HIGHHYDROGEN-ML selected by the European Commission to commemorate 30 years of the MSCA

  • The project used artificial intelligence and advanced simulations to accelerate the discovery of new catalysts for the hydrogen economy.

The European Commission has selected HIGHHYDROGEN-ML, a project carried out at IMDEA Materials, to be featured in a special publication celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).

As a result, it has been recognised by the European Commission as one of the most representative projects funded by the MSCA throughout its thirty-year history.

The HIGHHYDROGEN-ML project, carried out at IMDEA Materials between 2023 and 2025 by Dr. Valentín Vassilev Galindo, currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Public University of Navarra, was funded through the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 programme. The project’s scientific supervisor was Prof. Javier LLorca.

“When I got to know that my project was selected to showcase the success of the MSCA programme along its thirty years, I felt privileged,” said Dr. Vassilev Galindo. “This recognises all the work that was done during the project, and further validates the impact of our results.”

“Also, it demonstrates the importance of the issues we aim to solve, combining artificial intelligence and computational chemistry.”

The project focused on one of the most important technological challenges facing the future hydrogen economy: the discovery of new catalysts capable of improving both hydrogen production from water and its subsequent use for energy generation.

To achieve this, the team developed an accelerated discovery strategy based on first-principles calculations and artificial intelligence.

The goal? To identify intermetallic compounds with optimised catalytic properties for key reactions such as the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) and the Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR).

The research combined advanced computational materials science tools, solid-state physics, chemistry and artificial intelligence to accelerate the search for materials capable of contributing to the development of more efficient and sustainable energy technologies.

You can learn more about the HIGHHYDROGEN-ML project in our Science Explained series on our YouTube channel.

The inclusion of HIGHHYDROGENML in the anniversary publication represents recognition of both the scientific impact of the project and the quality of the research carried out at IMDEA Materials.

The MSCA programme began in the 1990s as a fellowship scheme for researchers and has since evolved into one of Europe’s leading initiatives supporting research careers and scientific excellence.

Each year, it supports thousands of researchers through doctoral programmes, postdoctoral fellowships and staff exchange schemes.

IMDEA Materials Institute is one of Spain’s leading recipients of MSCA postdoctoral fellowships, having received six such grants in the 2025 call, eight in 2024 and seven in 2023.