Research*eu results magazine. No 21, April 2013.
Date: 2013-08-29
Institutions: CORDIS, Publications Office of the European Union
Subjects: research, research and development, research project, serial publication

ISSN 1977-4028

research eu

R E S U L T S   M A G A Z I N E

No 21  April 2013

In this issue:

Special feature: 

‘Water of life: desertification, access to clean water’.
Interviews: 

Roberto Ronson of CMCC on ‘Preventing water-related conflict 
in the Mediterranean’ and Peter Wyn-Jones on ‘Is bathing in lakes 

and rivers a thing of the past?’, pages 21 and 28

Other highlights:

Doctor in a cell, page 6
Climate change, water conflicts and human security, page 13
Testing a hydrogen-fuel-based transport infrastructure, page 17
A boost to your mobile signal, page 30
Collecting water from thin air, page 35
Keeping an eye on rising sea levels, page 40

2

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

research eu

R E S U LT S   M AG A Z I N E

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ISSN 1831-9947 (printed version)
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research eu

R E S U L T S   M A G A Z I N E

No 20  March 2013

research eu

R E S U L T S   M A G A Z I N E

No 19  February 2013

research eu

R E S U L T S   M A G A Z I N E

No 18  December/January 2012

In this issue:
Special feature: 

‘Women in science — and research to improve women’s lives’.
Interviews: 
Sheena Laursen of Experimentarium on ‘Breaking down stereotypes 
towards more women in science’ and Clara Menéendez on ‘Better 
understanding of malaria infection during pregnancy.’

Other highlights:
Innovative bomb-proof luggage container 
to improve aviation safety,  page 16
Cleaner water for a safer future, page 24
TV and the internet: 
a marriage made in entertainment heaven, page 29
Planning for a sustainable plastic future, page 37
How to look young when you are not – 
stars reveal the secret of ageing well, page 42

In this issue:
Special feature: 

‘Biodiversity: supporting vital ecosystems’.
Interviews: 
Dr Elke Schüttler on keeping the peace between Chilean wild cats 
and landowners, page xx

Other highlights:

Giving stroke patients new reason for hope, page x
Reduce energy consumption by 30 % through ICT, page x
‘Beam me to my meeting!’, page x
Employing virtual reality technology 
to revolutionise manual work, page x

In this issue:
Special feature: 

‘Natural disasters and climate change: 
how science expects the unexpected’
Interview: David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey on 
‘Reducing uncertainty in forecasting sea-level rises’, page xx
Other highlights: 
 Improved treatment of neurodegenerative disorders, page x
Drinking water from the sea using solar energy, page xx
Early warning of potential ‘desertification’, page xx
Search technology that can gauge opinion 
and predict the future, page xx
Removing hazardous substances from the air, page xx

ISSN 1831-9947

ISSN 1831-9947

ISSN 1831-9947

ISSN 1830-8864

research eu

R E S U L T S   M A G A Z I N E

No 17  November 2012

research eu

R E S U L T S   M A G A Z I N E

No 16  October 2012

research eu

R E S U L T S   M A G A Z I N E

No 15  September 2012

In this issue:

Special feature:

‘Power up! The Future of Energy’
Interview: Dimitrios Mendrinos of the Greek Centre for Renewable Energy
Sources and Saving on ‘Rethinking energy from the ground up’, page 12

Other highlights:

New study on genetics of autism, page 6
Modelling land surface and atmosphere interactions, page 24
Ahead in the cloud, page 33
Metal-mediated polymerisation for smart materials, page 40

In this issue:
Special feature: 

‘Natural disasters and climate change:  
how science expects the unexpected’
Interview: David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey on  
‘Reducing uncertainty in forecasting sea-level rises’, page 21 
Other highlights: 
 Improved treatment of neurodegenerative disorders, page 6
Drinking water from the sea using solar energy, page 13
Early warning of potential ‘desertification’, page 23
Search technology that can gauge opinion  
and predict the future, page 32
Removing hazardous substances from the air, page 40

In this issue:
Special feature: 

Africa: international cooperation,  
research for development and the digital divide’.
Interview: Graciela M. Rusch of the Norwegian Institute for Nature 
Research (NINA) — on trees and sustainable agriculture in Africa 
Other highlights: 
 New nomenclature for Biomphalaria species in Lake Victoria, page 6
 Sounding out bubbles in pipes, page 13
 Europe, South Africa look to water conservation, page 24
 Inspired by challenge — our robotic future, page 30
 Europeans push the bio-nano-technology envelope, page 38

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You can order it at the EU Bookshop: 
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European Commission

No 11  October 2011

ISSN 1831-1903

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F O C U S   M A G A Z I N E

No 13  May 2012

research eu

F O C U S   M A G A Z I N E

No 12  February 2012

F O C U S

● A strategy for the Danube 4
● The Innovation Union ﬂ agship initiative 6
● Innovation on the Danube 7
● River transport 10
● Environment matters 12 
● Energy links 17 
● Socio-economic research 20 
● RTDI on the Danube 22

Green innovation
solutions

for sustainable

build 
connect
grow

The Danube 
A river of innovation

European Commission

European Commission

European Commission

No 9  December 2010

ISSN 1831-1903

No 9  May 2011

ISSN 1831-1903

No 8  September 2010

ISSN 1831-1903

F O C U S

● Introduction to RSFF 4
● How does RSFF work? 8
● RSFF progress & fi nance needs 18
● RSFF stories 24
● Other RDI instruments 32
● Key challenges & conclusions 38

F O CU S

● FET overview 5
● Projects in focus 11
● FET community 37
● Publications and info 39

Pilot Flagship 
Initiatives 
pull-out 

F O C U S

● Mobile communications 7
● Micro- and nanoelectronics 10
● Safety critical systems 13
● Digital media 16
● Photonics 19
● Broadband communications 22
● ICT and healthcare 25
● ICT on the roads 28
● Robotics 31
● Information management 34

Future and Emerging 
Technologies

Risk-Sharing 
Finance Facility 
Innovative loans for 
innovative ideas

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INT-09-001_Focus8-ICT.indd   1

30/08/10   16:56

 
 
 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

EU science is setting an example 
for water cooperation

3

EDITORIAL

ISSN 1831-9947

research eu

R E S U L T S   M A G A Z I N E

No 21  April 2013

Looking at climate change and its effects, there is no denying the fact that water will become 
increasingly scarce, especially in those regions already experiencing drought conditions or low 
rainfall. In this context, the United Nations chose the theme ‘Water cooperation’ as the focus of 
World Water Day which took place on 22 March.

In the words of Hans d’Orville, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning: 
‘Water cooperation refers to the peaceful management and use of water resources among various 
players and sectors and at different levels’. This definition just happens to fit relevant FP7 research 
like a glove: scientists from different institutions and countries, working with industry, decision-
makers and other stakeholders on issues such as water quality, climate-induced water scarcity and its 
likely impact on peace in Europe and beyond.

In this issue:
Special feature: 

‘Water of life: desertification, access to clean water’.
Interviews: 

Roberto Ronson of CMCC on ‘Preventing water-related conflict  
in the Mediterranean’ and Peter Wyn-Jones on ‘Should future  

generations avoid baths in lakes and rivers?’ , pages 21 and 27

Other highlights:

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To highlight these examples of cooperation, this issue of research*eu results magazine focuses on ‘Water of life: desertification, access to clean water’, 
and showcases 14 projects aiming to protect future generations from the consequences of low water quality or availability. We interviewed Professor 
Roberto Ronson, who opens the ‘environment’ section by explaining the WasserMed project and its contribution to avoiding water-related conflicts. 
Up next is Professor Peter-Wyn Jones, who introduces us to Viroclime, a project aiming to improve virus-detection methods in water.

Other ‘specials’ are spread across the ‘environment’, ‘social sciences and humanities’, ‘industrial technologies’ and ‘space’ sections.  They start on 
page 13 with ‘Climate change, water conflict and human security’.

The ‘biology and medicine’ section opens on page 6 with ‘Doctor in a cell’, an article which suggests that diseases could soon be diagnosed and 
treated by micro-computers the size of a blood cell navigating within the human body.  The ‘energy and transport’ section starts on page 17 with 
an equally groundbreaking story entitled ‘Testing a hydrogen-fuel-based transport infrastructure’. 

The ‘IT and telecommunications’ section begins with ‘A boost to your mobile signal’ on page 30, followed by the ‘industrial technologies’ section 
and its special ‘Collecting water from thin air’, on page 35. Finally, the ‘space’ section reveals new satellite technologies for ‘Keeping an eye on 
rising sea levels’, on page 40.

The issue ends, as usual, with a list of events and upcoming conferences.

We look forward to receiving your feedback on this issue and on the research*eu publications in general. Send questions or suggestions to: 
cordis-helpdesk@publications.europa.eu

The editorial team

Want more information on the contents of this issue? 
For online versions or information about the contributors in this issue 

of research*eu results magazine:

- CORDIS: http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace

- Research Information Centre: http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre

- European Research Council: http://erc.europa.eu

Watch this space!

Coming up in issue 22 of research*eu results magazine — a special dossier called ‘Rare diseases 
and genetic disorders under the microscope’.

 
4
4

TABLE OF CO NTEN TS

BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

6

Doctor in a cell.................................................................................................................................................................6

Award-winning innovation revolutionises vaccine production ..............................................................7

Dissecting mechanisms of bone breakdown in disease ...........................................................................8

Targeted cancer treatment shows real promise ...........................................................................................8

Reducing mycotoxin contamination in food ....................................................................................................9

Breaking the cycle of antibiotic resistance ................................................................................................... 10

Repair a(cid:2) er spinal-cord injury ............................................................................................................................. 11

Novel diagnostic tools to detect cancer ......................................................................................................... 11

Preventing type-1 diabetes in children ........................................................................................................... 12

SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES 

13

Climate change, water conﬂ icts and human security ............................................................................. 13

Integrated approach for teen sexual health ................................................................................................ 14

Unveiling intangible investment in Europe ................................................................................................... 15

Getting youngsters excited about the Universe ......................................................................................... 15

Surveying child abuse and neglect in the Balkans ................................................................................... 16

ENERGY AND TRANSPORT 

17

Testing a hydrogen-fuel-based transport infrastructure...................................................................... 17

New aeroplanes to ﬂ y in cleaner skies ........................................................................................................... 18

Low-cost, high-eﬃ  ciency silicon solar cells..................................................................................................18

Metals make clean and renewable transportation fuels ...................................................................... 19

Changing direction to minimise impact on global warming ............................................................... 19

Safe adhesive bonds for lightweight aircra(cid:2)  .............................................................................................. 20

ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY 

21

Preventing water-related conﬂ icts in the Mediterranean ..................................................................... 21

More water, healthier communities .................................................................................................................. 22

A participatory approach to better water management ....................................................................... 23

Water robots home in on pollution  .................................................................................................................. 23

Membrane bioreactor technology for safer water ................................................................................... 24

Water needs of the future ..................................................................................................................................... 25

Making plants resistant to drought ................................................................................................................... 25

Impact of climate change on freshwater ecosystems...........................................................................26

More than water .......................................................................................................................................................... 27

Is bathing in lakes and rivers a thing of the past? ................................................................................... 28

 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

55

TA BLE OF CO NTENTS

IT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 

30

A boost to your mobile signal .............................................................................................................................. 30

Very small, high-power microwave devices ................................................................................................. 31

Traﬃ  c management goes high-tech ................................................................................................................ 32

Exploiting the potential of high-power electronics .................................................................................. 33

Computer ‘games’ could teach crisis management ................................................................................33

Human-like lenses focus on mobile phone cameras .............................................................................. 34

Desktop printer for the nano world ................................................................................................................... 34

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES 

35

Collecting water from thin air .............................................................................................................................. 35

Compostable textiles ................................................................................................................................................ 36

Ultrasound technology for micro-manufacturing ..................................................................................... 36

Europe’s wonderful water technologies ......................................................................................................... 37

Patches for steel components in ships and bridges ................................................................................ 38

Automated adaptation of plastics-processing parameters ................................................................ 38

On-demand production of spare parts ........................................................................................................... 39

SPACE 

40

Keeping an eye on rising sea levels ................................................................................................................. 40

More eﬃ  cient and versatile space propellants ........................................................................................... 41

Keeping satellites on track .................................................................................................................................... 41

Close-up on coastal waters ................................................................................................................................... 42

EU-sourced space electronics .............................................................................................................................. 43

Natural brakes for spacecra(cid:2)  .............................................................................................................................. 44

A European space exploration roadmap ........................................................................................................ 45

EVENTS 

46

6

BIO LO GY AND  MEDI C INE

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

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Doctor in a cell

By combining computer science and molecular biology, researchers have been able to work on a programmable biological 
computer that in the future may navigate within the human body, diagnosing diseases and administering treatments. This is 
what Professor Ehud Shapiro and his team call a ‘Doctor in a cell’.

The history of the Biomolecular_Comp1 project 
goes back to 2009, when Prof. Shapiro and doc-
toral students Tom Ran and Shai Kaplan presented 
the prototype of an autonomous programmable 
molecular system. Based on the manipulation of 
DNA strands, the system was capable of perform-
ing simple logical deductions and marked the ﬁ rst 
simple programming language implemented on 
a molecular-scale. Introduced into the body, this 
system has immense potential to accurately tar-
get speciﬁ c cell types and administer the appro-
priate treatment, as it can perform millions of 
calculations at the same time and ‘think’ logically.

Biomolecular computers made of DNA and other 
biological molecules exist in very few labora-
tories. Prof. Shapiro’s team aims to make these 
computers perform highly complex actions and 
answer complicated questions, following a logi-
cal model ﬁ rst proposed by Aristotle over 2000 
years ago. These biomolecular computers are 
extremely small: 1 trillion computers can ﬁ t into 
a single drop of water. If they were instructed 

that ‘all men are mortal’ and that ‘Socrates is a 
man’, they would conclude that ‘Socrates is mor-
tal’. Multiple rules and facts were tested by the 
team and the biomolecular computers answered 
all of them correctly.

The  team  also  found  a  way  to  make  these 
microscopic computing devices ‘user-friendly’ 
by creating a compiler — a program for bridg-
ing between a high-level computer programming 
language and DNA computing code. They sought 
to develop a hybrid in silico/in vitro system that 
supports the creation and execution of molecular 
logic programs in a similar way to electronic 
computers, enabling anyone who knows how to 
operate an electronic computer, with absolutely 
no background in molecular biology, to operate a 
biomolecular computer.

The possible future biomedical applications of 
these ingenious nano-scale doctors were already 
demonstrated in a test tube where a tiny bio-
molecular  computer  identified  the  presence 

of cancer symptoms in 2004. The computer, 
equipped with medical knowledge, analysed the 
situation, diagnosed the type of cancer and then 
released the appropriate drug that may kill can-
cer cells. In 2011, together with a research fel-
low Professor Yaacov Benenson, Prof. Shapiro 
showed the operation of a molecular computer 
with a similar concept but diﬀ erent design in liv-
ing cells. This research direction may pave the 
way for future smart drugs and other applica-
tions in the health sector.

The project was coordinated by the Weizmann 
Institute of Science in Israel.

1  

 ‘Biomolecular computers’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Ideas’ 
(European Research Council). 
http://erc.europa.eu > Projects and results > ERC Stories

 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

BIOLO GY AND MEDICINE

7

Award-winning innovation revolutionises vaccine production

An EU-funded research project has opened up a radical new era in the world of vaccine discovery and production. Focusing on 
veterinary vaccines, the project's work has enabled a dramatically faster and more effective route to the creation of vaccines 
against diseases affecting farm livestock. These findings can be used to uncover a vast new range of urgently needed vaccines 
for humans as well.

