Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BORGES (Biosensing with ORGanic ElectronicS)
Période du rapport: 2019-01-01 au 2020-12-31
Organic Bioelectronics is a fast-rising interdisciplinary field encompassing organic electronic devices that exhibit mixed electronic and ionic conductivity, thus making them especially suited for operations in electrolyte solutions. It represents a truly unique communication bridge across the technology gap existing between living systems and digital electronics. Organic bioelectronic devices are extremely attractive tools not only for investigating biologically-relevant scenarios but also for providing solutions to a variety of medical problems, from label-free diagnostics at the point of care, to minimally invasive implants for neural recordings and stimulation, to device-assisted loco-regional treatments. In particular, biosensing is one of the most scientifically and industrially promising applications of organic (bio)electronics. Yet, major challenges exist that are still limiting the development, implementation, and industrialization of highly reliable organic bioelectronic sensors. These include the lack of a thorough understanding of the molecular events underlying signal transduction in organic (bio)electronic devices, the need of assessing biosensing architectures in end-use scenarios with real biological samples and, most notably, the fact that scientists developing organic biosensors must possess a thorough multidisciplinary background. It is therefore important to train young professionals that will be able to operate into this highly-multifaceted field, with proficiency in chemistry, materials science and technology, solid-state physics, biochemistry and engineering. Such curricula can hardly be designed within institutional degrees, at least not at the level that can be provided by a European Training Network. The objective of BORGES is to train the next generation of R&D innovators in organic bioelectronics, with the aim of developing organic biosensors up to the demonstration in an end-user significant context.
The project started on January 1st, 2019. During the first 24 months, the project has been well on track in terms of ESR recruitment and both individual and network-wide training activities. 15 ESRs were recruited, and each ESR was enrolled in a PhD program. 6 out of 15 ESRs (40%) are women.
With respect to network-wide training activities, three training workshops were held, each including a blend of scientific/technological classes and courses devoted to fostering transversal competencies. Moreover, BORGES offered its ESRs a portfolio of five electronic lectures, given by experts and accessible at any time to the ESRs.
Each ESR prepared her/his personal career development plan and discussed it regularly with her/his supervisor and every six months during dedicated meetings with a group of three BORGES principal investigators.
With respect to communication to peers and dissemination, we launched the BORGES website, which serves as a platform for advertising open positions and sharing the main advancements to both scientists and citizens, with regular updates; we prepared a brochure to be distributed during fairs and conferences and delivered the first BORGES newsletter. Social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) were also created and are kept active also in collaboration with the ESRs. Free access to both live and virtual training events and to the E-lectures was granted to young researchers external to the consortium. All the ESRs participated in the European Researchers Night in a dedicated BORGES event held virtually, and, through their constant collaboration, the ESRs also produced both a tutorial video serving as a dissemination tool for non-experts and a blog, where their experience as fellows is described from their personal perspective.
With respect to the scientific activity carried out within Work Packages (WPs) 1 to 5, the main results collected thus far are the following:
- in WP1, experimental methodologies and theoretical models were set up and tested to investigate the molecular events underlying signal transduction in organic (bio)electronic devices;
- in WP2, novel material strategies and manufacturing procedures were developed, to address the needs of the biosensing community aiming at working with complex, real samples;
- in WP3, electronic biosensors towards different analytes were developed;
- in WP4, high throughput and additive manufacturing approaches were explored, in order to facilitate the upscaling of the devices from the laboratory to the industrial stage;
- in WP5, a comparison between innovative sensors and state-of-the-art methodologies and the development of informatics tools serving the device end-users were pursued.
With respect to network-wide training activities, three training workshops were held, each including a blend of scientific/technological classes and courses devoted to fostering transversal competencies. Moreover, BORGES offered its ESRs a portfolio of five electronic lectures, given by experts and accessible at any time to the ESRs.
Each ESR prepared her/his personal career development plan and discussed it regularly with her/his supervisor and every six months during dedicated meetings with a group of three BORGES principal investigators.
With respect to communication to peers and dissemination, we launched the BORGES website, which serves as a platform for advertising open positions and sharing the main advancements to both scientists and citizens, with regular updates; we prepared a brochure to be distributed during fairs and conferences and delivered the first BORGES newsletter. Social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) were also created and are kept active also in collaboration with the ESRs. Free access to both live and virtual training events and to the E-lectures was granted to young researchers external to the consortium. All the ESRs participated in the European Researchers Night in a dedicated BORGES event held virtually, and, through their constant collaboration, the ESRs also produced both a tutorial video serving as a dissemination tool for non-experts and a blog, where their experience as fellows is described from their personal perspective.
With respect to the scientific activity carried out within Work Packages (WPs) 1 to 5, the main results collected thus far are the following:
- in WP1, experimental methodologies and theoretical models were set up and tested to investigate the molecular events underlying signal transduction in organic (bio)electronic devices;
- in WP2, novel material strategies and manufacturing procedures were developed, to address the needs of the biosensing community aiming at working with complex, real samples;
- in WP3, electronic biosensors towards different analytes were developed;
- in WP4, high throughput and additive manufacturing approaches were explored, in order to facilitate the upscaling of the devices from the laboratory to the industrial stage;
- in WP5, a comparison between innovative sensors and state-of-the-art methodologies and the development of informatics tools serving the device end-users were pursued.
The work performed within the first 24 months of the BORGES project already generated some scientific results that go beyond the state-of-the-art. The developed theoretical models and characterization tools will facilitate understanding the correlation between local properties of the relevant device interfaces with the global response of the biosensor. This will enable the fine-tuning of device performances and the development of tailor-made materials solutions. Novel protocols for functionalizing such transistors interfaces were developed, therefore providing the scientific community with a broader portfolio of strategies to endow organic electronic transistors with selectivity towards a given analyte. Sensors aimed at monitoring levels of different biomarkers were fabricated and tested. By focusing not only on novel fabrication strategies but also on the integration of ad-hoc designed components and methods into devices, BORGES is also facilitating the transition from laboratory-scale to relevant end-user scenarios.
In terms of impact, we believe that BORGES will operate at different levels. With respect to ESRs, BORGES will significantly contribute to strengthening their skills, therefore enhancing their career perspectives and employability so that they will meet the demand for experts in biosensing and organic bioelectronics. The planned training should make ESRs able to direct R&D activities and select applications and working scenarios. With respect to the scientific community, the work carried out will pave new ways for the implementation, characterization and assessment of the sensing capability of organic bioelectronic devices, also expanding their applicability to novel fields. With respect to the citizenship (general audience), the work carried out within BORGES is aimed at facilitating the development of organic electronic biosensors that hold great potential in terms of sensitivity (allowing for earlier diagnosis), low cost (enabling screening of a large number of samples), and the possibility to perform sensing at the point-of-care, even performed by non-experts.
In terms of impact, we believe that BORGES will operate at different levels. With respect to ESRs, BORGES will significantly contribute to strengthening their skills, therefore enhancing their career perspectives and employability so that they will meet the demand for experts in biosensing and organic bioelectronics. The planned training should make ESRs able to direct R&D activities and select applications and working scenarios. With respect to the scientific community, the work carried out will pave new ways for the implementation, characterization and assessment of the sensing capability of organic bioelectronic devices, also expanding their applicability to novel fields. With respect to the citizenship (general audience), the work carried out within BORGES is aimed at facilitating the development of organic electronic biosensors that hold great potential in terms of sensitivity (allowing for earlier diagnosis), low cost (enabling screening of a large number of samples), and the possibility to perform sensing at the point-of-care, even performed by non-experts.