Between April and July 2026, ICRA researcher Maria Pau Garcia Moll undertook a three-month research stay at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in Greece.

During her stay, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Nikolaos S. Thomaidis, Garcia Moll worked on the evaluation of high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) data using suspect screening and non-target screening strategies.

These techniques were applied using a metabolomics approach to study plant metabolism and contaminant uptake in lettuce irrigated with contaminated water, compared with plants grown under control conditions.

The analysis makes it possible to study differences in the metabolic response of plants to contaminant exposure and to deepen our understanding of their ability to take up contaminants through irrigation water.

The research stay also contributed to strengthening the researcher’s training in the use of advanced analytical techniques and to fostering international scientific collaboration in the field of research on contaminants and their effects on agricultural systems.

The research stay was carried out within the framework of the GGsolutions project (PID2024-161596OB-C21), funded by MICIU, AEI (MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and ERDF (European Union), as well as the FI 2025 FI-3 00226 grant, funded by the Department of Research and Universities of the Government of Catalonia and the European Social Fund Plus.