Named Plaprova1, the project was 
the successful result of an unprec-
edented  co-funding  initiative 
between the EU and Russia, with 
both regions providing EUR 2 mil-
lion.  Consisting  of  six  research 
teams from various EU countries, 
four  from  Russia  and  one  from 
South Africa, the Plaprova consor-
tium focused on the use of plant 
proteins  to  produce  vaccines 
against  diseases  such  as  avian 
flu, bluetongue, foot-and-mouth 
disease, and porcine reproductive 
and respiratory syndrome.

Plants have already been used to 
produce pharmaceuticals in the 
past, but the three-year Plaprova 
project  developed  a  technique 
for doing this much more quickly 
than  previously  possible  —  an 
advance which has revolutionary 
implications  for  future  vaccine 
production.  The  research  is  so 
promising that its lead researcher 
even  won  a  major  innovation 
award. 

Known as ‘transient expression’, 
the  method  developed  by  the 
Plaprova group involves introduc-
ing a modified virus, which has 
been engineered to contain specif-
ically chosen genes, into the leaf 
of a plant. This triggers the pro-
duction of proteins which are of 
potential pharmaceutical interest 
as the basis for new vaccines. In 
contrast with previous methods, 
which required the genetic trans-
formation of the entire plant to 
produce a protein — and which 
took  years  to  produce  a  single 
protein in any sufficient quantity 
—  the  procedure  developed  by 
the Plaprova team can produce 
large quantities of new plant pro-
teins in a matter of weeks.

In the words of Plaprova ’s pro-
ject coordinator, Professor George 
Lomonossoff of the John Innes 
Centre in the UK, the new tech-
nique turns the host plants into 
‘mini-factories’,  but  without 
resorting  to  permanent  genetic 

modification of the entire plant. 
The foreign genes that are tran-
siently introduced are not inher-
ited by subsequent generations of 
the plant.

T h e   c r u c i a l   a d v a n t a g e   o f 
P l a p r ov a ’s   m e t h o d   i s   t h a t 
researchers are now able to pro-
duce and assess large numbers of 
proteins in a very short time, thus 
opening up much wider possibili-
ties for genuinely novel vaccines. 
Previously, the timescale required 
before results were known for just 
a single protein meant research-
ers  naturally  played  safe  and 
tended to produce ‘biosimilars’, i.e. 
vaccines which replicated already 
existing ones. It was a situation 
which discouraged the search for 
new products.

Now, says Prof. Lomonossoff, it 
has all changed: ‘You don't have 
to place all your money on one 
particular  construct,  then  wait 
ﬁ ve years and hope you made the 

right selection,’ he says. ’The great 
thing  is,  you  get  your  failures 
quickly. If you are not sure which 
of 20 options will be best, you can 
just try all 20 and then select. You 
can be much more adventurous.’

The speed of the new process is 
also a critical factor when deal-
ing with seasonal outbreaks when 
a  vaccine  needs  to  be  created 
urgently, usually in a matter of 
months from the time the strain 
of disease is ﬁ rst indentiﬁ ed.

The  success  of  Plaprova  has 
already  generated  significant 
commercial interest. Discussions 
are  in  progress  with  vaccine 
manufacturers  in  South  Africa 
for  the  production  of  a  blue-
tongue vaccine. And a Canadian 
firm, Medicago Inc, has success-
fully applied the technique to the 
discovery and production of pan-
demic ﬂ u vaccines for humans, on 
which it has recently completed a 
Phase II clinical trial.

The revolutionary impact of the 
new  Plaprova  technique,  with 
the possibilities it opens up for 
future  work  in  vaccine  discov-
ery,  was  recognised  with  the 
naming of Prof. Lomonossoff as 
Innovator  of  the  Year  2012  by 
the Biotechnology and Biological 
S c i e n c e s   R e s e a r c h   C o u n c i l 
(BBSRC) in the UK.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by the John Innes Centre in the 
United Kingdom.

1 

 ‘Plant production of vaccines’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Food, agriculture and fisheries’ (KBBE).
http://ec.europa.eu/research > Information 
Centre > search > 29273

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BIO LO GY AND  MEDI C INE

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

Dissecting mechanisms of bone breakdown in disease

Advancing our knowledge of the process of bone development will improve treatment success 
of various autoimmune diseases involving pathological bone resorption. The NRLIOD project 
provided significant insight into the mechanisms underlying bone breakdown by specialised 
cells known as osteoclasts.

T h e   p a t h o l o g y   o f   m a n y 
osteolytic  diseases  such  as 
o s t e o p o r o s i s   a n d   r h e u m a -
toid  arthritis  (RA)  are  linked 
with  osteoclast-driven  bone 

breakdown.  This  process  of 
bone  resorption  results  in  the 
release  of  mineralised  bone 
matrix  and  calcium  into  the 
bloodstream.

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Researchers in the field believe 
that the answer to the aberrant 
process of osteolysis lies in a 
better  understanding  of  the 
mechanisms involved in osteo-
clast development. To this end, 
the EU-funded NRLIOD1 project 
was designed to identify osteo-
clastogenic signals operating in 
osteolytic  diseases,  with  par-
ticular emphasis on the recep-
tors  and  ligands  regulating 
osteoclast development.

Prior  work  had  identified  the 
‘osteoclast associated receptor’ 
(OSCAR)  as  being  involved  in 
the process through binding to 
collagen structural proteins at 
sites of diseased joints. During 
the  NRLIOD  study,  scientists 
generated  a  mouse  knockout 
for  OSCAR  and  analysed  the 
bone phenotype.

T h e y   a l s o   i n v e s t i g a t e d   t h e 
function  of  the  receptor  in  a 
mouse model for arthritis that 
exhibits  great  disease  pene-
trance. Results revealed a novel 

Targeted cancer treatment shows real promise

Scientists  are  working  to  overcome  current  chemotherapy-
related challenges. They are developing a new method which 
directs  drug  delivery  exclusively  to  tumours,  increasing 
effectiveness  while  avoiding  side  effects.  Trials  of  the  new 
treatment are planned for 2013 and industrial partners are 
already keen to commercialise the biotechnologies resulting 
from the project.

o f   D u n d e e ,   t h e   E U - f u n d e d 
Nanoporation1  project  is  devel-
oping  a  new  treatment  method 
that solves some chemotherapy-
related problems by concentrat-
ing drug delivery on speciﬁ c areas 
where it is needed. 

pathway of osteoclastogenesis 
to  be  associated  with  post-
menopausal  osteoporosis  and 
to be up-regulated in RA. A new 
OSCAR  ligand,  the  so-called 
‘Surfactant  protein  D’  (SP-D), 
was identified as conferring a 
protective role in RA.

NRLIOD did not only shed light 
on  the  process  of  osteoclast 
development but also led to the 
discovery  that  OSCAR  signal-
ling in osteoclasts is involved in 
diseases such as osteoporosis. 
Project results have the poten-
tial to lead to the development 
of  novel  therapeutic  reagents 
that suppress inflammation in 
lung disease and RA.

The project was coordinated by 
the University of Cambridge in 
the United Kingdom.

1  

 ‘Novel receptor: ligand interactions in 
osteolytic diseases’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘People’ (Marie Curie Actions). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9749

researchers — around 10 of them 
are Marie Curie fellows — based in 
Israel and Scotland.

Targeted attack
Conventional  chemotherapy 
involves the administration of toxic 
chemical substances that dam-
age rapidly dividing cells, a hall-
mark of cancer cells. But because 
these substances also permeate 
the whole body, they also damage 
healthy cells that divide rapidly, 
such as blood cells and cells lin-
ing the mouth and gastrointestinal 
tract.

while the risk remains unaccept-
ably high, a diagnosis of cancer 
no longer means there is no hope 
of  survival.  But  today’s  cancer 
treatments still present problems, 
including unpleasant and some-
times dangerous side eﬀ ects.

‘Cancer is one of the most com-
mon causes of death in the EU,’ 
says project coordinator Andreas 
Melzer. ‘Our aim is to fight this 
deadly disease using a non-inva-
sive therapeutic solution based on 
nano-capsules and focused ultra-
sound drug-delivery techniques.’

Latest Eurostat ﬁ gures show can-
cer is still a major cause of death 
across the EU-27, with about 167 
fatalities per 100 000 inhabitants 
in 2010. The most common forms 
included malignant ‘neoplasms’ of 
the larynx, trachea, bronchus and 
lung, colon and breast.

Fortunately,  cancer  treatments 
are  continually  improving,  and 

Coordinated by the Institute for 
Medical Science and Technology 
( I M S a T )   a t   t h e   U n i v e r s i t y 

As IMSaT Director, Dr Melzer coor-
dinates  a  multinational  team 
made  up  of  young  and  senior 

Under the Nanoporation technique, 
anti-cancer substances are placed 
inside  advanced  nano-capsules 

 
 
 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

BIOLO GY AND MEDICINE

9

that only deliver the substances 
when  focused  ultrasound  is 
applied.

‘This  means  we  can  activate 
delivery  in  very  specific  areas,’ 
explains  Dr  Melzer.  ‘Magnetic-
resonance-guided, focused ultra-
sound  is  applied  to  the  tumour 
itself,  inducing  cell  membranes 
to open and the nano-capsules to 
unload the drug, thus crossing cell 
barriers that o(cid:2) en make tumours 
impenetrable. The nano-capsules 
are destroyed and subsequently 
metabolised.  The  drug  kills  the 
cancer cells, whilst nano-capsules 
in  the  rest  of  the  body  remain 
inactive and are extracted via the 
kidney,  preventing  healthy  cells 
from being exposed.’

Harmful side effects 
eliminated
Typical  side  effects  of  chemo-
therapy  include  bone-marrow 
suppression, hair loss, nausea and 
vomiting, diarrhoea, inability to 
concentrate, and others. Dr Melzer 
says  his  team  hopes  to  reduce 
these side effects and increase 
the efficacy of chemotherapy at 
the same time.

This would result in higher sur-
vival rates and better quality of 
life  for  patients.  The  aim  is  to 
reduce most of the classic symp-
toms we see as side effects of 
chemotherapy, through enhanced 
focal concentration of anti-cancer 
drugs at the tumour site.

‘We  are  planning  to  target 
various  cancers;  pancreatic, 
breast and liver cancers are ﬁ rst 
on the list, with brain cancer as 
an  additional  potential  target,’ 
Dr Melzer explains. According to 
him,  Nanoporation  has  estab-
lished  clear  evidence  that  the 
new technique works. In its 2011 
mid-term  review,  the  project 
was flagged as a success story 
and it was stated that the new 
technique of focused ultrasound 
delivery of chemotherapy works. 
New experiments are now being 
conducted with mice, and human 
clinical trials are expected to be 
launched in 2014.

The  scientist  says  the  project 
has truly been a team eﬀ ort. ‘We 
have  put  in  place  cutting-edge 
biomedical  technologies,  bring-
ing in a company that develops 

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ultrasound equipment and a pro-
ducer of drug-delivery systems 
based on nano-capsules. Our two 
industrial  partners,  both  based 
in Israel, are now laying plans to 
commercialise the results.’

As regards EU-support received 
by  the  Nanoporation  project, 
Dr Melzer is very satisfied: ‘The 
Marie Curie Actions are absolutely 
fantastic. I needed funding and I 
needed highly qualiﬁ ed research-
ers. I got what I needed. It is deﬁ -
nitely a great programme.’

The project was coordinated by the 
University of Dundee in the United 
Kingdom.

1 

 ‘Ultrasound-activated 
nanoencapsulated targetted drug 
delivery and tumous cell poration’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘People’ (Marie Curie Actions).
http://ec.europa.eu/research > Information 
Centre > search > 29114

Reducing mycotoxin contamination in food

The very nature of the food chain makes it inherently prone to infection by various micro-organisms. Being equipped to detect 
and handle such infections is of primary importance for containing their spread.

Mycotoxins are fungal secondary 
metabolites  capable  of  enter-
ing the food chain and contami-
nating  foods  before  and  after 
harvest. Accumulating evidence 
indicates that certain mycotoxins 
are potential carcinogens or neu-
rotoxins, posing a serious health 
threat to humans and animals.

of mycotoxins in products, and 
reducing  contamination  risks 
at  a  global  level.  Through  the 
d e v e l o p m e n t   o f   i n n ov a t i v e 
strategies,  Mycored  partners 
are addressing the problem of 
mycotoxin  contamination  at 
the detection and detoxiﬁ cation 
levels.

T h e   a i m   o f   t h e   E U - f u n d e d 
Mycored1  project  is  to  develop 
novel detection methodologies, 
handling procedures and practi-
cally-useful tools to reduce toxin 
contamination.  A  multidiscip-
linary eﬀ ort is concentrating on 
the whole food and feed chain 
of  wheat,  maize,  grapes,  nuts 
and dried fruits.

Among  the  project’s  object-
ives  is  improving  prevention 

Through  in  vivo  fungal  inocu-
lation  experiments,  the  con-
sortium  is  in  the  process  of 
determining  the in  vivo  toxic-
ity of mycotoxins. Researchers 
have set up highly speciﬁ c real-
time ‘polymerase chain-reaction’ 
(PCR)  assays  for  distinguish-
ing different fungal species of 
Aspergillus, Fusarium and peni-
cillia such as Penicillium, thereby 
improving  current  detec-
tion methods.

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10

BIO LO GY AND  MEDI C INE

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

Partners based their strategies 
on natural microbial antagonism 
as  a  means  of  biological  con-
trol,  and in particular on various 
yeast strains to detoxify aﬂ atox-
ins and ochratoxin A. Also, ozone 
(O 3)  and  various  other  novel 
compounds have been screened 
for eﬃ  cacy and control of myco-
toxins.  Scientists  are  hopeful 
that, a(cid:2) er the in vivo trial, they 
will be able to use certain agri-
cultural by-products to adsorb 

mycotoxins  and  reduce  their 
bioavailability  and  toxicity  in 
animals.

Predictive  models  based  on 
the fungus life cycle have been 
established  to  determine  the 
eﬀ ect of environmental factors 
and  host  plant  conditions  on 
mycotoxin contamination. These 
models also have the potential 
to safely predict the emergence 
of new toxigenic species due to 

climate changes or changes in 
agronomical practices.

The  Mycored  initiative  overall 
will  provide  a  viable  solution 
for  preventing  and  minimis-
ing  mycotoxin  contamination 
through  precise  assessment 
tools and eﬀ ective counteractive 
measures.

The project was coordinated by the 
National Research Council in Italy.

1 

 ‘Novel integrated strategies for 
worldwide mycotoxin reduction in the 
food and feed chains’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Food, agriculture, 
fisheries and biotechnologies’ (KBBE). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9932

Breaking the cycle of antibiotic resistance

A large class of antibiotic-resistant bacteria responsible for life-threatening infections is soon 
to meet its match. Scientists are developing industrially scalable production methods for what 
may be the 21st century equivalent of penicillin.

In  1928,  Alexander  Fleming 
made  a  discovery  that  would 
change  the  course  of  history, 
saving  uncountable  lives  from 
infections  we  now  consider 
harmless.  Fleming  named  the 
substance he isolated from the 
Penicillium mould.

Penicillin  turned  out  to  be  an 
extremely  potent  infection-
fighting agent. It also launched 
the pharmaceutical industry and 
the search for new antibiotics — 
substances derived from bacte-
rial  sources  and  used  to  treat 
bacterial infections — to conquer 

some of the world’s most deadly 
infections.

In  recent  years,  extensive  ex-
posure to antibiotics has rapidly 
i n c r e a s e d   d e v e l o p m e n t   o f 
resistant strains of bacteria while 
development  of  new  antibiot-
ics has seen a decline, making it 
diﬃ  cult to treat life-threatening 
infections.

gram-positive  pathogens.  It  is 
currently undergoing toxicologi-
cal testing for the ﬁ rst phase of 
clinical trials. However, its suc-
cess  in  fighting  infections  will 
depend not only on its efficacy 
and potency but also on its abil-
ity to deliver large quantities of 
high-quality product. It will not 
do  much  good  if  it  cannot  be 
mass-produced.

