A brief summary of the work performed and results achieved for the period from 01/01/2020 to 33/06/2025:
1) The BBCE core partners redistributed their internal human resources and structured them into 6 Scientific Focus Groups (SFGs):
1. Calcium Phosphates and Composites;
2. Drug/ion/cell Delivery;
3. Materials in vitro;
4. Kinetics and Stability of Drug Delivery Systems;
5. Preclinical Evaluation of Biomaterials;
6. Clinical Evaluation of Materials and Personalized Implant Development.
2) 67 short-term training events and 37 long-term training events were implemented. All long-term trainings were implemented as face-to face events.
3) Human Resources Management activities were actively implemented and at the end of 4th RP, 52 BBCE team members (37% male and 63% female) from 9 countries have been recruited
4) Internal training activities for the recruited personnel were carried out on-site at the BBCE core partner institutions. The training included scientific literature search and analysis, writing review articles, training in the use of laboratory equipment, established methods and technologies. Furthermore, development of SOP protocols for laboratory procedures is undergoing.
5) Five 5-day long summer schools on “Scientific writing” for PhD students were successfully organised, gathering more than 10 participants per day.
6) In total, 138 BBCE acknowledged scientific publications were published with an average impact factor of 4.14. 26 of the BBCE core partner publications were published in top 10 scientific journals such as “Acta biomaterialia”, “Biomaterials Advances”, “Applied Surface Science” and “Composites Science and Technology”.
5) BBCE researchers participated in national and international conferences, promoting the integration of the BBCE staff and Early Stage Researchers into the international scientific community. The BBCE research staff was also actively involved in planning and organizing international scientific conferences (e.g. “ScSB 2022”, Scandinavian Society for Biomaterials and European Society for Biomaterials, Riga, Latvia, 14.06.2022 ESB2023).
6)In total 305 participants attended international on-site and online conferences and congresses. From all the participants, 107 participations were ESRs in international scientific conferences (54 participants with oral presentations and 53 participants with poster presentations).
7) The BBCE staff (including PhD students and Postdoctoral researchers) submitted 193 national and international grant applications by the end of 2024, thus gaining significant experience in project writing skills.
8) BBCE core partners participated in 57 online/onsite industrial partner networking events to establish links with the industry.
9) BBCE is committed to a continuous upgrade of the core partner infrastructure. So far 16 291 290.63 EUR of public and private investments into infrastructure were ensured. Synchronisation of the investments in infrastructure with relevant training increased the efficiency of infrastructure and human resource exploitation.
10) Consortium has developed and updated a Dissemination & Outreach Strategy that targets specific audiences through various activities and dissemination channels and tools. Communication with the general public included 17 press releases, 5 social accounts (Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and ResearchGate), homepage (bbcentre.eu) more than 65 TV/radio interviews and participation in various local events, such as European Researcher Nights and Shadow Days.
11) The Quality Management Plan (QMP) was developed and the implementation of the internal Quality management system (QMS) has started.
