits by leaders in theoretical biology, complex systems, engineering, computer science and artificial intelligence and machine learning.
• We bring together expertise spanning molecular, cellular and tissue biology, as well as epidemiology and ecosystems, under one roof.
• We are building an open and collaborative physical space with a dynamic mix of local researchers and a strong visitors’ programme, from senior sabbatical professors to junior researchers and students.

Extended Colloquia and Advanced Study Periods support the cross-fertilisation of concepts and tools across the disciplines of predictive modelling.

The Barcelona Collaboratorium for Modelling and Predictive Biology is a joint initiative by the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and EMBL Barcelona.

James Sharpe, Head of the EMBL Barcelona, and Ben Lehner, coordinator of the Systems Biology Programme at the CRG are spearheading this initiative.