A new antibiotic called ‘lantibi-
otic  NAI-107’  has  shown  great 
potential  in  fighting  a  broad 
class of such infections — those 
caused  by  multidrug-resistant 

A European consortium led by an 
Italian small and medium-sized 
enterprise  (SME)  is  developing 
NAI-107 — thanks to EU funding 
for the Laptop1 project.

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NAI-107 is produced by the bac-
teria Microbispora sp. The stum-
bling block is that it cannot be 
produced with synthetic chemis-
try. Ensuring a sufficient supply 
requires robust bacterial fermen-
tation and recovery processes.

Laptop scientists identified the 
NAI-107 genome sequence and 
characterised the interaction of 
the  NAI-107  complex  with  its 
target. They also pinpointed key 
factors leading to robust produc-
tion-enabled design of improved 
industrially-scalable production 
media,  that  is,  ‘food’  required 
to grow the bacteria and induce 
NAI-107 production.

Studies  on  downstream  pro-
cesses of production and recov-
ery of NAI-107 are under way.

Laptop’s development of a prom-
ising new antibiotic against life-
threatening  resistant  bacteria 
could  have  a  great  impact  on 
human health, very much like the 
discovery of penicillin did nearly 
100 years ago.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by   t h e   N e w   A n t i - E f fe c t i v e 
Consortium in Italy.

1 

 ‘Lantibiotic production: Technology, 
optimization and improved process’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Food, agriculture and fisheries’ (KBBE).
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9836

 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

BIOLO GY AND MEDICINE

11

Repair after spinal-cord injury

Detailed characterisation at molecular and cellular levels of the key components of the spinal 
locomotor circuitry was the subject of the Spinal-Cord Repair project. Results are expected to 
improve the rehabilitation procedures for patients who have sustained spinal-cord injury (SCI).

for administering combinatorial 
therapies and they should not be 
given concomitantly.

The spinal cord is an integral part 
of the central nervous system. It 
relays messages to and from the 
brain. It is responsible for execut-
ing  movements,  receiving  sen-
sory information about the body, 
interacting with the environment 
and controlling many autonomic 
functions.

‘central pattern generator’ (CPG). 
In particular, ‘V2a interneurons’ 
were  found  to  be  connected  to 
motor  neurons,  integrating  and 
relaying sensory information. In 
the absence of sensor propriocep-
tors, several defects in the stabil-
ity of the rhythm in the mutant 
mice were observed.

W h e n   s p i n a l - c o r d   f u n c t i o n 
becomes  impaired  —  because 
of  a  disease  or  injury  (SCI)  — 
this leads to a loss or difficulty 
of  movement  and  sensation, 
accompanied  by  many  organ 
dysfunctions.

The  overall  objective  of  the 
EU-funded  Spinal-Cord  Repair1  
project was to restore motor func-
tion  after  SCI.  The  plan  was  to 
define  the  key  elements  of  the 
vertebrate locomotor network dur-
ing homeostasis and following SCI.

Using mouse and zebraﬁ sh mod-
els, project researchers identiﬁ ed 
neural populations as essential 
for  rhythm  generation  and  for 
coordinating the locomotor activ-
ity  in  the  vertebrate  excitatory 

Various  obstacles  are  believed 
to prevent repair of spinal-cord 
function after SCI, including the 
presence of growth inhibitors and 
the insufficiency of appropriate 
neurotropic growth factors. Work 
towards the regeneration poten-
tial of damaged neurons showed 
that the enzyme chondroitinase 
and  the  activation  of  integrins 
enhanced neuronal regeneration.

Chondroitinase  treatment  was 
as  good  as  rehabilitation  and 
restored  axonal  conduction 
when  administered  one  month 
a(cid:2) er injury. Blocking the myelin-
associated inhibitor ‘Nogo A’ with 
antibodies  also  offered  a  neu-
ronal  growth-promoting  effect. 
However,  scientists  found  that 
there was a speciﬁ c time window 

Experimental evidence also indi-
cated that further improvement 
in  locomotor  ability  could  be 
achieved by exploiting neuronal 
plasticity  through  functional 
training.

By gaining fundamental under-
standing  of  normal  spinal-cord 
function and its development, the 
Spinal-Cord Repair initiative was 
able to propose biological inter-
ventions aimed at protecting and 
repairing the injured spinal cord. 
These are expected to form the 
basis for motor function-restoring 
approaches a(cid:2) er SCI.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by  the  Karolinska  Institutet  in 
Sweden.

1 

 ‘Spinal locomotor circuits: organisation 
and repair after injury’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Health’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9878

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Novel diagnostic tools to detect cancer

Groundbreaking advances in nanotechnology have enabled European researchers to create tools that diagnose cancers at 
a very early stage and can remove them before they become dangerous.

Cancer affects 3.2 million peo-
ple  every  year  in  Europe  and 
takes the lives of over 1.7 million 
people, not least because diag-
nostic technology is not sensi-
tive enough to catch the disease 
early.  The  EU-funded  project 
Namdiatream1 is working on tak-
ing cancer diagnosis to the next 
level. It is developing a sophis-
ticated  nanotechnology-based 
toolkit to detect common cancer 
cells early in the disease's life.

With  a  dynamic  consortium  of 
high-ranking research institutes 
from France, Germany, Ireland, 
Italy,  Spain,  Switzerland  and 
the United Kingdom, the project 
is  investigating  groundbreak-
ing technology in the field. The 
toolkit involves novel, highly sen-
sitive nanodevices based on the 
concepts of lab-on-a-bead, lab-
on-a-chip and lab-on-a-wire that 
exploit  the  photo-luminescent, 
plasmonic, magnetic and unique 
optical properties of nano-

materials. This represents  >

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12

BIO LO GY AND  MEDI C INE

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

revolutionary  advances  over 
present  technologies  in  terms 
of  stability,  sensitivity,  time  of 
analysis and probe multiplexing.

Speciﬁ cally, the envisioned toolkit 
is delivering photo-luminescent 
nanoparticle-based  reagents 
and  diagnostic  chips  that  pin-
point  cancer  early  and  assess 
treatment  efficiency  as  well. 
The project team is also work-
ing on nanocrystals that enable 
plasmon-optical and non-linear 
optical monitoring of molecular 

receptors within body fluids or 
on  the  surface  of  cancer  cells. 
Another  expected  and  very  in-
novative project achievement will 
be multi-parameter screening of 
cancer biomarkers in diagnostic 
material using segmented mag-
netically barcoded nanowires.

To  date,  the  project  team  has 
made admirable progress in ad-
vancing  its  cause  with  respect 
to  fluorescent  nanomaterials 
technologies and plasmon-opti-
cal  immunodiagnostics.  It  has 

developed  powerful  nanotools 
for  diagnostic  and  imaging 
based  on  Second  Harmonic 
Generation  (SHG)  technology, 
as well as on magnetic nanow-
ire barcodes for disease marker 
detection. Once diagnostic and 
medical  imaging  device  com-
panies  exploit  this  technology, 
the positive implications for pre-
empting cancer and treatment 
could be enormous. 

The  project  was  coordinated 
by the College of the Holy and 

Undivided  Trinity  of  Queen 
Elizabeth near Dublin in Ireland.

1 

  ‘Nanotechnological toolkits for 
multi-modal disease diagnostics and 
treatment monitoring’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, 
materials and new production 
technologies’ (NMP). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9949

Preventing type-1 diabetes in children

Understanding the mechanisms underlying autoimmunity in ‘type-1 diabetes’ (T1D) is central 
to designing preventive or therapeutic strategies. European scientists found a potential time 
window during childhood development during which preventive approaches would be most 
effective.

T1D is an autoimmune disease 
in  which  the  body  attacks  and 
destroys  the  insulin-producing 
islet cells in the pancreas. As a 

result, patients suﬀ er from high 
blood glucose levels which have 
to  be  treated  with    insulin  for 
the rest of their life.

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T h e   a i m   o f   t h e   E U - f u n d e d 
Diaprepp1 project was to study 
the  events  that  lead  to  ‘islet 
autoimmunity’  and  T1D.  The 
consortium consisted of 11 aca-
demic members and two small 
and  medium-sized  enterprises 
(SMEs).  It  focused  on  under-
standing  how  we  can  immu-
nise  our  bodies  against  islet 
antigens.

As a first step, the consortium 
generated a bio-bank of unique 
samples (blood, pancreas, islets 
and lymph nodes) from children 
with T1D who had been followed 
from  birth  to  disease  onset. 
Diaprepp findings showed that 
there was no islet autoimmunity 
prior to six months of age, due 
to an ineﬃ  cient immune system 
or other protective factors.

Interestingly,  scientists  found 
an  association  between  dis-
ease occurrence and genes that 
affected  the  hosts’  responses 
t o   v i r u s e s .   A l t h o u g h   v i r u s 
material  could  be  detected  in 
the  pancreas  of  T1D  patients, 
no association with a particular 
virus  was  found.  The  Diaprepp 
partners did, however, identify 
virus-mediated  pathogenetic 
mechanisms capable of induc-
ing  or  exacerbating  the  body’s 
autoimmune  reaction  to  the 
beta cell.

M e t a b o l o m e   a n a l y s e s   o f 
children  at  birth  who  later 
developed  T1D  or  remained 
disease-free showed clear dif-
ferences, indicating that certain 
pathways inﬂ uenced susceptibil-
ity and activation of islet auto-
immunity. A potential candidate 
for the causal mechanism of the 
disease, the enzyme DHAPAT, is 
responsible for catalysing phos-
pholipid biosynthesis.

Apart  from  basic  science,  the 
Diaprepp consortium developed 
commercially exploitable tech-
nologies  such  as  an  assay  for 
detecting  ‘zinc  transporter  8 
autoantibodies’  (ZnT8A).  This 
patented technology, combined 
with other project findings, are 
expected  to  improve  disease 
prediction  at  an  early  enough 
stage  that  effective  preven-
tive measures can be taken to 
reduce  the  incidence  of  child-
hood diabetes.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by  the  Technical  University  of 
Dresden in Germany.

1  

 ‘Diabetes type-1 prediction, early 
pathogenesis and prevention’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Health’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9881

 
 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

13

S OC IA L SCIENCES AND H UMANIT IES

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Climate change, water conflicts 
and human security

The Mediterranean, Middle East and Sahel have a long history of conflict, and water issues could pose new threats in this regard. 
An EU-funded project looked into the likelihood of climate change-induced water scarcity, droughts and floods exacerbating 
social tensions, intra- and inter-state conflicts in this region.

Much has been made of disputes arising over 
access to water in the Nile basin, for example. 
CLICO1  examined  such  conflicts  and  found 
that water wars are extremely rare. In some 
disputes, water may be cited as a cause, but 
political, economic and social issues actually 
play a much stronger role in triggering conﬂ ict. 
Water is used as a means of control in war, the 
project found; it is not itself the cause of war. 
Neighbouring countries having to share water 
resources across national boundaries is more 
likely to stimulate cooperation.

Although there is a higher incidence of disputes 
over access to water within nations, the likeli-
hood of their escalation into violence is remote. 

There is less domestic water conflict in non-
democratic countries, but it is much more vio-
lent than in democratic countries. Importantly, 
it is increased water consumption due to eco-
nomic growth that increases domestic tensions, 
not climatic variability. In some circumstances, 
conflict and cooperation coexist. In fact, con-
ﬂ ict can be beneﬁ cial when it spurs action for 
change to reduce vulnerability, while conversely, 
cooperation can mask oppression and maintain 
suﬀ ering.

According to CLICO scientists, the current map-
ping of certain areas as climate change con-
flict ‘hot spots’ may be counterproductive or 
downright dangerous, creating a self-fulﬁ lling 

prophecy. Governments should proceed with 
extreme care when it comes to such classiﬁ ca-
tions and favour information on institutional 
capacities as a much better predictor of conﬂ ict. 

Although violent conflict is unlikely, climate 
change directly threatens human security. Loss 
of life and massive displacements are likely 
effects of floods, landslides or sea-level rise. 
The conditions of social exclusion and inequal-
ity, poverty, weak institutions, inadequate infra-
structure and lack of information create a state 
of vulnerability. 

Marginalised people tend to be ignored 

by governments when climate change  >

 
 
14

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

SOC IA L SCIE NC ES  AN D  HUMA N IT IES

adaptation  is  considered:  seasonal  migrant 
workers of Kurdish origin in Turkey are largely 
excluded from adaptation policies formulated 
by the state, found the project, as are Bedouins 
in Egypt.

In the event of a natural disaster or in heeding 
warnings about the need to adapt to impending 
climate change eﬀ ects, massive state interven-
tions such as large dams can exacerbate the 
situation. Similarly, solutions involving popula-
tion displacement or higher energy emissions 
can do more harm than good.

Other project findings include the fact that 
small-scale interventions of a social rather than 
technical nature are more eﬀ ective in reducing 
vulnerability and damage; demand-side water 
management is more eﬀ ective than new dams 
and canals; land-use zoning reduces damage 
from ﬂ oods or landslides; and subsidised insur-
ance, public early-warning systems and public 
health care reduce the impacts of ﬂ oods more 
eﬀ ectively than engineering works. Finally, trea-
ties and good transboundary institutions can 
be eﬀ ective in alleviating international tensions 
over water, the team stresses.

The project was coordinated by the Autonomous 
University of Barcelona in Spain.

1 

‘Climate change, hydro-conflicts and human security’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Cooperation’ 
under the research theme ‘Socio-economic science and 
humanities’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > search > offers > 
10112

Integrated approach for teen sexual health

The EU is committed to promoting healthy lifestyles, even beyond its borders. In this context, 
one  initiative  is  working  to  deliver  innovative  programmes  for  positive  change  in  sexual 
practices among adolescents in Africa.

The Prepare1 project has set its 
sights  on  developing  interven-
tions that will eﬀ ectively reduce 
the spread of sexually transmit-
ted  diseases  and  drive  down 
rates of unplanned pregnancies. 
The approach aims to teach con-
sistency and safety in the use of 
protection, delay ﬁ rst-time expe-
riences and limit the number of 
partners.

This  goal  of  promoting  sexual 
and reproductive health among 
young adolescents is strength-
ened by an innovative approach 
considering aspects influencing 
sexual behaviour. These include 
parent-child communication on 
the topic, cultural and environ-
mental  factors  (norms,  beliefs 

and attitudes), ‘action planning’, 
and gender-based violence.

Based on the results of forma-
tive research and studies as well 
as examination of materials used 
in prevention approaches up to 
now, project partners are focus-
ing on developing comprehensive 
best practice programmes to be 
applied  through  an  integrated 
community prevention approach. 
Schools represent an important 
gateway in this endeavour, and 
to this end four test sites have 
been selected.

In  Cape  Town  (South  Africa) 
and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), 
comprehensive,  best  practice 
and  effectiveness  studies  will 

be  implemented.  In  Limpopo 
(South  Africa)  and  Kampala 
(Uganda), researchers will carry 
out  focused  efficacy  studies. 
Speciﬁ cally, more focused inter-
ventions on parent-child commu-
nication and parental support for 
healthy sexual behaviour will be 
administered in Kampala, while 
actions in Limpopo will take into 
account culture-specific beliefs, 
attitudes and norms.

To date, project meetings have 
been held in Cape Town, Bergen, 
Norway and Kampala, with more 
planned  as  the  project  pro-
gresses. A Prepare website has 
been  established  and  is  regu-
larly updated with project docu-
ments accessible to all involved 

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partners. These include reports 
on  the  formative  phase  and 
research already carried out in 
each African site.

