In the consortium EVOdrops, a central impact goal is equipping Early-Stage Researchers (ESRs) with tools and skills for successful, long-term career planning, offering training for potential positions in both industry and academia. Leveraging industrial partners, beneficiaries, and commercial companies, EVOdrops broadens ESRs' perspectives on career options through talks and site visits. Talks during Workshop 1 (WS1) featured insights from BioMillenia and Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics on strategy and working environments, while Workshop 2 (WS2) had IBIDI discussing the challenges in an SME. In the second project period, emphasis was placed on commercial company involvement with site visits to Dolomite Micro, Dolomite Bio, Sphere Fluidics, Treefrog, and Emulseo. The challenging pandemic situation necessitated adjustments, leading to postponed workshops. Despite restrictions, transferable skills training, including communication, public engagement, academic writing, and entrepreneurship awareness sessions, was incorporated into all workshops. Positive feedback from ESRs prompted the organization of 'career talks' to further enrich their understanding of potential career paths. On the scientific front, EVOdrops aims to advance the state of the art. The program has introduced new gene libraries, methods, and protocols for directed evolution, along with innovative chip designs for precise droplet production, manipulation, and sorting. The establishment of enhanced production facilities has expanded capabilities. During research, new microbial species were isolated. Notable scientific achievements include the development of a micro-fluidic platform capable of evolving proteins toxic to cells. New protein expression methods were devised for single DNA particles with multiple copies of the same gene. Sorting devices were improved by incorporating multiple detectors, resulting in an >800-fold enrichment in a single round. Advanced droplet generation covering three orders of magnitude in size and volume was achieved, contributing to increased sorting capabilities. Furthermore, the consortium achieved significant progress in droplet generation, covering size and volume ranges across three orders of magnitude. This breakthrough enhances the versatility and applicability of the technology, making it a valuable tool for a wide range of applications. Other groups reported identifying previously uncultured microbial species. ETH introduced a double selection system and FACS sorting, simplifying the sorting of population fractions. TUM developed a new riboswitch for directed evolution and plans to explore novel riboswitches from aptamers. Additionally, TUM and CNRS Bordeaux established a pico-injection system, ensuring controlled component delivery into droplets. These scientific advancements contribute to the broader goals of EVOdrops, pushing the boundaries of directed evolution and microfluidics.
