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Guided visits

The institute opens its doors to visitors to show the activity we carry out to all citizens. It is an institutional commitment to contribute to the scientific culture of society and make science more inclusive and transparent. We make visits for the general public twice a year and for organized groups (schools, institutes, universities, etc.) on Thursdays.

The Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona is located on the Campus of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ​​it has a Clean Room of 1,500 square meters (the largest in southern Europe), with service facilities of more than 2,000 square meters and with the Zenon Navarro Microelectronics Museum. About 200 people work in the center and there are also more than twenty laboratories that have high-tech equipment. Visits to the center are adapted to their public, but include the following itinerary:

  • Presentation of the IMB-CNM: microelectronics and the applications of the research we do.
  • Zenon Navarro Microelectronics Museum: a space equipped with equipment removed from the clean room where you can see the evolution of microelectronics over the years and learn more about the chip manufacturing process.
  • Clean room perimeter corridor: walk through the corridor that runs around the outside of the clean room and from which you can see what it is like inside, how people are dressed and what steps they have to follow to enter it. It is an opportunity to get to know a Unique Scientific and Technical Facility (ICTS) recognized by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, which implies that the activity carried out in it is unique in its field.

The Scientific Culture Office organizes guided tours of the institute, where the CSIC's research and technical staff act as guides, wanting to show what their work and that of the center consists of. We have a history of more than 10 years receiving visitors.

There are two ways to visit the institute:

Visits for the general public: Open Days

Two are organized throughout the year, in May and November (the latter on the occasion of the Science Week). These are days that are announced a few weeks in advance and where, for a week, you can sign up to come in the morning or in the afternoon. Subscribe to our Agenda to receive information about the next Open Doors!

  • Visit duration: 30 minutes/1 hour.
  • Group Size: up to a maximum of 10 people, with no minimum number of people required.

Visits for groups: Open Thursday

We accept visits from schools, institutes and universities on Thursdays of each month, as well as organized groups. To organize one, you just have to fill out the visit form and we will contact you to close a date. We recommend submitting the request more than a month in advance.

  • Duration of the visit: 1 hour and a half/2 hours.
  • Group size: up to a maximum of 25/30 people.

Get in touch with the Scientific Culture team if you have any doubt or the dates are not suitable for you.

Contact

How are the chips within computer boards, game consoles and spacecrafts made? Do you want to visit the leading microelectronics research center and its Micro and Nanofabrication Clean Room, a unique facility in southern Europe?

We have made chips that travel to outer space and into living cells, come and meet us!