Students  aged  between  12 
and  14  have  been  selected 
from  schools,  and  interview 
instruments  for  focus  groups 
have been drafted, piloted and 
adjusted. The Prepare staﬀ  also 
received training for conducting 
interviews.

Future  activities  will  centre  on 
delivering the envisioned focused 
and  best  practice  instruments 
and  intervention  packages.  By 
supporting  curriculum-  and 
classroom-based health educa-
tion activities and prompting co-
ordination across the community, 
the  Prepare  approach  is  set  to 
encourage meaningful changes 
in  sexual  behaviour  among 
young teenagers.

The project is coordinated by the 
University of Bergen in Norway.

1 

 ‘Promoting sexual and reproductive 
health among adolescents in southern 
and eastern Africa mobilising parents, 
schools, and communities’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Health’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9917

 
 
 
 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

15

S OC IA L SCIENCES AND H UMANIT IES

Unveiling intangible investment in Europe

A much clearer picture of a country’s economy can emerge from factoring in the different 
forms  of  ‘intangible’  investments.  One  enterprising  EU  project  team  has  led  the  way  in 
understanding their effects.

‘Intangible investments’, such as 
investment in know-how, repu-
tation,  organisation  and  train-
ing,  are  crucial  for  advancing 
E u r o p e ’s   k n ow l e d g e - d r i v e n 
economy  and  competitiveness. 
However,  there  has  not  been 
much research in this relatively 
new ﬁ eld, or any serious attempt 
to estimate the  real scale and 
impact of such investments.

The EU-funded project Coinvest1 
aimed  to  highlight  how  these 
i n v e s t m e n t s   a f fe c t   i n n ov -
ation,  growth  and  productivity 
in  Europe.  The  project  brought 
together European experts and 
researchers to understand such 
‘hidden’ investments, which are 
generally not integrated in gross 
domestic  product  (GDP)  and 
for  the  most  part  neglected  in 

ﬁ nancial or economic reports. The 
researchers examined data from 
the market economy and indus-
try, and then drafted guidelines 
for harmonising related defini-
tions  of  such  investments  and 
data use across the EU.

Importantly,  the  project  team 
estimated  intangible  assets  by 
country  and  cross-compared 
them,  revealing  large  invest-
ments  in  different  intangibles 
and an increasing trend in this 
direction.  From  these  results 
the  project  team  calculated 
how intangibles affected output 
and productivity, speciﬁ cally the 
impact of intangible expenditures 
on total factor productivity (TFP). 
It also used novel statistical so(cid:2) -
ware to establish relative prod-
uctivity  calculations,  starting 
with pilot analyses for the United 
Kingdom and the United States.

A(cid:2) er a series of high-level meet-
ings with stakeholders, Coinvest 
disseminated  its  results  to 
interested  parties  such  as  the 
European  Commission  and  the 
Bureau of Economic Analysis in 

the United States. Furthermore, 
the  Organisation  for  Economic 
Co-operation and Development 
(OECD)  adopted  the  project’s 
ﬁ ndings and methods for its own 
innovation strategy. These find-
ings were highlighted in world-
class articles and have already 
begun to inﬂ uence policy-making, 
yielding a much more effective 
and  accurate  picture  on  how 
intangible investments shape the 
European economy.

The project was coordinated by 
the Imperial College of Science, 
Technology and Medicine in the 
United Kingdom.

1 

 ‘Competitiveness, innovation and 
intangible investment in Europe’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Socio-economic science 
and humanities’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9931

Getting youngsters excited about the Universe

An international network of more than 40 countries is promoting science education and inspiration for young children with 
astronomy as the touchstone.

The  international  UNAWE1  pro-
gramme was founded at Leiden 
University to inspire interest from 
young children aged 4 to 10, par-
ticularly those from underprivi-
leged backgrounds, in astronomy. 
It has become a unique, innova-
tive and proven programme for 
fostering education and providing 
skills in science and technology 
throughout  the  world  and  par-
ticularly in developing countries.

B u i l d i n g   o n   U N A W E ,   t h e 
EU-funded EU-UNAWE2 project 

is  exploiting  EU  and  South 
A f r i c a n   ( S A )   a c h i e v e m e n t s 
in  the  field  of  space  sciences. 
The EU-UNAWE website (http://
w w w . e u - u n a w e . o r g )   w a s 
launched in 2011 as the central 
information hub. Visits to the site 
have  increased  approximately 
30 % per month since then.

E a r l y   a c h i e v e m e n t s   h a v e 
attracted more and more coun-
tries  to  the  network  which 
now  boasts  UNAWE  pro-
grammes in 40 countries. 

>

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16

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

SOC IA L SCIE NC ES  AN D  HUMA N IT IES

EU-UNAWE  national  project 
managers  (NPMs)  in  each  of 
the  six  participating  countries 
are developing educational ma-
terials and running workshops. 
Together, they provide primary 
school  educators  with  ideas, 
resources  and  confidence  to 
bring astronomy and space sci-
ence into their classrooms.

Many  events  have  been  held 
for children and the EU-UNAWE 
I n t e r n a t i o n a l   O f f i c e   h a s 

organised an astronomy news 
service  for  kids  called  Space 
Scoop.  It  has  already  pub-
lished  about  50  stories  based 
on  press  releases  from  major 
astronomical observatories and 
astronomy  organisations  that 
have  been  translated  into  14 
languages. Particular emphasis 
has  been  given  to  targeting 
girls and encouraging them to 
take up careers in science, tech-
nology, engineering and math-
ematics (STEM).

EU-UNAWE  is  using  the  won-
ders of the Universe to inspire 
young  children  all  over  the 
world,  encourage  a  lifelong 
interest  in  science  and  tech-
nology, and foster a feeling of 
international  community.  Its 
potential impact may have no 
boundaries, much as some have 
proposed for the Universe itself.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by  Leiden  University  in  the 
Netherlands.

1 
2 

 ‘Universe awareness’.
 ‘Building on the international year of 
astronomy: making young children 
aware of the Universe’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10047

Surveying child abuse and neglect in the Balkans

Researchers  are  generating  a  wealth  of  information  on  the  prevalence  of  child  abuse  and 
neglect in the Balkans. In the long term, the project activities and outcomes will offer valuable 
tools for driving down the rates of incidence of this phenomenon.

and an ‘Operations booklet’ for 
ﬁ eld researchers also had to be 
produced.

A  team  of  European  research-
ers are building a comprehensive 
knowledge base on ‘child abuse 
and neglect’ (CAN) through their 
work  in  the  EU-funded  project 
BECAN 1.  Covering  nine  coun-
tries  in  the  Balkan  region,  the 
project focuses on reported and 
detected  cases  of  CAN  in  the 
general  population  of  11-  to 
16-year-olds.

Given  the  lack  of  consolidated 
information on the phenomenon 
for  this  particular  geographic 
area, project members ﬁ rst con-
ducted a comprehensive review 
of the current available data. The 
results for all nine countries were 

made available on the project’s 
website.

National  networks  have  also 
been  created  in  participating 
countries, comprising more than 
400 governmental and non-gov-
ernmental  agencies  working  in 
child protection. Along with the 
BECAN website, a portal and spe-
ciﬁ c forums have been set up to 
facilitate communication among 
network  members,  as  well  as 
improve public awareness of the 
problem.

T w o   q u e s t i o n n a i r e s ,   b a s e d 
on  the  Child  Abuse  Screening 
Tools  (ICAST)  —  ICAST-CH  for 

children  and  ICAST-P  for  par-
ents  —  from  the  International 
Society  for  Prevention  of  Child 
Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN), will 
be administered simultaneously 
to  matched  pairs  of  children 
and parents in order to map the 
prevalence of CAN in the Balkan 
countries. However, the question-
naires first had to be modified, 
translated into official national 
languages  and  culturally  val-
idated, while an accompanying 
protocol had to be developed for 
their  administration.  For  iden-
tification  of  relevant  cases,  a 
specialised  tool  for  the  ‘Case-
based surveillance study’ (CBSS), 
pre-coded forms for data entry 

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Pilot studies and core field epi-
demiological surveys were begun 
in  eight  of  the  countries,  with 
over  200  young  researchers 
employed to carry out the field 
surveys. By the end of the pro-
ject’s first reporting period, 527 
schools were already taking part 
in the study.

Beyond the scientiﬁ c added value 
of the project, BECAN outcomes 
will  offer  a  number  of  social 
utility  advantages,  given  that 
the ‘cycle of violence' phenom-
enon  tends  to  reproduce  and 
become established. Interrupting 
this cycle effectively addresses 
unhealthy behaviour in children 
and  adults,  and  will  thus  also 
minimise the attendant psycho-
social,  legal  and  financial  bur-
dens of CAN on individuals and 
modern societies.

The project was coordinated by 
the  Institute  of  Child  Health  in 
Greece.

1 

 ‘Balkan epidemiological study on child 
abuse and neglect’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
theme ‘Health’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10015

 
 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

ENER GY A ND TR ANSPORT

17

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Testing a hydrogen-fuel-based 
transport infrastructure

The  Scandinavian  Hydrogen  Highway  Partnership  (SHHP)  is  road-testing  a  fleet  of  hydrogen-fuelled  cars  and  a  state-of-
the-art refuelling station. Thanks to EU research funding, the region may soon be the first with an active hydrogen transport 
infrastructure.

European  Lighthouse  Projects  (LHPs)  are 
projects with high visibility of a supply-and-
demand  nature.  They  are  supported  by  a 
deployment  strategy  encompassing  both 
infrastructure and socio-economic issues. The 
first EU-funded LHP for hydrogen-fuel-cell 
cars is the ‘H2moves.eu Scandinavia’1 project, 
which  kick starts a series  of ‘H2moves.eu’ 
demonstration projects focusing on hydrogen 
for transport.

H2moves.eu Scandinavia is focused on mak-
ing  the  Scandinavian  region  (Denmark, 
Norway  and  Sweden)  one  of  the  first  in 
Europe  to  have  hydrogen-fuelled  vehicles 
readily available and widely used, with a net-
work of refuelling stations. Its goal is estab-
lishing a network of 15 main and 30 satellite 
refuelling stations together with a hydrogen-
fuelled ﬂ eet of 100 buses, 500 cars and 500 
speciality vehicles by the year 2015.

EU-funding enabled the SHHP to establish a 
state-of-the-art full-service hydrogen refuel-
ling station in one of the densest hydrogen 
fuelling station networks in Europe. Located 

in the urban environment of Oslo, the station 
boasts pre-cooling technology that enables 
fast reﬁ lling and onsite hydrogen production 
from electrolysis based on certiﬁ ed renewable 
energy.

The project is evaluating close to 20 fuel-cell 
test vehicles including sedans and two-seater 
city cars for daily operation in Oslo and a sec-
ond demonstration site in Copenhagen. Some 
will  also  cover  specific  routes  in  southern 
Norway, western Denmark and elsewhere in 
the SHHP region.

commercialisation. Results will be extended 
based  on  further  stakeholder  input  in  the 
coming  months.  Furthermore,  project  per-
formance is currently being evaluated against 
benchmarks  and  scientists  have  added 
assessment  of  hydrogen  quality  and  fuel-
station performance to its portfolio of reports.

H2moves.eu Scandinavia is expected to boost 
progress towards a functional Scandinavian 
hydrogen fuel-cell transportation and refuel-
ling infrastructure — providing a signiﬁ cant 
example for other countries to follow.

At least two of these cars will participate in 
a three-week European demonstration tour to 
raise public awareness regarding the state of 
readiness of hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles. For 
this purpose, a mobile refuelling system was 
developed which can provide hydrogen while 
producing  almost  no  carbon  dioxide  (CO2) 
emissions.

A  safety  study  has  already  been  pub-
lished,  with  a  focus  on  certification  gaps 
in  Scandinavia  which  tend  to  slow  down 

The  project  was  coordinated  by  Ludwig-
Bölkow-Systemtechnik GmbH in Germany.

1 

‘H2moves.eu Scandinavia’.

Funded under the ‘Fuel cells and hydrogen joint undertaking’ 
(FCH JU), a Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) contributing 
to research themes of the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > search > offers > 
10044

 
 
18

ENERGY A ND  TR AN SPORT

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

New aeroplanes to fly in cleaner skies

An EU-sponsored initiative studied the requirements of regional airlines in order to facilitate 
the design and eventual commercialisation of eco-friendly aircraft.

this  ambitious  vision.  Working 
closely  with  different  airlines 
and partners, it studied several 
airlines’  size,  fleet,  revenues, 
customers, environmental con-
siderations  and  future  outlook 
to  understand  how  they  are 
evolving.

FRARS  then  outlined  desirable 
requirements,  weights,  design 
parameters and aspects to pro-
duce a methodology and toolset 
that support aircraft manufac-
turers in producing new aircraft 
conﬁ gurations. This also included 
technological capabilities, devel-
opment  costs,  manufacturer’s 
considerations  and  other  im-
portant  issues  to  achieve  the 
optimal  design.  Once  a  viable 
design is validated, resulting aer-
oplanes are expected to be not 
only greener but also highly com-
petitive, in line with the require-
ments  and  priorities  of  client 
airline companies. Towards this 

Demand for regional commercial 
flights  is  increasing  as  the  EU 
grows and European mobility and 
trade  flourishes.  However,  the 
resulting noise and air pollution 
are not in line with EU climate 
change policies. The EU-funded 
FRARS1  project  explored  ways 
t o   e n c o u r a g e   r e g i o n a l   a i r 

transport that ﬁ ts with Europe’s 
increasingly  green  regulatory 
framework.

Funded under the EU’s Clean Sky 
and  Green  Regional  Airline  ini-
tiatives, the project outlined the 
requirements  for  new  aircraft 
configurations to help advance 

Low-cost, high-efficiency silicon solar cells

European  scientists  are  working  to  reduce  the  amount  of  expensive  silicon  required  for 
efficient solar energy conversion — reducing the cost of solar energy.

H i g h l y   p u r i f i e d   s i l i c o n   c a n 
account  for  up  to  40 %  of  the 
overall  costs  of  conventional 
solar-cell  arrays.  Reducing  the 
thickness  of  the  silicon  used 
in  their  manufacture,  while 

maintaining  high  efficiency  of 
energy conversion, is one way to 
reduce their cost.

European  scientists  set  out  to 
do just that with EU funding of 

the 20PLμS1 project. The project 
addresses all components of the 
process, including the wafering of 
silicon ingots, light trapping, solar 
cell and module processing, and 
the handling of thin wafers.

In addition, the pilot process will 
be  transferred  to  an  industrial 
partner to achieve a production 
yield  comparable  to  standard 
production conditions, but with 
increased eﬃ  ciency, on a thin sil-
icon wafer. Scientists studied the 
interaction  between  materials’ 
properties and solar-cell process-
ing.  They  have  demonstrated 
improved passivation — making 
a metal ‘passive’, or chemically 
less reactive — for better light 
trapping.

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goal, the project highlighted the 
success of an enterprising Greek 
company  working  closely  with 
Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica to cre-
ate invaluable synergies and new 
business opportunities.

In addition to fostering a more 
competitive aeronautics industry, 
the project has the potential to 
create significantly cleaner and 
quieter skies over Europe, giving 
Europe’s  aerospace  industry  a 
generous boost.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by  Anonymi  Etairia  Systimaton 
O r g a n o s i s   L e i t o u r g i a s i n   i n 
Greece.

1 

 ‘Future regional aircraft requirements 
study’.

Funded under the ‘Clean Sky joint 
undertaking’ (CSJU), a Joint Technology 
Initiative contributing to research 
themes of the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9965

Prototype  solar  cells  of  100 
micro-metres (μm) in thickness 
with 19 % efficiency were fab-
ricated and a life-cycle analysis 
(LCA) of the new processes was 
carried  out.  The  pilot  will  be 
transferred to the industrial pro-
duction line in the next phase of 
the project.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
the  University  of  Konstanz  in 
Germany.

