Objective Most of the micro-organisms growing in natural environments form biofilms on solid surfaces, that are mainly known for their adverse effects on human health and industrial / consumer's goods. A concept of electrochemically active biofilms has recently emer ged from a few studies discovering that some bacteria forming biofilms on conductive materials can achieve a direct electrochemical connection with the substrate using it as electron exchanger, without the aid of additional mediators. This capability of so me micro-organisms "to plug" their metabolisms directly in an external electrical power supply is very exciting and opens new perspectives for pioneering research. Indeed, the exploitation of micro-organisms natural metabolisms to catalyse or to control el ectrochemical reactions, which naturally occur in our environment or which are created by man, should lead to major technology breakthroughs and the to the development of new products and processes, in many fields like bio-energy, bioremediation, biofou ling prevention, biosynthesis processes, bio-corrosion mitigation and biosensor design. The partners experts in microbiology, electrochemistry, material and chemical engineering will joint efforts in the project during three years, to decipher the mechanis ms responsible for the biofilm's formation, to identify a wide range of micro-organisms capable to colonise different types of industrial materials in different media and under different process conditions, and to assess the feasibility of new technolog ies and applications based on the new concept. The proposed research clearly lies in a multidimensional area with novel multi-disciplinarity, not covered by any of the thematic priorities. It is expected that generic mechanisms and key functions in micro-o rganism's metabolism will be discovered and will allow men controlling a wealth of reactions to open new avenues for progress in science and technology. These leveraging perspectives although encourag Fields of science engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsbiosensorsnatural scienceschemical scienceselectrochemistrynatural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriologyengineering and technologyenvironmental biotechnologybioremediationengineering and technologychemical engineering Keywords Biofilm Programme(s) FP6-POLICIES - Policy support: Specific activities covering wider field of research under the Focusing and Integrating Community Research programme 2002-2006. Topic(s) NEST-2003-1 - Adventure activities Call for proposal FP6-2003-NEST-A See other projects for this call Funding Scheme STREP - Specific Targeted Research Project Coordinator CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE Address Rue michel ange 3 Paris France See on map Links Website Opens in new window EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (7) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all CESI - CENTRO ELETTROTECNICO SPERIMENTALE ITALIANO 'GIANCINTO MOTTA' SPA Italy EU contribution € 0,00 Address Via rubattino 54 Milano See on map Links Website Opens in new window CESI RICERCA SPA Italy EU contribution € 0,00 Address Via r.rubattino 54 Milano See on map Links Website Opens in new window COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE France EU contribution € 0,00 Address 31-33 rue de la fédération Paris See on map Links Website Opens in new window CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE Italy EU contribution € 0,00 Address Piazzale aldo moro, 7 Roma See on map Links Website Opens in new window FUNDACAO DA FACULDADE DE CIENCAS E TECNOLOGIA DA UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOA Portugal EU contribution € 0,00 Address Campus de caparica Monte de caparica See on map Links Website Opens in new window UNIVERSITAET DUISBURG-ESSEN Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address Universitaetsstrasse 2 Essen See on map Links Website Opens in new window UNIVERSITEIT GENT Belgium EU contribution € 0,00 Address Sint-pietersnieuwstraat 25 Gent See on map Links Website Opens in new window
