The University of Deusto launches its Research Portal, designed as a strategic tool to strengthen the visibility, reach and impact of its institutional research activity.

This platform is a public gateway to systematised information on the university’s research activity. In its first phase, it allows users to explore, in a clear and visual way, information on research staff, research teams and scientific outputs, including over 34,600 publications (around 12,600 open access), defended doctoral theses, collaborations, and overall indicators. This provides an up-to-date and accessible view of our research activity and its evolution over time.

These data are displayed automatically from the reference sources WoS, Scopus and Dialnet. In subsequent phases, the portal will continue to be enriched with data on projects, establishing itself as a comprehensive tool for managing research outputs and the profiles of research staff.

The portal enables the academic community and the wider public to access relevant information on research areas, results and contributions. Through this initiative, the University highlights the value its teams bring to society and the scientific community, while providing up-to-date and reliable indicators.

It is also a key tool for promoting collaborations, responding to requests for specialised knowledge, and strengthening the transfer of results to the socio-economic environment. With its launch, the University takes a step towards making its contribution more visible and reinforcing its commitment to open science, transparency, and the return of knowledge to society.

More information: portalinvestigacion@deusto.es 

Modern industry faces a critical challenge: the need to make intelligent decisions in real time directly on the production floor. Artificial Intelligence solutions based on the cloud often encounter barriers of latency and connectivity. To overcome this, at DeustoTech we are leading a project that redefines the limits of Industrial Edge-AI.

The “Dúo Dinámico” of Advanced Automation

We are carrying out a pioneering integration that combines the best of two technological worlds. On the one hand, the deterministic reliability and proven robustness of the Siemens S7-1215C automaton, a standard in industrial control. On the other hand, the immense flexibility and parallel processing capacity of the FPGAs of the AMD Kria KV260 family.

We call this combination the “dynamic duo” of IA Industrial. By combining these technologies, we can run complex Deep Learning models directly on the machine. The result? A drastic reduction in latency, bringing response times down to microseconds, something fundamental for the control of critical processes, advanced robotics and industrial artificial vision.

The Research Challenge: Performance vs. Consumption

However, taking artificial intelligence to the extreme (Edge) is not just about computing power. As part of the work of our research group at DeustoTech, we are addressing the core of the problem in embedded systems: the delicate balance between computational performance and energy consumption.

A massive industrial deployment of AI will not be viable if it is not sustainable. Therefore, our research focuses on the development and application of advanced techniques to optimize Deep Neural Networks (DNNs). Through strategies of compression, quantization and efficient design of algorithms, we ensure that the inference is not only ultra-fast, but also:

Energy efficient: Minimizing the consumption of watts for each inference made in the FPGA.

Thermally stable: Reducing heat dissipation, crucial in closed industrial environments.

Highly scalable: allowing its integration in diverse production lines without requiring oversized electrical infrastructures.

Looking towards Industry 5.0

The work we are developing from DeustoTech not only solves a current technical problem, but also lays the foundations for Industry 5.0, where machine intelligence collaborates efficiently, quickly and, above all, sustainably.

 

The Technological Institute of the University of Deusto has recently accepted the defense of Asier González’s doctoral thesis, entitled “Reinforcement learning in collaborative robotics: a study on the influence of human parameters in the development of robotic skills”.🤖

✅The research addresses one of the main current challenges in human-robot interaction: the development of robotic systems that are not only efficient from a technical point of view, but also are safe and comfortable for the people they interact with.

✅In this context, the thesis proposes the integration of human variables – such as comfort – directly in the process of training robots through reinforcement learning techniques. For this, the work combines the use of simulation environments, the design of user-centered reward functions and their subsequent experimental validation with human participants. 🧑

The thesis has been directed by Andoni Eguiluz and Iñaki Vazquez, and constitutes a relevant contribution towards the development of collaborative robotics systems that are more adaptive and aligned with human needs.

This type of research reinforces the commitment of the University of Deusto to the advancement of innovative technologies centered on people, especially in areas such as collaborative robotics and artificial intelligence.