1 

 ‘20 percent efficiency on less than 
100 μm thick industrially feasible c-Si 
solar cells’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Energy’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10064

 
 
 
 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

ENER GY A ND TR ANSPORT

19

Metals make clean and renewable transportation fuels

For the first time, scientists have investigated the use of a 
novel  form  of  metal  as  fuel  for  standard  car  engines.  The 
concept includes combustion free of harmful emissions and 
the recycling of spent fuel.

Internal  combustion  engines 
(ICEs)  dominate  the  transpor-
tation  market.  Combustion  or 
burning  of  fossil  fuels  in  the 
presence of an oxidiser (usually 
air) converts the chemical energy 
in  molecular  bonds  into  useful 
mechanical  energy  —  but  pro-
duces harmful greenhouse gas 
(GHG) emissions.

Among  the  many  green  mobil-
ity solutions on the horizon are 
hydrogen-powered and lithium-
ion battery-powered vehicles. For 
the ﬁ rst time, scientists investi-
gated the potential of metallic 
nanoparticles, particles of met-
als that are ten thousand times 
smaller  than  the  width  of  a 
human hair, to act as clean fuel 
for ICEs — thanks to EU funding 
of the Cometnano1 project.

Ideally,  combustion  of  met-
a l s   p r o d u c e s   e n e r g y   a n d 
metal  oxides  without  harm-
ful  emissions.  The  consortium 
investigated  the  in-principle 
feasibility of clean combustion 
together  with  recyclation  of 
spent  fuel  via  renewable  tech-
nologies.  Based  on  studies  of 

availability, toxicity, market price 
and power density, investigators 
chose iron, aluminium and boron 
for further study.

Results  of  preliminary  engine-
like  testing  highlighted  the 
promise  of  iron-air  combus-
tion.  Aluminium-air  combus-
tion  was  also  investigated  due 
to  broader  scientific  interest, 
although aluminium was found 
to possess less-favourable com-
bustion parameters, higher envir-
onmental impact and production 
costs.

Scientists developed customised 
simulations of iron-air combus-
tion based on experimental data 
with the goal of developing iron 
nano-powders  compatible  with 
simple  ICEs.  Results  supported 
the in-principle feasibility of an 
ICE  running  on  iron  nano-pow-
ders and indicated areas for fur-
ther research and development 
to optimise the process. At the 
same time, scientists developed 
a process to upgrade iron-based 
waste from steel industries for 
the synthesis of iron nanopart-
icles and successfully employed 

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the  synthesis  procedure  under 
laboratory-scale conditions.

The  consortium  demonstrated 
technology  for  100 %  recovery 
of  utilised  nanoparticles  using 
customised  approaches  of  the 
well-established  diesel  par-
ticulate  filters  technology.  An 
investigation  into  nanoparticle 
toxicity included studies on par-
tial failure scenarios regarding 
combustion,  and  incorporation 
of simple fail-safe modules. Cost 
analyses  indicated  that  under 
certain conditions metallic fuels 
could become competitive with 
carbon-taxed  fossil  fuels  and 
less expensive than several other 
alternative renewable fuels.

Cometnano successfully proved 
the  in-principle  feasibility  of 
using metallic nanoparticles as 

fuel in ICEs. Results pave the way 
for further research and devel-
opment with important potential 
beneﬁ ts for the automotive and 
metal industries as well as for 
the environment.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by the Centre for Research and 
Technology Hellas in Greece.

1 

 ‘Technologies for synthesis, recycling 
and combustion of metallic 
nanoclusters as future transportation 
fuels’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, 
materials and new production 
technologies’ (NMP). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10029

Changing direction to minimise 
impact on global warming

Scientists  are  developing  a  novel  flight-trajectory  planning 
tool  to  optimise  travel  routes  for  minimal  climate  impact. 
The tool should help reduce global warming effects related 
to air transport.

Like other modes of transporta-
tion, aeroplanes produce emis-
sions related to the combustion 
of fossil fuels. These emissions 
include gaseous and particulate 
matter.

The  most  common  gas  emit-
ted is carbon dioxide (CO2). The 

main non-CO2 emissions aﬀ ect-
ing climate are oxides of nitro-
gen  (NOx),  soot,  condensation 
trails (contrails) and cirrus cloud 
formation.

Condensation refers to a change 
from  a  gas  to  a  liquid,  in 

this case the formation of  >

 
 
 
 
 
 
20

ENERGY A ND  TR AN SPORT

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

water vapour as exhaust gases 
condense. Water vapour is an im-
portant greenhouse gas in that 
it contributes to global warming 
by forming a kind of blanket over 
the earth.

The formation of condensation 
trails is highly dependent on alti-
tude, location and atmospheric 
conditions.  Cirrus  clouds  that 
normally  cover  about  20 %  of 
the Earth may also be induced by 
contrails. These clouds are found 
at very high altitudes and very 
low temperatures, contain a large 
volume  of  ice  crystals  and  are 
known to contribute to increasing 
average surface temperatures.

European scientists are develop-
ing a modelling tool identifying 

low-impact flight altitudes and 
routes  with  EU  funding  in  the 
React4c1 project.

Researchers are developing so-
called climate cost functions for 
the various climate impact fac-
tors. The functions enable four-
dimensional  (4D)  descriptions 
of  emissions,  defined  in  terms 
of  variation  in  space  (3D)  — 
latitude, longitude and altitude 
— and time (1D). Optimisation 
routines will enable the planning 
of ﬂ ight trajectories and altitudes 
to  minimise  their  impact  on 
global climate.

Separate cost functions are cal-
culated for NOx emission, water 
vapour, soot and CO2. Scientists 
are now preparing a multimodal 
climate impact assessment. Cost 
functions  will  be  used  as  an 
interface  between  the  climate 
impact model and a flight plan-
ning  tool  based  on  Air  Traffic 
Management (ATM) techniques.

Aircraft pre-design concepts for 
climate-optimised  trajectories 
were developed and are them-
selves  being  optimised  with 
respect to minimal operational 
costs or minimal climate impact.

Within the ﬁ rst 18 months, mod-
elling parameters, including typ-
ical  weather  patterns  and  cost 
functions,  were  characterised. 

The React4c project will deliver 
a  novel  flight  planning  tool 
to  reduce  the  environmental 
impact  of  aircraft  and  their 

ﬂ ight trajectories as well as new 
design  concepts  for  greener 
aircra(cid:2) .

The project was coordinated by 
the  German  Aerospace  Centre 
(DLR) in Germany.

1 

 ‘Reducing emissions from aviation by 
changing trajectories for the benefit of 
climate’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Transport’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9977

Safe adhesive bonds for lightweight aircraft

New quality-assurance technology could help certify large, lightweight aeroplane structures 
and ensure they are safe to fly. Widespread use of such structures will decrease weight, fuel 
usage, cost and emissions.

Historically, components for air 
and surface transport were made 
from  heavyweight,  heavy-duty 
steel components. With advances 
in  materials  science  and  the 
increasing  need  for  a  combin-
ation of low weight and high per-
formance, such materials have 
now been replaced.

‘Carbon-fibre-reinforced  poly-
mers’  (CFRPs)  are  among  this 
new  generation  of  materials. 

Their  application  in  the  aero-
space sector is growing tremen-
dously. CFRPs rely on adhesive 
bonding rather than the riveting 
typically required by metals.

Use of CFRPs in primary struc-
tures, such as the fuselage air-
frame, has so far been limited 
due to a lack of adequate joint 
evaluation  technologies  (used 
to  assess  the  region  where 
two pieces are joined). Lack of 

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accurate assessment technology 
has led to difficulties in certifi-
cation. To overcome this issue, 
the EU-funded Encomb1 project 
is  developing  repeatable  and 
reliable quality-assurance tech-
nology for adhesive bonds.

Conventional  ‘non-destructive 
testing’  (NDT)  methods  that 
assess materials without damag-
ing them are not compatible with 
the  testing  of  adhesive  bonds. 
Thus,  scientists  are  developing 
novel ‘extended non-destructive 
testing’ (ENDT) methods to test 
both the physico-chemical prop-
erties and the structural integrity 
of  surfaces  to  be  bonded,  the 
bonding materials and the bond 
itself. Based on seven application 
scenarios, scientists have iden-
tiﬁ ed specimens, test campaigns 
and  specifications  for  ENDT 
methods for adhesive bonds.

Two  of  the  seven  sample  sets 
were prepared and characterised 
to  provide  reference  values  for 
subsequent evaluation of ENDT. 
For this purpose, scientists used 
analytical  laboratory  methods 

for  the  physico-chemical  prop-
erties and conventional NDT for 
structural  integrity.  Mechanical 
testing  provided  reference  val-
ues for mechanical performance. 
Overall,  19  ENDT  technologies 
have already been evaluated with 
respect to analysis of  the surfaces 
to be joined and 12 for characteri-
sation of CFRP adhesive bonds.

Encomb is identifying, screening 
and adapting ENDT technologies 
for  characterisation  of  adhe-
sive bonds. Providing validated 
quality-assurance  technology 
should facilitate certiﬁ cation and 
thus extend the use of adhesive 
bonding for load-critical CFRP pri-
mary aircra(cid:2)  structures. In turn, 
this will translate into signiﬁ cant 
weight savings, cost savings in 
fuel and fewer emissions.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
Fr a u n h o fe r - G e s e l l s c h a f t   i n 
Germany.

1 

 ‘Extended non-destructive testing of 
composite bonds’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Transport’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10052

 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

21

ENVIRONM ENT AND SOCIETY

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Preventing water-related conflicts 
in the Mediterranean

Many scientists across the globe consider water as the ‘new gold’, a resource whose increasing scarcity raises two questions: 
How can we better manage available sources of water and, if we fail, what will the consequences be for our societies? The 
WasserMed project is considering the second question, looking in particular at the socio-economic aspects.

Building  on  existing  climate  projections, 
WasserMed1 is addressing present and future 
uncertainties  regarding  the  availability  of 
water resources in Mediterranean countries. 
The  concern  is  that  a  lack  of  water  could 
have  direct  consequences  for  the  region’s 
stability, in particular through the damage it 
would cause to agriculture and tourism. 

Against this backdrop, the project is assess-
ing potential impacts, proposing technological 
solutions and identifying better water-man-
agement practices. WasserMed’s main goal is 
to gain insight into climate change adaptation 
measures and strategies that would alleviate 
potential water-related security threats.

the project’s goals, its achievements to date 
and the expected impact on future decision-
making in the Mediterranean.

What are the main objectives of the 
project?
The WasserMed project is analysing issues 
of  water  security  and  availability  in  the 
Mediterranean, in relation to climate change 
and  socio-economic  dynamics.  This  was 
flagged as an important issue in FP7 since 
most global climate models consistently pre-
dict signiﬁ cant reductions of precipitation in 
the Mediterranean, an area which is already 
aﬀ ected by water scarcity.

On 21 February, project scientists presented 
the  results  of  their  five  case  studies  car-
ried out in Italy, Tunisia, Greece, Egypt and 
Jordan. research*eu results magazine inter-
views Professor Roberto Roson, WasserMed’s 
scientiﬁ c coordinator, to ﬁ nd out more about 

What is new or innovative about 
how the project has addressed water 
availability?
The  project  is  truly  interdisciplinary,  and 
adopts a peculiar approach in two ways. First, 
it involves policy-makers and stakeholders 

from the early stages of the research. Then, it 
considers a broader, macroeconomic scale of 
analysis, much beyond the usual unit of river 
basin/catchment.

What difficulties have you 
encountered and how have you 
solved them?
Interdisciplinary  research  is  always  dif-
ficult  in  practice.  People  from  different 
backgrounds use diﬀ erent languages, meth-
odologies and ‘philosophies’. In particular, a 
recurrent issue in our project was the need 
to 'zoom' in and out in terms of spatial and 
temporal scale. For example, we used both 
hydrologic  models  that  typically  refer  to 
small catchment areas and daily (or even 
hourly) values, and macroeconomic models 
that are based on national accounts, consid-
ering years as time units.

>

 
 
 
22

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

ENVIRO NMENT AN D  SOCIE TY

What concrete results have been 
achieved so far?
Of course, we have the usual scientiﬁ c/aca-
demic products like papers, etc. In addition, 
results from WasserMed have become key 
ingredients  of  policy  packages  in  some  of 
our  case  study  areas.  For  example,  in  the 
Nile river delta around the city of Rosetta, 
WasserMed  meetings  between  research-
ers and stakeholders (in particular, from the 
Ministry of Water Resources) have directly 
contributed to the local planning process. 

We have also highlighted some important eﬀ ects 
associated with impacts of changing water avail-
ability in strategic sectors of the Mediterranean 
economy, like agriculture and tourism.

How can your research help to tackle 
an issue with so many variables?
I would say that 'consciousness' is the key-
word.  Precisely  because  the  problem  is  so 
complex, I hope we have made a contribu-
tion towards the need to consider the issue of 
future water availability in the Mediterranean 
from a broader, holistic perspective.

How do water availability, security 
issues and socio-economic factors 
affect one another in this region?
The global picture presents diﬀ erences between 
the North and South Mediterranean. Northern 
countries  will  likely  feel  the  reduction  in 

precipitation and surface water (run-oﬀ ), with 
possible implications for agricultural product-
ivity. However, a number of adaptation meas-
ures could successfully be undertaken. These 
include enhanced irrigation methods, antici-
pated sowing or shortened growing periods for 
various crops.

In the South, we have countries that are used 
to living with little water and, paradoxically, 
they are less vulnerable to reduced precipita-
tion, which has always been scarce anyway. In 
those countries, however, the most problematic 
aspect is the competition for water resources 
induced by rapid demographic and economic 
growth  (e.g.  in  Egypt),  although  this  is  not 
directly linked to climate change. This is likely 
to exacerbate conﬂ icts and to make the preser-
vation of aquatic ecosystems very diﬃ  cult. 

What do you think could happen if 
mentalities do not change?
Honestly, I do not know. I think the mentali-
ties will have to change, as water is such an 
essential resource. The real point is whether 
or not we want to manage the change, rather 
than being forced by the events.

What are the next steps in the project, 
or next topics for your research?
From a formal point of view, the project ended 
in December 2012, but we have got a three-
month extension, during which we are planning 

More water, healthier communities

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Prof. Roberto Ronson, pictured left.

our final conference, one more workshop and 
ﬁ nalisation of the ﬁ nal report. Several papers, 
which are spin-offs of the project, are in the 
pipeline and WasserMed researchers will keep 
working on them until publication. In the longer 
term, I hope that new opportunities for research 
will emerge, in Europe or elsewhere, which will 
exploit the investment in human capital realised 
within WasserMed. I am referring, in particular, 
to the five or six graduate students (some of 
them now PhDs) who based much of their doc-
toral thesis on the research activities under-
taken during the three-year project.

1 

 ‘Water availability and security in Southern Europe and 
the Mediterranean’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Cooperation’ 
under the research theme ‘Environment’. 
For further information, see: http://www.wassermed.eu/

Tackling water scarcity in the Mediterranean region is no easy 
task, but a research initiative is exploiting powerful strategies 
and technologies to accomplish this goal.

Water  is  scarce  in  the  Mediter-
ranean region, where the sun domi-
nates,  and  helping  communities 
to  recycle  waste  water  properly 
has the potential to bring relief to 
millions.  The  EU-funded  project 
CB-WR-MED1  is  supporting  the 
Water Researches and Technologies 
Centre (CERTE) in Tunisia to achieve 
this aim. It is positioning CERTE 
as a global centre of excellence, 
encouraging partnerships within 
the country, increasing collabor-
ation  with  European  initiatives 
and responding to socio-economic 
needs for more water.

