- The first important milestone achieved in MOBILIsE was the recruitment of the ERA Chair Holder, Dr Helena Azevedo, an internationally established researcher with a prominent reputation in Biomolecular Engineering. Dr Azevedo’s work applies concepts from Chemistry, Biology and Engineering to develop innovative self-assembling biomaterials (hydrogels, membranes, drug delivery carriers) for regenerative medicine, targeted therapies, and in vitro tissue models.
The ERA-CH has established a new Research Group at INEB/i3S, the Molecular Biomaterials Group, which is an interdisciplinary and multicultural team comprising researchers from various nationalities. Together with her team, currently holding two Assistant Researchers, two Junior Researchers, two MSCA Postdoctoral Fellows, one Postdoctoral Researcher, one Research Technician, two pre-doctoral students, and one MSc student, Dr Azevedo will develop precision medicine technologies, based on molecular bionanomaterials, to underpin research in cancer, infection, neurodegenerative diseases and tissue repair/regeneration.
- The ERA-CH team has initiated various collaborations with groups of INEB/i3S. One of these collaborations prompted the publication of a high-impact factor (IF=40.4) scientific paper co-authored by the ERA-CH and the Project Coordinator.
- A self-assessment of the progress of INEB/i3S towards the implementation of the ERA priorities has been performed, a plan towards achieving them has been laid out, and the first evaluation of this implementation has been analysed.
Furthermore, the European HR Excellence in Research Award (HRS4R) has been conferred to the institute.
- The first Advanced course in Molecular Bioengineering was held in Nov 2023 with the second scheduled for Dec 2024.
- Training activities were implemented to support the Institute's Research Unit and enhance researchers' transferable skills, such as grant writing.
- Initiatives focused on career development (e.g. sessions on alternative careers) and mentoring (e.g. a mentoring program) were also established.
- Reflecting the importance of MOBILIsE’s stakeholders to the project, different initiatives have initiated to boost the interaction between them and the project:
i) dissemination of the project and its results in different national and international conferences by the ERA Chair Holder and other members of the project;
ii) the launch of the Molecular Bioengineering Seminar Series at INEB/i3S, with seminars from renowned scientists in the field (14 invited so far);
iii) stakeholder-focused activities, such as Industry Open Days (2 organised so far), in which MOBILIsE will host the visit of industrial or clinical stakeholders to find synergies and promote the establishment of new collaborations.
- The visual identity of the project has been established, the website and social media accounts have been created, and several communication materials have been prepared.
- The project has been participating in outreach activities targeting high-school pupils and participated in the 2021 European Researcher’s Night introducing to the general public how biomaterials can be used to improve human health, and will participate in the upcoming edition in September 2024.