From the Technological Institute, we want to congratulate Asier for this excellent work and for his contribution to the progress of research in this field. 👏✨

Kaijing Lyu is a PhD candidate at the Beijing Institute of Technology and recently concluded a one-year visiting research stay at the Deusto CCM – Chair of Computational Mathematics at DeustoTech, UD – University of Deusto. Her stay has been made possible through a collaborative agreement between the BIT and the UD.
✅Her research focuses on the control of partial differential equations and neural operators has been funded by the BIT and DASEL- Ciencia de Datos para Redes Eléctricas – Data Science for Electrical Grids, and the ERCAdvanced Grant Control for Deep and Federated Learning (CoDeFeL) led by her co-supervisor, Prof. Enrique Zuazua.
✅During her time at DeustoCCM – Chair of Computational Mathematics University of Deusto, Kaijing made significant contributions to four research papers. Two of these were co-authored with Umberto Biccari, Co-Principal Investigator of the DASEL project.
👏✨We hope that Kaijing’s productive stay with us will contribute to her ongoing success and further strengthen the collaborative ties between our institutions. We were delighted to have her as a member of our Deusto UD community and wish her the very best in all her future academic and personal endeavors.👏✨

María Isabel and Octavio, students of the Master’s in Innovation and Technology (dual track), won first place in the prestigious European hackathon (https://thelotushackathon.eu/) of the LOTUS project (https://thelotusproject.eu/), held last December 2025. Their project, named CityPulse, stood out among various international proposals for its human-centered and technological approach to urban mobility.

The hackathon, which seeks advanced technological solutions to address different challenges framed within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), recognized CityPulse as the most disruptive tool for transforming the pedestrian experience.

CityPulse: Much more than a map

Unlike conventional navigation apps focused solely on speed, CityPulse prioritizes user well-being and safety. It’s a platform that generates a Safety & Livability Score for each street, analyzing complex variables such as:

. • Infrastructure: Public lighting, sidewalk width and presence of ramps.

• Physical environment: Steep slopes and pavement condition.
• Social activity: Land use and commercial density.

The “Conversational Bot” Revolution

What captivated the jury of the LOTUS project was its conversational interface. CityPulse includes a bot that accompanies the user in real time. If a person feels unsafe on a dark stretch of road or needs to find an area with more people, they can communicate this to the system using their voice. The platform dynamically recalculates the route based on the pedestrian’s expressed feelings and preferences.

“We wanted to create a tool that not only tells you where to go, but also listens to you and adapts to how you feel in the city,” explained María Isabel and Octavio, award recipients during the ceremony.

Social impact and accessibility

CityPulse’s versatility allows it to offer customized solutions for different user profiles:

1. Women: Prioritize routes with greater urban presence and better lighting, avoiding isolated areas.
2. People with reduced mobility: Eliminate physical barriers and steep inclines, ensuring 100% accessible routes.
3. Tourists: Transform the journey into a guided experience that highlights local businesses and cultural heritage.

Data for more humane cities

In addition to the direct benefit for citizens, CityPulse serves as a source of strategic insights for public administrations. Through the analysis of aggregated and anonymized data, governments can identify critical points in the city that require improvements in lighting or accessibility, fostering more proactive and inclusive urban planning.

With this achievement, Octavio and María Isabel not only highlight the potential of academic talent in the dual education model, but also position CityPulse as a benchmark for the future of urban navigation.

On the 16th of October 2024, the TANGENT project final event was held in Les Ateliers des Tanneurs, Brussels The event covered the presentation of the key outcomes of the project, presented by different partners. The TANGENT dashboard and related solutions, which provide enhanced information services for multimodal transport management, real-time traffic management services, and transport network optimisation for transport authorities. Our research methodologies and tested technologies for traffic management such as travel behaviour analysis, transport prediction and simulation, transport network optimisation and data gathering, harmonisation and fusion. The technical challenges in multimodal network and traffic management which were discussed on a panel moderated by Leire Serrano (Universidad de Deusto) with Eleni Vlahogianni (National Technical University of Athens), Athina Tympakianaki, PhD (Aimsun), Ynte Vanderhoydonc (imec), Antonio D. Masegosa (Universidad de Deusto), Marco Comerio (Cefriel), Tiago Dias (A-to-Be). The view of transport managers on the TANGENT tools tested in the cities: Rennes, Greater Manchester and Lisbon. This was also discussed on a panel which included Hannah Tune (Transport for Greater Manchester), Frédérique Baudouin (Rennes Ville et Métropole) and Joana Cunha (Carris), and moderated by Lucie Tristant (ID4MOBILITY). The policies and governance structures behind multi-actor cooperation in traffic management. We finished with a workshop on the future of the TANGENT tools: exploitation, policy and future roadmap.

A two-day CONDUCTOR General Assembly was organised by technical University of Munich (TUM) in Munich, Germany, 18-19 September 2024.

The consortium reviewed the progress of the work in the first 23 months of the project, updating on the different domains: traffic simulation scenarios in the light of CAVs, microsimulation environments and integration of public transport lines. Integration process of the modules in the overall platform.

DeustoTech presented the achievements on the domain of traffic management solution for signal vehicle couple control with CAVs and optimization of freight deliveries in urban areas using passenger transport, particularly Demand Responsive Transport (DRT).