The project is helping the Centre 
work with European institutions 
and become part of the European 
Research  Area  (ERA),  with  the 
ultimate aim of protecting and 

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reusing water. This would involve 
new  treatment  and  sanitation 
technologies and strategies, the 
success of which could then be 
transmitted  to  other  countries 
around the Mediterranean.

To achieve these ambitious goals, 
CB-WR-MED is building a national 
water  database  and  develop-
ing  indicators  for  water  quality, 
in  addition  to  advancing  water 
use and waste water use in agri-
culture.  The  team  is  examining 
strategies for saving and reusing 
surface water and ground water, 
including sustainable desalination. 
Environmental impact is also being 
considered, with a focus on water 
footprints, the role of water in the 
green economy, and impacts of cli-
mate change on natural resources.

Water  experts  and  the  project 
team  are  also  reinforcing  the 
Centre's capabilities and designing 
tools to improve water governance, 

as well as building synergies with 
related projects and programmes. 
The project has organised several 
workshops and training sessions 
on specific water-related topics 
and on joining EU initiatives. It has 
also facilitated funding opportuni-
ties for water-related projects in 
Tunisia  to  raise  participation  of 
the country’s researchers and of 
CERTE in EU-driven projects.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
the Centre de Recherches et des 
Technologies des Eaux in Tunisia.

1 

 ‘Capacity building for direct water reuse 
in the Mediterranean area’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Capacities’ under 
the theme ‘Horizontal actions 
and measures in support of 
international cooperation’ (INCO). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace 
> search > offers > 10115

 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

23

ENVIRONM ENT AND SOCIETY

A participatory approach to better water management

The challenges of water scarcity on a global level have scientists seeking out innovative ways to 
better manage existing resources as well as the agricultural practices in impacted communities.

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The Sirius1 project aims to de velop 
and provide user-driven services 
for eﬃ  cient resource management 
in water-scarce environments. It 
focuses  on  water  for  food  pro-
duction from the perspective of 
sustainable agriculture. Partners 
are approaching their objectives 
in the context of integrated river-
basin management with a view to 
bridging and integrating sustain-
able development and economic 
competitiveness.

Among the services to be devel-
oped  for  water  managers  and 
food producers are maps detail-
ing irrigation water requirements 
in different areas, and estimates 
of  crop  water  consumption.  In 
addition, Sirius is working to oﬀ er 
information products supporting 

sustainable use of irrigation water 
and management under conditions 
of scarcity and drought.

In  the  first  year  of  the  project, 
the foundations were established 
for collaboration with stakehold-
ers and core users identified for 
each pilot area. The work centred 
on developing and consolidating 
the required technical and social 
tools, data and frameworks. Pilot-
scheme case studies were started 
in countries representative of the 
variety of conditions found world-
wide.  They  cover  Brazil,  Egypt, 
India, Italy, Mexico, Romania, Spain 
and Turkey.

Researchers  are  integrating 
‘Public participatory geographic 
information systems’ (PPGIS) and 

social multi-criteria evaluation to 
develop a ‘Global monitoring for 
environment and security’ (GMES) 
service that accounts for the eco-
nomic,  environmental,  political, 
social and technical dimensions of 
the food-water challenge.

It is hoped that such integration 
will strengthen the participatory 
process and lay the foundations 
for community involvement in the 
evaluation of Sirius services and 
their sustainable implementation. 
Notably, the ‘System of participa-
tory information, decision support, 
and expert knowledge for irriga-
tion and river-basin water man-
agement’ (Spider) — which was 
developed in the Sixth Framework 
Programme (FP6) Pleiades2 pro-
ject  —  has  been  adapted  for 
global  application.  The  system 
is designed to be easily installed 
and  configured  by  the  project 
partners  responsible  for  each 
pilot-scheme area.

Team members have developed 
and  refined  a  detailed  Spider 
Training Kit and consolidated and 
documented a portfolio of Earth 
Observation  (EO)  products  and 
methodology.  Furthermore,  a 
framework has been outlined for 
the sustainable implementation 

of Sirius services. It integrates all 
aspects of sustainability assess-
ment  into  a  common  simple 
system  of  indicators,  including 
socio-economic analysis, climate 
variability assessment and water 
footprints.

Sirius  plans  to  complement 
Spider by including an ‘Integrated 
irrigation  water-management 
service’  (IWMS),  ‘Integrated 
drought-management  service’ 
(IDMS) and ‘Integrated farm advi-
sory  service’  (IFAS).  These  new 
technologies for better irrigation-
water  management  have  the 
potential  to  prevent  or  resolve 
conﬂ ict arising from water scarcity 
and related dwindling resources.

The project is coordinated by the 
University of Castilla-La Mancha 
in Spain.

1 

2 

 ‘Sustainable irrigation water 
management and river-basin 
governance: implementing user-
driven services’.
 ‘Participatory multi-level 
EO-assisted tools for irrigation 
water management and 
agricultural decision-support’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9957

Water robots home in on pollution 

Cutting-edge technology has enabled a team of experts to build 
remote buoys and robot platforms incorporating miniaturised 
sensors. Capable of identifying pollution types and measuring 
concentrations  in  large  bodies  of  water,  it  represents  an 
inge nious advance for environmental monitoring.

Climate  change,  challenges  to 
biodiversity and diﬀ erent forms 
of  pollution  are  increasingly 
menacing our rivers, lakes and 
seas. Scientists have been look-
ing for ways to monitor our bod-
ies of water more eﬀ ectively, and 
many new relevant technologies 
have  emerged  in  recent  years. 

The EU-funded project Hydronet1 
has come up with one of these 
highly  promising  technologies. 
It  brought  together  experts  in 
environmental science, biology, 
chemistry,  robotics  and  sensor 
systems from Israel, Italy, Russia, 
Slovenia and Switzerland.

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24

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

ENVIRO NMENT AN D  SOCIE TY

The project designed a floating 
platform based on microelectron-
ics and micro-fabrication sensor 
technology (i.e. miniature sensors 
that are integrated in a network 
of  independent  floating  robots 
and ﬁ xed buoys). The sensors are 
embedded in an ambient intel-
ligent infrastructure for interac-
tive  configuration,  tasking  and 
monitoring.

Laboratory tests and field tests 
were conducted to demonstrate 
the success of the prototype. Once 
the testing period was success-
fully completed, the team met with 
end-users such as environmental 

protection  agencies  and  coast 
guard  authorities.  It  contacted 
ports, ocean surveyors and gov-
ernments who wanted to upgrade 
their environmental monitoring.

The  project  developed  a  cata-
maran robot to monitor coastal 
areas  and  lakes,  as  well  as  a 
flatboat  robot  for  rivers  and 
lagoons where the water is shal-
lower. The robots feature syringe 
samplers and a physical probe to 
collect water at diﬀ erent depths. 
The  accumulated  samples  are 
then  processed  by  the  sen-
sor  devices  to  measure  levels 
of  pollutants  such  as  mercury, 

cadmium, chromium and petro-
leum hydrocarbons.

the  technology  has  been  fully 
exploited.

Hydronet  tested  the  robots  and 
buoys  in  different  Italian  sites, 
including the Gulf of Trieste, the 
Marano Lagoon and Isonzo River 
and  the  northern  sea  coast  of 
Tuscany. It also tested all wire-
less  and  radio  communications 
that control the robots remotely 
and  guide  them  autonomously 
to search for a pollution source. 
The project results have already 
reached  interested  key  parties 
through  publications  and  dedi-
cated  events,  promising  a  new 
area  in  water  monitoring  once 

The project was coordinated by 
the  Scuola  Superiore  di  Studi 
Universitari e Perfezionamento 
Sant’Anna in Italy.

1 

 ‘‘Floating sensorised networked robots 
for water monitoring’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Environment’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10299

Membrane bioreactor technology for safer water

Computer  modelling  has  been 
employed  to  design  modifica-
tions for the membranes already 
produced at partner companies. 
Laboratory  experiments  on 
the  modified  membranes  have 
yielded promising results. Partners 
have also begun studies on the 
functionalisation of membranes 
with anti-microbial agents.

Bionexgen  technology  should 
make  a  significant  impact  on 
decentralised  wastewater  re-
clamation and reuse in European 
and MENA countries.

Delivery  of  high-performance 
MBR technology could save mil-
lions of lives, many of them chil-
dren under the age of ﬁ ve lost to 
one of the scourges of the 21st 
century, lack of access to clean 
water and sanitation.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
Hochschule Karlsruhe - Technik 
und Wirtscha(cid:2)  in Germany.

1 

 ‘‘Development of the next-generation 
bioreactor system’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under 
the research theme ‘Nanosciences, 
nanotechnologies, materials and 
new production technologies’ (NMP). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace 
> search > offers > 9951

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Scientists  are  improving  waste-water-treatment  technology 
in  an  effort  that  should  help  to  facilitate  access  to  clean 
water for drinking and sanitation.

Water is essential for life. A per-
son can survive for about three 
weeks without food but will die 
in  three  days  without  water. 
Unfortunately,  drinking  con-
taminated  water  can  also  kill. 
Diarrhoea is little more than an 
inconvenience in the EU but, glob-
ally,  it  is  the  leading  cause  of 
death. Most deaths result from 
a lack of access to safe drinking 
water and basic sanitation.

A  technology  that  was  devel-
oped  around  45  years  ago  is 
now  seeing  rapid  growth  in  a 
variety  of  applications,  among 

them  waste-water  treatment. 
‘Membrane  bioreactor’  (MBR) 
technology relies on a combin-
ation of bacterial breakdown of 
waste and a membrane ﬁ ltration 
process to separate clean water 
from biological (organic) solids.

MBRs could contribute tremen-
dously  to  sustainable  water 
management  and  are  already 
being  used  in  a  variety  of 
industrial sectors in Europe, as 
well as in the Middle East and 
North  Africa  (MENA).  However, 
despite proven technical feasi-
bility, problems with membrane 

fouling  have  prevented  more 
widespread uptake.

A European consortium is devel-
oping a new class of low-fouling 
membranes  for  use  in  MBR, 
thanks  to  EU  funding  of  the 
Bionexgen1 project. The scientists 
are pursuing a concept to facili-
tate high and constant water ﬂ ux 
with excellent rejection of small 
organic pollutants and minimal 
energy consumption.

To date, the consortium has car-
ried  out  tests  on  waste  water 
contaminated with olive oil, tex-
tiles and cosmetics using exist-
ing MBR technology. In addition, 
lab tests with common industrial 
foulants  have  been  conducted 
using a ﬂ at sheet membrane.

 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

25

ENVIRONM ENT AND SOCIETY

Water needs of the future

Hydrological studies in the Mediterranean region can help pre-
empt future water shortages, provide tools to find alter native 
water sources and alleviate regional tension.

As the economic crisis deepens, 
Mediterranean governments are 
limiting their expenses, includ-
ing those which are essential to 
water-resource  management, 
agricultural  productivity  and 
even  drinking  water.  In  this 
context, the EU-funded project 
CLIMB1 is reducing uncertainty 
and  identifying  risks  through 
a  new  monitoring  and  model-
ling  system.  It  is  investigat-
ing  threats  such  as  droughts, 
ﬂ ooding, salinisation of coastal 
aquifers,  desertification  and 
soil degradation to protect the 
region's hydrology and pre-empt 
tensions  arising  from  water 
scarcity.

CLIMB is developing adaptation 
guidelines and initiatives based 
on true estimates and forecasts 
of hydrological changes, includ-
ing  natural  and  related  social 
impacts. It has already gathered 
the appropriate data to articu-
late  these  guidelines  through 

geophysical ﬁ eld campaigns and 
remote-sensing analyses, among 
other  efforts,  at  seven  differ-
ent sites. It has also encouraged 
data exchange through several 
workshops,  an  online  platform 
and a website publishing the lat-
est news, events and issues.

In  an  effort  to  boost  collab-
oration  in  the  field,  CLIMB 
h a s   t e a m e d   u p   w i t h   t w o 
other  EU  projects  (CLICO2  and 
WasserMed 3)  to  create  the 
‘Cliwasec’ research cluster. The 
cluster aims to publish science 
policy briefs from the results it is 
gathering, as well as a brochure 
and  a  scientific  paper  on  the 
topic. It is also working on data 
collection through sophisticated 
geophysical techniques such as 
‘electrical resistivity tomography’ 
(ERT), ‘ground-penetrating radar’ 
(GPR), ‘frequency-domain elec-
tromagnetics’ (FDEM) and micro-
gravimetry to identify important 
hydrological properties.

Such high-level cooperation will 
help  the  project  team  to  draft 
accurate  models  that  describe 
hydrological processes at catch-
ment level and to predict impacts 
of  climate  change.  The  results 
should  help  diffuse  tension 
among  Mediterranean  coun-
tries that share water resources 
and assist in preventing future 
shortages.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität 
München in Germany.

1 

2 

3 

 Climate induced changes on the 
hydrology of Mediterranean basins: 
Reducing uncertainty and quantifying risk 
through an integrated monitoring and 
modelling system’.
 ‘Climate change, hydro-conflicts and 
human security’.
 ‘Water availability and security in 
Southern Europe and the Mediterranean’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Environment’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9941

Making plants resistant to drought

A  major  reason  for  crop  losses  worldwide  is  water  shortage. 
An  international  initiative  aims  to  develop  new  strategies  for 
identifying  and  developing  plants  that  can  withstand  long  dry 
periods.

Water  scarcity  is  a  challenge 
faced by many countries around 
the world, especially during the 
summer season. Weather fore-
casts predict that climate change 
will  probably  exacerbate  this 
phenomenon.

It would, therefore, be desirable 
to  identify  or  develop  plants 
that could resist ﬂ uctuations in 
water levels and provide crops 
throughout  the  year.  To  this 
end,  the  EU-funded  DROPS 1 
project  is  planning  to  identify 

p l a n t   g e n o t y p e s   t h a t   a r e 
resistant to drought.

The  consortium  is  focusing  on 
four  plant  traits,  namely  seed 
abortion,  maintenance  of  veg-
etative  growth,  root-system 
architecture  and  transpiration 
eﬃ  ciency. The experiments cen-
tre  around  maize  and  durum 
wheat, as well as bread wheat 
and sorghum.

Field experiments are combined 
with  a  newly  developed  crop 

model  capable  of  estimating 
the  effects  of  various  alleles 
on crop growth, yield and effi-
ciency  of  water  usage.  Novel 
methods  are  being  used  for 
high-throughput  precise  phe-
notyping of traits. The collected 
data will lead to the estimation 

o f   t r a i t   h e r i t a b i l i t y   w i t h i n 
each  species  and  correlations 
between traits.

Identification  of  genes  and 
genomic  regions  involved  in 
these traits will form the 

basis  for  future  breeding  >

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26

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

ENVIRO NMENT AN D  SOCIE TY

programmes of specific geno-
types, thereby saving time and 
money.  By  understanding  the 
physiology  of  plant  responses 
to water stress, the DROPS pro-
ject  will  improve  the  breeding 
of  crop  plants  better  fitted  to 
stressful climate conditions.

Using the ‘Agricultural produc-
tion systems simulator’ (APSIM) 
m o d e l l i n g   f r a m e w o r k ,   t h e 

project  partners  are  obtaining 
genotypic parameters and col-
lecting information to simulate 
the  position  of  the  crop  cycle 
(sowing, flowering and harvest 
dates) all over Europe. Climatic 
data have been collected in 55 
sites and simulations based on 
changing  climates  have  been 
included,  thereby  making  it 
possible to estimate the conse-
quences  of  genetic  variability 

in  current  and  future  climate 
conditions.

Dissemination of the project’s 
deliverables will help breeders 
choose the appropriate pheno-
typic traits and genotypes suit-
able for a particular European 
region. This is expected to sig-
nificantly  reduce  crop  losses 
and  benefit  the  agriculture-
based economy in the region.

