Objective
Generating 3D in vitro functional tissues and organs in the millimeter scale remains an unmet dream of modern medicine. Irrespective of great efforts in the field of tissue engineering to design injectable/pipettable hydrogels or implantable/non-pipettable scaffolds for 3D cell growth, it is not yet possible to generate functional and personalized tissues with native-like structures and mature blood vessels. The main reason for this limitation is that current materials do not recapitulate the complexity and dynamics of the native cell environment. To create personalized human tissues, patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells can differentiate in any cell type but controlling stem cell expansion, differentiation, and organization inside the same 3D scaffold is not possible up to now, as it requires biomimetic and interactive materials beyond simple hydrogels. HEARTBEAT will break with traditional ways to make 3D biomaterials by assembling and crosslinking a variety of unique pre-programmed, rod-shaped, and interactive microgels instead of molecular building blocks. The main aim is to achieve macroporous, aligned, actuatable, and on-demand degradable constructs after automatically pipetting/mixing different microgels and cells, which is not possible with conventional hydrogels. A compatible high-throughput system will be used to screen the innumerable combinations of design parameters to systematically study (stem)cell-material and cell-cell interactions to grow complex tissue. In HEARTBEAT, I will focus on using the interactive bottom-up microgel assemblies to generate millimeter-scale vascularized beating heart tissues. The project will elucidate how material properties, architectures, and actuation affect human heart tissue formation and vascularization and how the construct has to adapt to the growing tissue over time to provide the right extracellular environment.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2021-COG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
52074 Aachen
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.