Project description
Self-sustaining and climate-resilient engineered living material solution
To achieve sustainability, the green transition, and the goals of the Green Deal, it is crucial to transform or adapt key sectors, such as construction and agriculture, which are both important and have significant environmental impacts. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the MINERALIVE project will develop a class of self-sustaining, climate-resilient engineered living materials made from filamentous fungi combined with photosynthetic cyanobacteria. This combination would allow for materials that can self-repair, live and last longer. The project will establish stable cocultivation of fungi and cyanobacteria, develop manufacturable sheets grown at the air-liquid interface, programme the mineral shell to provide in-situ mineralisation, and finally test and optimise the traits and properties of the materials.
Objective
MINERALIVE will grow a new class of self-sustaining, climate-resilient Engineered Living Materials by coupling filamentous fungi with photosynthetic cyanobacteria. The cyanobacterium uses light energy and CO2 to carry out photosynthesis, producing oxygen and organic carbon compounds; the fungus grows a structural mycelial matrix that hosts cyanobacteria. Under light and with a calcium supply, the cyanobacterium forms a thin calcium carbonate shell that stiffens and shields the living mycelial scaffold. My core idea is that mutual feeding plus in-situ mineralisation can deliver materials that keep themselves alive, last longer, and repair their damage. I will first build a stable co-cultivation by tuning light, nutrients, timing and inoculum ratios, and by tracking how the partners share resources and survive. Next, I will turn the multi-kingdom consortium into manufacturable sheets grown at the air–liquid interface, compare different ways of introducing the partners, check how evenly they distribute through the sheet, and measure strength. Finally, I will program the mineral shell by varying calcium, pH and illumination to control where and how fast the carbonate forms. Then test gains in stiffness, moisture buffering and UV resistance, and show that small cracks can close after re-wetting. I will combine microbiology and photophysiology, materials science and mechanics, and bioprocess/chemical engineering, coupled with an architectural vision for subsequent application and real-world requirements. The main advance of my project is an “ELM-within-an-ELM”: a living fungal scaffold that both hosts a photosynthetic organism and grows its own protective shell. I will be supervised by Dr. Marie-Eve Aubin-Tam (TU Delft, Bionanoscience). Immersion in her expertise on photosynthetic living materials and microbially induced mineralisation will precisely complement my strengths in fungal materials, accelerating my path to independence.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry alkaline earth metals
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2628 CN Delft
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.