The project is coordinated by the 
Institut National de la Recherche 
Agronomique in France.

1 

 ‘Drought-tolerant yielding plants’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Food, agriculture and 
fisheries, and biotechnology’ (KBBE). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace 
> search > offers > 10252

Impact of climate change on freshwater ecosystems

A consortium of environmental scientists and biologists are 
studying  Europe’s  freshwater  ecosystems  to  find  how  best 
to protect them and the biodiversity they support from the 
impacts of climate change.

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The  Refresh1  project  is  help-
ing  water-resource  managers 
design cost-effective restoration 
programmes for fresh water eco-
systems. The initiative also consid-
ers future climate and land-use 
change  within  the  context  of 
the  European  Union’s  Water 
Framework Directive (WFD) and 
Habitats Directive (HD). The WFD 
commits Member States to achiev-
ing  a  good  status  for  all  water 
bodies  by  prescribing  the  steps 
that need to be taken, whereas the 
HD aims to protect habitats and 
species.

A clear understanding of how fresh-
water ecosystems will respond to 
climate change is essential if they 
are to be shielded from its eﬀ ects. 
However, freshwater ecosystems 
are  also  vulnerable  to  pollution, 
changes in land use and the grow-
ing demand for water. Refresh will 
provide  scientists  with  a  clearer 
understanding  of  the  challenge 
they  face,  thereby  enabling  the 
necessary measures to be imple-
mented. The focus is on the three 
principal climate-related factors: 
increasing temperature, changes in 
water level and ﬂ ow, and excessive 
nutrients.

The  initiative’s  main  objective 
is  to  develop  a  process-based 
evaluation  of  the  necessary 
measures  needed  to  minimise 
the eﬀ ects of climate change on 
freshwater quantity, quality and 
biodiversity. It also builds upon 
the achievements of the earlier 
EU Sixth Framework Programme 
(FP6) project Euro-Limpacs2 which 
examined the direct and indirect 

impacts  of  climate  change  on 
European freshwater ecosystems.

Project partners have produced 
and published two reviews con-
cerning adaptation strategies in 
freshwater management. Climate 
and  land-use  change  scen-
arios have also been generated, 
together  with  a  case  study  of 
land-use change in the River Dee 
catchment  in  Scotland,  which 
links socio-economic drivers with 
climate change scenarios. In add-
ition, researchers have developed 
a toolkit for investigating quan-
titative  land-use  change.  The 
ﬁ rst case study of cost-eﬀ ective 
adaptation  measures  to  cope 
with  the  anticipated  effects  of 
climate and land-use change has 
also been published for the River 
Thames catchment area.

Policy-makers  and  implement-
ers were invited to a workshop in 
London to discuss future changes 
and challenges to the WFD and 
HD.  Workshops  were  also  held 
in Scotland and Greece, for local 
stakeholders from the River Dee 
and the River Louros catchments, 
respectively, in order to identify 
potential  barriers  to  the  imple-
mentation of water-management 
legislation.

Refresh  researchers  simulated 
natural conditions by conducting 
field experiments to investigate 
biological responses to climate-
induced changes in lakes, includ-
ing the effects of fish predation 
and increases in temperature and 
nutrients. Sampling strategies and 
protocols were also developed for 

 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

27

ENVIRONM ENT AND SOCIETY

carrying out drought and flood-
ing experiments in the ﬁ eld.

Data  necessary  for  modelling 
was collected in order to deter-
mine  the  relationship  between 
water  quality  and  ecologi-
cal  measures  at  various  sites. 
Models have also been used to 
determine organic carbon con-
centrations, hydrology and water 
quality. In addition, researchers 

are developing ecological indi-
cators  for  water-quality  mod-
els,  a  model  for  predicting  the 
effects of climate and land use 
change on macro-invertebrates 
in lowland streams, and a model 
for riparian wetlands and seed 
dispersal.

Thanks to Refresh scientists, pol-
icy-makers now have a clearer 
picture of the changes that will 

occur  in  the  freshwater  envir-
onment  as  a  result  of  climate 
change,  and  of  the  steps  that 
need  to  be  taken  to  mitigate 
their impact.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
University College London in the 
United Kingdom.

1 

2 

 ‘Adaptive strategies to mitigate 
the impacts of climate change on 
European freshwater ecosystems’.
 ‘Integrated project to evaluate the 
impacts of global change on European 
freshwater ecosystems’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Environment’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10068

More than water

How water interacts with different elements around it, such as soil, ice and structures can reveal much about evolving 
climate patterns and help find ways to address global warming.

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With  an  increase  in  natural 
disasters  brought  about  by 
global  warming,  researchers 
are constantly trying to unravel 
climate-related  phenomena 
so  as  to  manage  events  such 
as  floods  and  hurricanes.  The 
EU-funded project Hydralab IV1 
is  improving  access  to  rele-
vant  research  infrastructures 
in Europe to deepen our under-
standing of climate change.

Under  the  theme  ‘More  than 
water’, the initiative is consolidat-
ing all efforts of the first three 
Hydralab  projects  to  create  a 
superlative network of research 
infrastructures. Topics that con-
verge  under  this  powerful  new 
platform  include  water,  envir-
onment, sediment, structures and 
ice,  which  represent  the  latest 
changes in hydraulic research and 

interaction of all these elements. 
This enables researchers to con-
duct  high-quality  research  in  a 
simpler and more cost-effective 
manner, reinforcing the European 
knowledge triangle of research, 
education and innovation.

To  achieve  its  aims,  the  pro-
ject  is  articulating  methods  to 
exploit  research  tools  on  sev-
eral  fronts,  for  example  ex-
perimental,  theoretical  and 
numerical.  Another  important 
objective is to transfer cutting-
edge  knowledge  to  the  next 
generation  of  young,  skilled 
researchers across Europe.

As part of its drive to communi-
cate information to stakehold-
ers, Hydralab IV has organised 
two key events and three work-
shops that deal with developing 

experimental  hydraulic  infra-
structure in the future. It is also 
updating  and  improving  the 
Hydralab website in addition to 
disseminating results of recent 
experiments  to  stakeholders, 
many  of  which  are  being  con-
ducted under Hydralab IV, such 
as on sediment ﬂ ow and envir-
onmental  threats  associated 
with  bodies  or  manifestations 
of  water  such  as  rivers,  lakes, 
ﬂ oods and rainstorms.

After  facilitating  access  to 
its  infrastructure,  the  project 
released a call for project pro-
posals  and  received  over  60 
responses,  half  of  which  will 
be  supported.  These  new  con-
solidated  facilities,  along  with 
their  cutting-edge  equipment 
and comprehensive databases, 
will help the European research 

community make great strides 
i n   u n d e r s t a n d i n g   h y d r a u l i c 
mechanisms on our planet. They 
will  certainly  contribute  valu-
able  material  to  the  European 
Research Area’s (ERA) eﬀ orts to 
tackle environmental challenges 
and climate change.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by  Stichting  Deltares  in  the 
Netherlands.

1 

 'More than water; dealing with the 
complex interaction of water with 
environmental elements, sediment, 
structures and ice’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Capacities’ under the theme ‘Research 
infrastructures’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10042

 
 
28

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

ENVIRO NMENT AN D  SOCIE TY

Is bathing in lakes and rivers a thing of the past?

Water is well known for its tendency to carry bacteria, and can 
play a key role in the transmission of noroviruses, one of the main 
causes  of  gastroenteritis  among  adults.  But  if  climate  change 
impacts water availability, how would this affect the occurrence 
of such diseases? The Viroclime project set out to investigate this.

some  clinical  virological  tech-
niques  to  environmental  situ-
ations. At that time, it was clear 
that  people  were  becoming  ill 
through recreational water activ-
ities and that water companies 
were not doing enough to clean 
up the effluents. I thought that 
it  was  time  to  start  develop-
ing methods and techniques for 
measuring these viruses, to put 
any regulations and decisions on 
a ﬁ rm scientiﬁ c basis.  A UK Water 
Virology Group started in 1980 
and, with groups from other coun-
tries around the world, we made 
significant progress in uncover-
ing  the  picture  of  enteric  virus 
pollution of recreational waters 
and water used for drinking a(cid:2) er 
appropriate treatment.

What are Viroclime's main 
objectives?
Viroclime  is  actually  a  follow-
up  to  an  FP6  project  named 
Virobathe,  which  developed 
inter-laboratory  methods  for 
the detection of human patho-
genic viruses in water. Viroclime 
takes the Virobathe techniques 
forward to allow for quantiﬁ ca-
tion of the viruses, which is very 
important for two reasons. First, 
for  the  EU’s  Revised  Bathing 
Water Directive to be scientifi-
cally sound in this regard, and 
secondly because it is generally 
recognised that most diseases 
caused  by  polluted  water  are 
viral,  not  bacterial.  Therefore, 
we  really  need  to  know  where 
these  viruses  come  from,  how 
long  they  persist  and  whether 
they actually constitute a risk to 
human health.

V i r o c l i m e   i s   b a s e d   o n   a n 
18-month  surveillance  pro-
gramme of four diﬀ erent sites in 
Europe that are considered sen-
tinel  environments  for  climate 
change, as well as the centre of 
the Amazonian forest in Brazil. 
We focused on rainfall changes, 
asked  computer  modellers  to 

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Dr Peter Wyn-Jones

While taking an improvised bathe 
in  a  nearby  lake  or  river  may 
have sounded like a great idea to 
previous generations, concerns 
over  water-induced  diseases 
have pushed the scientiﬁ c com-
munity to start questioning this 
practice. Faecal waste, be it from 
agriculture, industry or sanitary 
sources, is the focus of their con-
cern as it can cause widespread 
water pollution when not treated 
properly.

The Viroclime1 project has been 
looking  into  the  occurrence  of 
noro- and adenoviruses in water, 
as well as possible changes in 
their presence in areas suscep-
tible to climate change. Over a 
period of 18 months, research-
ers surveyed riverine sites in ﬁ ve 
different locations. They aimed 
to  determine  the  quantities  of 
target viruses and their sources, 
and to estimate the risk of dis-
ease  associated  with  climate-
related changes. 

A couple of days before the pro-
ject’s final conference in Cardiff, 
UK, the research*eu results mag-
azine had the chance to interview 
Dr Peter-Wyn Jones, coordinator 
of the Viroclime project. 

What first drew you to 
research in this area?
I’ve  been  doing  water  virol-
ogy since 1980. I was drawn to 
it from clinical virology, when I 
realised it was possible to apply 

model the sites’ hydrology and 
to make predictions on how virus 
conditions may change.

What are the lessons 
learned from the project 
so far?
Viroclime targeted two kinds of 
viruses: adenoviruses and norovi-
ruses. Adenoviruses are very use-
ful indicators and fairly easy to 
find, while noroviruses probably 
account for most of the illnesses 
related to recreational water use. 
The latter are more difficult to 
ﬁ nd and measure because fewer 
people  will  be  shedding  them 
at any one time. However if you 
have  many  people  infected  in 
the same town, there is a good 
chance we will ﬁ nd noroviruses in 
the water.

Our  modelling  team  tried  to 
determine  the  occurrence  of 
noroviruses as a result of dif-
ferent climate change scenarios. 
This  information  is  still  being 
processed, but we have already 
found that the risk is not greatly 
enhanced at most of our study 
sites.  This  may  be  because 
there  isn’t  much  change  in 

the  exposure  value  as  peo-
ple  don’t  usually  modify  their 
recreational use of water and, 
to  a  great  extent,  viruses  are 
diluted. However, we do expect 
to see changes in river and lake 
levels  over  the  next  15  to  50 
years. We still have some way 
to go to ﬁ nalise our risk assess-
ment,  and  we  may  still  have 
some surprises over the next six 
months or so.

How is this project a 
step forward for water 
virology?
There  are  two  major  contribu-
tions, the ﬁ rst being in the area 
of  microbial  source-tracking 
which helps us identify the origin 
of pollution and whether it is due 
to human or animal sources. We 
have  developed  and  enhanced 
highly speciﬁ c probes for various 
viruses so that we can discrimi-
nate  between  cattle,  sheep  or 
bird viruses, and human viruses. 
Using  these  probes  we  can 
already identify speciﬁ c sources 
and we should soon be able to 
say  how  much  of  the  pollution 
at a particular site is human and 
how much is animal.

The FIOCRUZ team, sampling from the beach environment close 
to Manaus, Brazil

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research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

29

ENVIRONM ENT AND SOCIETY

have been possible in the UK. In 
Virobathe, we had 16 laborato-
ries across Europe, which allowed 
u s   t o   e x p e r i e n c e   d i f fe r e n t 
approaches to how sewage and 
water are treated, and how regu-
latory parameters are applied in 
different Member States. It was 
also really nice to see how water 
virology has developed in diﬀ er-
ent EU countries.  

You have been involved 
in both Virobathe and 
Viroclime, so what is the 
next step?
Personally,  I  would  say  let’s 
just wait a moment and do the 
basic scientiﬁ c studies on inter-
actions between different kinds 
of  viruses  and  different  com-
ponents  in  the  concentration 
process  referred  to  earlier.  In 
the US, a paper was published in 
which they suggest that differ-
ent viruses behave diﬀ erently in 
the concentration process. This is 
something which I have believed 
for a long time. If, for example, 
you try to concentrate enterovi-
ruses, then they will behave dif-
ferently  from  noroviruses  and 
adenoviruses. They may not be 
concentrated  as  efficiently  by 
only one single process. 

From  a  consortium  point  of 
view,  the  next  challenge  is  to 
refine approaches to sampling 
and concentration, and then to 
ascertain  which  virus  should 
be used as a viral indicator. In 
the old Bathing Water Directive 
(1976), the enterovirus param-
eter  was  used  as  indicators 
because enteroviruses could be 
detected  in  sewage,  following 
on  from  work  on  the  develop-
ment of poliomyelitis vaccine in 
the 1940s. Now it is thought that 
adenovirus would be a better can-
didate, although more evidence 
is  still  needed  to  support  this, 
and  I  think  this  is  where  other 
colleagues would want to go.

1 

 ‘Impact of climate change on the 
transport, fate and risk management 
of viral pathogens in water’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Environment’. 
For further information, see: 
http://www.viroclime.org/

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A member of the sampling team from the Umeå University in Sweden, close to the Umeå river

The second highlight is that we 
have created the largest dataset 
in Europe, and possibly the world, 
of  the  virological  surveillance 
of water. Almost 2000 samples 
were analysed for at least two 
viruses and in many cases three 
or four viruses. This has not been 
attempted before and contrasts 
quite  dramatically  with  other 
surveillance programmes based 
on  small  numbers  of  samples. 
This dataset will be made avail-
able on the Viroclime website for 
interested scientists to use.

What are the main 
difficulties you faced?
The most difficult thing for us 
was  to  ensure  the  reproduc-
ibility  of  the  method.  Unlike 

bacteriologists,  who  have  had 
100 years to get this right, our 
discipline is still relatively young. 
The techniques we use to con-
centrate  viruses  in  the  water 
and detect them are very good 
as presence/absence methods, 
and  Viroclime  has  gone  some 
way  to  making  them  repro-
ducible across laboratories for 
delivering  reliable  concentra-
tion data. However, we think it 
is still too soon to propose the 
method  for  regulatory  use,  as 
this  requires  consistent  repro-
ducibility  between  accredited 
laboratories.  

To  achieve  this,  it  will  be  ne-
cessary to understand better the 
nature of the physico-chemical 

interactions  between  different 
v i r u s e s   a n d   e n v i r o n m e n t a l 
matrices, and between viruses 
and  the  matrices  used  in  con-
centration processes. It is likely 
that  these  interactions  will  be 
different for different kinds of 
virus,  and  it  may  be  that  con-
centration  methods  will  have 
to be tailored to each particular 
virus  type.  We  will  only  know 
more when some fundamental 
studies have been done.