Europe plan to transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to a renewable energy system by 2050, with electricity as the primary energy carrier. Central to this vision are Positive Energy Districts (PEDs)—urban areas that generate as much energy as they consume annually.

DEUSTO SUSTAINABLE RESEARCH GROUP has recently published a paper that focuses on a PED model featuring centralized energy storage aimed at optimizing electricity self-sufficiency and self-consumption. Utilizing a fuzzy logic-based energy management system, the model adjusts the state of charge of energy storage by considering local electricity production, consumption, and tariff contracts.

Testing this model in a PED of 360 households in Bilbao, Spain, researchers evaluated various scenarios, including different storage sizes, climate change effects, and extreme energy price fluctuations. Findings indicate that the PED can achieve up to 75.6% self-sufficiency and 76.8% self-consumption, with climate change potentially enhancing these figures.

This research underscores the viability of PEDs in advancing Europe’s renewable energy goals, presenting a robust framework for urban energy resilience and sustainability.

A two-day CONDUCTOR General Assembly was organised by Jozef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia, 10-11 April 2024. The consortium reviewed the progress of the work in the first 18 months of the project, updating on the different domains: – Development of microsimulation environments and integration of public transport lines. – Data collection and creation of realistic scenarios for accurate simulations. – Linking FleetPy with Aimsun Next for improved analysis functions. – Review of literature and finalisation of algorithms for optimisation methods. – Extension of software modules and facilitation of software integration. – Further developments in the areas of data management, analysis and smart data utilisation. Our colleagues Leire Serrano and Arka Ghosh presented the achievements on the domain of: – Traffic management solution for signal vehicle couple control – Optimization of freight deliveries in urban areas by using Demand Responsive Transport (DRT)

Over the two-day meeting, the consortium members reviewed project progress to date, and discussed and planned the next steps for feasible project deliverables. We extensively examined the TANGENT results of each case study. A demo of the TANGENT dashboard was shown for the different case studies. The outcomes of the meeting are as follows: • Reviewed multi-actor cooperation models in traffic management, ongoing activities in TANGENT Forum and Advisory Board; • The final version of TANGENT API for data harmonisation and fusion was presented; • Presented the in-depth analysis of travel behavior; • Discussed travel supply and demand prediction, as well as the framework for transport real-time monitoring and forecasting; • Outcomes of the optimization methods for synchronizing transport operations in the light of events; • Review on the results for testing of the subsystems and planning of the testing for the overall TANGENT platform; • TANGENT project video summarizing the functionalities of the tool is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrwu79lIx4k • The consortium partners started discussing about the final event and the exploitation strategy of TANGENT results. This productive meeting ensured everyone is aligned on the project’s goals and moving forward collaboratively.

Within the framework of the WHY project, a feedback session was held on the results of the project’s research activities related to the creation of behavioural archetypes in the face of the energy transition, with experts from both sides of the Atlantic. The session began by presenting the results of causal modelling of the behaviour of people responsible for making investment decisions in the domestic sphere in Europe, focusing on four key aspects of the current energy transition: Mobility, Flexibility, Buildings and Household Appliances. The session continued with the analysis of the eight archetypes (types of users) identified in Europe, and their equivalents in Latin America. The most relevant factors of each archetype were analysed, coming from a taxonomy of 32 factors developed in WHY, stimulating debate among experts on the differences in the archetypes depending on their region (Europe or Latin America). Four discussion panels were organised, followed by a final consensus session. As a result, experts agree that the differences between both regions are due to socioeconomic variables specific to individuals (income, education, occupation, access to services, origin, etc.). In addition, other variables emerged, currently under study at WHY, related to sociopolitical, legal, sociocultural characteristics, equity and human rights. Causal modeling of human behavior in decision-making related to the energy transition allows us to better understand the needs that are sought to be met. In this way, the probability of success of interventions carried out through energy policy can be increased.

Why thi is important?

• CAVs (connected and autonomous vehicles) are essential for managing traffic and regulating urban traffic. With advantages including real-time data delivery, active engagement in traffic control operations, and increases in safety, energy efficiency, and emissions reduction, they have the potential to revolutionize traffic management and urban traffic control.

• Signal Vehicle Coupled Control (SVCC), which offers real-time data provision and active participation in traffic control operations, facilitates the integration of CAVs in traffic management.

• The suggested taxonomy seeks to offer a structured framework for planning research, identifying research needs, and contrasting techniques in SVCC literature. It makes it easier to conduct additional research and development in the area of SVCC.

Proposed taxonomy in this article aims to provide a structured framework for organizing research, identifying research gaps, and comparing methodologies in SVCC literature. This classification framework also facilitates further research and development in the field of SVCC