What were the main 
advantages of making this 
an EU project?
For Viroclime, we needed trans-
European participation to cover 
most  types  of  climate-sus-
ceptible  areas.  This  would  not 

 
30

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

IT AND TELE CO MMUNI CATI ONS

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A boost to your mobile signal

When using your mobile phone, it does not take much to lose that precious signal — just walking around a corner or getting 
on a train can be enough. EU-funded research is developing new technologies to eradicate those annoying ‘black holes’ in 
wireless coverage while, at the same time, freeing up some mobile network capacity.

We live in a 24/7, always-on, mobile and wire-
less world. Wherever we go we are connected 
— to each other, to the web, to all our favourite 
apps, to whatever data we need, exactly when 
we need it. 

Or so we like to think. The reality is quite diﬀ er-
ent. There are corners of our homes where the 
web will not work. There are black spots in towns 
and huge holes in the wireless network in more 
remote areas. Coverage is far from complete. 

To  compound  the  problem,  even  when  they 
have a good signal, smartphones o(cid:2) en struggle 
to download the data they need because the 
mobile networks are saturated. The airwaves 
are at full capacity. 

telephony cells that improve both connectivity 
and coverage at a local level. 

Better signals 
The principle is quite simple. Instead of mobile 
operators having to invest millions in powerful 
long-range base stations to extend coverage 
over a wide area, they can move mobile con-
nections to more localised small cells. A resi-
dential femtocell, for example, would improve 
coverage  for  just  one  house,  or  perhaps 
a block of ﬂ ats. A commercial small cell might 
boost mobile connectivity for a whole office 
while a mobile femtocell could provide pas-
sengers on public transport with a strong and 
static signal (sparing their battery and eradi-
cating sudden drops in signal). 

Europe has always been at the forefront of in-
novation in telecommunications and a pioneer 
of the next generation of mobile technologies. 
So watch out for ‘femtocells’ — small mobile 

Femtocells are far more than mobile booster 
stations; they can also help to divert data traf-
ﬁ c oﬀ  the mobile airwaves. This oﬄ  oading cre-
ates more network capacity. Wired into the ﬁ xed 

line broadband network, a femtocell can reroute 
data and voice traﬃ  c down wires, freeing up 
the precious airwaves for even more traﬃ  c. 

Fast forward 
Signiﬁ cant research is still required to turn these 
practical ideas into reality. There are so many 
dots to join up. How do you prevent femtocell 
signals from interfering with signals to and from 
main base stations? How do you decide whether 
to route connections through ﬁ xed lines? What 
protocols should you use in the layers of the 
‘communications stack’? 

The FP7 Befemto1 project unites several industry 
giants in mobile telecommunications equipment, 
mobile operators, small companies with key 
technologies and several technology R&D organ-
isations to solve these issues and demonstrate 
prototype femtocells at work. 

>

 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

31

IT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

‘Europe recognises that mobile connectivity is a 
powerful social and economic driver,’ explains 
Dr Thierry Lestable, the project coordinator. ‘EU 
support for the development of cheap technol-
ogies to enhance and boost innovative services 
is really important for growth, not just growth 
for telecoms manufacturers and providers, but 
for the entire economy. Most businesses rely 
now on mobility and permanent connectivity.’ 

‘By adding femtocells and small cells into the 
mobile network mix we make it possible for 
mobile operators to improve their spectrum 
efficiencies through heterogeneous networks 
(HetNets) and seamless integration of the ﬁ xed-
line telecoms network,’ Dr Lestable continues. 
‘But  this  rerouting  has  to  be  optimised  and 
intelligent. We have been developing and test-
ing self-managed femtocell connections which 
are programmed to pick their wireless protocols 
and frequencies and route traﬃ  c depending on 
a whole host of contextual data.’ 

Befemto has developed advanced cooperation, 
self-organising, healing and switching algorithms. 
The built-in intelligence allows femtocells to opti-
mise their use of radio frequencies (depending 
on traﬃ  c densities, for example) and ﬁ xed broad-
band networks. They can also communicate with 
macro-base stations without any interference or 
eﬀ ect on macro signal quality or capacity. 

‘These new algorithms allow femtocell networks 
to work together to provide top-quality coverage 
for users and support seamless, low-power and 
low-cost relief enhancement to the mobile ser-
vice,’ Dr Lestable remarks. ‘We are focusing on 
the newly launched “long-term evolution” (LTE) or 

“fourth generation” (4G) networks because cus-
tomers are paying a premium for these and will 
expect a true broadband experience: fast, reliable 
and unlimited access to everything everywhere. 
Femtocells and small cells will allow operators 
to meet these expectations and lower their oper-
ational costs at the same time.’ 

Active all areas 
The  project  partners  have  applied  for  an 
impressive  12  patents  for  the  technologies 
developed within the project. These patents 
range  from  novel  network-monitoring  soft-
ware to mobile traﬃ  c optimisation algorithms. 
The project has also improved radio-frequency 
front-end technology to improve signal qual-
ity and reduce interference between femtocells 
and other wireless devices. 

On the international stage, Befemto has played 
an important role in proposing and support-
ing industry standards for femtocell protocols 
and the mechanisms for migrating data traﬃ  c 
between mobile, WiFi and fixed-line architec-
tures. The project partners have made a total 
of 27 direct contributions to the ‘3rd Generation 
Partnership Project’ (3GPP), the international 
standards organisation for mobile technology. 

They have also held five international work-
shops worldwide and run two training sessions 
to share the project’s ﬁ ndings and build a com-
mon understanding of these technologies within 
the community. To date, the partners have pub-
lished more than 70 international papers. 

The  Befemto  technologies  and  system 
architectures  have  been  tested  in  five  pilot 

demonstrations. Trial results show that fem-
tocells  significantly  reduce  load  on  mobile 
networks while boosting signal strength and 
quality at a local level. Work within the pro-
ject will support mobile operators to reach two 
major technical targets: high spectral eﬃ  ciency 
(8 bits/s/Hz per cell) — meaning more and bet-
ter use of scarce airwaves — and a maximum 
mean transmit power of 10 mW — for lower 
levels of interference. 

‘Most  importantly,  our  trials  also  prove  to 
mobile network operators that the small-cell 
model is a good one,’ says Dr Lestable. ‘We’ve 
looked at several different business models 
for their deployment; no matter which one you 
follow, femto- and small cells will save mobile 
operators money and help them to create value 
— a sure way to get them to market.’ 

It looks like that dream of 24/7 fast connectivity 
could be just around the corner — a corner that 
no longer gets in the way of your calls. 

The project was coordinated by Sagemcom SAS 
in France.

1  

‘Broadband evolved femto networks’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Cooperation’ 
under the research theme ‘Information and 
communication technologies’ (ICT). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > search > offers 
> 10272

Very small, high-power microwave devices

Scientists  are  developing  novel  devices  that  may  revolutionise  microwave  technology  applications  in  fields  such  as  radar, 
satellite communications and electronics.

M i c r o w a v e   o s c i l l a t o r s   a r e 
devices  that  generate  electro-
magnetic  radiation  at  micro-
wave frequencies. They are used 
in  radar  devices,  radio  broad-
casting,  satellite  communica-
tions and, of course, microwave 
ovens.

Nanoscience, the science of the 
incredibly  small  (on  the  scale 
of  atoms  and  molecules),  is 
impacting more and more ﬁ elds 
every  day.  Microwave  oscilla-
tors  are  no  exception.  Around 
20  years  ago,  scientists  pre-
dicted the ability to manipulate 

the  magnetisation  of  a  nano-
magnet  without  an  externally 
applied  magnetic  field.  They 
also suggested the system could 
undergo  sustained  oscillations 
at microwave frequencies under 
the appropriate conditions.

In less than 10 years, scientists 
had  already  directly  observed 
microwave  emissions  in  nano-
scale  devices  now  commonly 
called ‘Spin-transfer nano-oscil-
lators’ (STNOs). These are highly 
tuneable, very small and oper-
ational  over  a  wide  tem-

perature range. In addition,  >

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32

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

IT AND TELE CO MMUNI CATI ONS

they  are  relatively  easy  to 
manufacture in large quantities 
using  conventional  processing 
methods.

However, many challenges must 
be  overcome  for  widespread 
market uptake. Increasing power 
output  is  among  the  most  im-
portant.  European  scientists 
are  developing  techniques  to 
increase power conversion effi-
ciency  with  EU  funding  of  the 
Master1 project.

prerequisite for increasing power. 
Like frictionless springs, oscilla-
tors demonstrate periodic motion 
—  motion  that  repeats  over  a 
given time interval. The phase of 
oscillation is essentially the point 
in the cycle reached a(cid:2) er a given 
amount  of  time.  Many  oscilla-
tors are said to be in phase when 
they  are  exactly  at  the  same 
place at the same time — as in 
many  springs  bouncing  up  and 
down synchronously like dancers 
in a line.

Phase  of  oscillation  is  im-
portant in that synchronisation 
of many oscillators (arrays) is a 

Master’s main goal was to en-
gineer large arrays of coherently 
coupled  STNOs.  Investigators 

designed  and  fabricated  the 
STNO prototype device and com-
pared  four  different  coupling 
mechanisms between oscillators 
with locked phases. As a result, 
scientists identified the config-
uration  for  optimum  synchro-
nisation. They then studied the 
optimised  array  both  theoreti-
cally and experimentally.

The project successfully demon-
strated enhanced output power 
and  decreased  phase  noise  of 
an STNO device. During the ﬁ nal 
phase, the team plans to demon-
strate synchronisation of a device 
with an array of 10 STNOs.

The project was coordinated by 
the  Commissariat  à  l’Energie 
A t o m i q u e   e t   a u x   E n e r g i e s 
Alternatives in France.

1  

 ‘‘Microwave amplification by spin transfer 
emission radiation’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under 
the research theme ‘Nanosciences, 
nanotechnologies, materials and new 
production technologies’ (NMP). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 5921

Traffic management goes high-tech

Although wireless technology to enhance traffic management exists in limited forms, there is 
a need for a platform that consolidates disparate data sources and transmits them effectively 
to the relevant authorities.

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Managing  traffic  has  become 
easier with the advent of ‘global 
positioning  system’  (GPS)  and 
‘global system for mobile’ (GSM) 
technologies, used for example 
by  bus  companies  to  assess 
punctuality and service quality. 
But full data sharing with traﬃ  c 
control operators has not hap-
pened  yet  due  to  incompatible 
standards  and  lack  of  formal 
agreements among stakeholders.

services. The project worked on 
implementing the system in dif-
ferent locations worldwide, par-
ticularly for Athens in Greece and 
São Paulo in Brazil, as well as for 
Beijing  and  Shanghai  in  China. 
In a bid to minimise duplication 
of information and increase its 
availability, it aimed to facilitate 
data  for  transport  operators, 
research institutes and informa-
tion service providers.

The  EU-funded  project  Viajeo1 
designed a system that connects 
different data sources to facili-
tate  real-time  traffic  manage-
ment, improve transport planning 
and  enable  travel  information 

The  project  team  successfully 
outlined  the  system’s  require-
ments and speciﬁ cations, design-
ing a powerful open platform that 
interfaces with a wide range of 
mobility  services.  It  negotiated 

agreements  with  the  necessary 
data owners and secured access to 
key data sources in order to ensure 
integration of all the data required.

In Athens, the system has begun 
collecting real-time traﬃ  c infor-
mation for transport authorities, 
improving  taxi  management, 
facilitating multi-modal trip plan-
ning, promoting route navigation 
and extending real-time traffic 
services. In São Paulo, the plat-
form was installed to read data 
from  100  vehicles  in  order  to 
estimate real-time traﬃ  c condi-
tions, enhance safety standards, 
avoid congestion and assist trav-
ellers online.

As  for  Beijing,  the  system  has 
been  encouraging  the  use  of 
public transport, facilitating pas-
senger  information,  collecting 
travel  data,  forecasting  travel 
times and even highlighting safe 
cycling routes. Shanghai saw the 
system forecast bus arrival times 
and display them at bus stops, 
in addition to merging environ-
mental  data  with  traffic  infor-
mation to assess environmental 
impacts of road transport.

If  these  pilot  cases  catch  on 
and  stakeholders  adopt  the 
system  wholeheartedly,  it  may 
become  standard  technology 
in large cities, improving traffic 
control  and  commuter  comfort 
phenomenally.

The project was coordinated by 
the  European  Road  Transport 
Te l e m a t i c s   I m p l e m e n t a t i o n 
C o o r d i n a t i o n   O r g a n i s a t i o n 
(Ertico) in Belgium.

1  

 ‘International demonstrations of platform 
for transport planning and travel 
information’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Transport’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9972

 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

33

IT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Exploiting the potential of high-power electronics

New  high-power  transistors  require  novel  heat-dissipation  mechanisms  to  be  useful  in 
electronic devices. European scientists are developing the appropriate packaging.

into  new  designs.  However, 
increased power generation means 
increased heat generation. That 
heat must be dissipated to protect 
temperature-sensitive devices.

T h a n k s   t o   E U   f u n d i n g ,   t h e 
Agapac1  project  is  addressing 
this issue. The project team are 
developing advanced packaging 
technology  to  reduce  thermal 
resistance and therefore enhance 
heat dissipation. The technology 
should ensure that advantages 
at  the  component  level  can  be 
transferred  to  the  module  and 
equipment levels with a focus on 
space satellite applications.

Agapac’s partners are also work-
ing  to  establish  a  European 
supply chain for the packaging 
solutions,  given  that  the  tran-
sistor  technology  originated  in 
Japan and the United States.

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Reducing size and increasing per-
formance of electronic devices is 
of critical importance to space-
craft technology. Recently, amaz-
ing breakthroughs in microwave 
electronics have made high-power 
gallium nitride (GaN) transistors 
commercially  available.  Use  of 
such transistors in large devices 

has the potential to increase power 
density (ratio of output power to 
device size) by more than 10 times 
compared to previous devices.

Electronic  equipment  manufac-
turers  and  particularly  those  in 
the ﬁ eld of space applications are 
eager to integrate the technology 

Scientists have successfully pro-
duced the ﬁ rst Agapac prototype 
packages. Selection of novel ma-
terials including carbon nanoﬁ bres 
will facilitate testing of alterna-
tives for design optimisation.

Agapac should have a signiﬁ cant 
impact on European competitive-
ness  in  the  electronics  sector. 
GaN transistors are expected to 
see  strong  growth  in  the  near 
future.  Establishment  of  pack-
aging technologies independent 
of non-European manufacturers 
will stimulate that growth with 
important beneﬁ ts for the EU.

The project was coordinated by 
Thales Alenia Space in France.

1  

 Advanced GaN packaging’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10007

Computer ‘games’ could teach crisis management

Training, to learn the skills needed to effectively deal with air and sea transportation emergencies, 
will soon be available via realistic computer simulations that feature active role playing.

Crisis management in the ﬁ eld of 
air and sea transportation requires 
overcoming numerous challenges. 
Mobilising diverse and sometimes 
conflicting human resources and 
coordinating  them  cohesively 
under  extreme  time  pressure  is 
the  fundamental  pillar  of  suc-
cess. Simultaneously, crisis man-
agers are faced with ambiguities 
in or lack of information, as well as 
human issues such as emotional 
and cognitive difficulties induced 
by unexpected events.

Effective  crisis  management 
requires preparedness, and simu-
lation-based learning experiences 
provide  a  forum  to  master  the 
needed skills. A European consor-
tium initiated the EU-funded L4S1 
project to develop an innovative 
platform fostering collaborative 

competence  among  transporta-
tion crisis managers. In fact, L4S 
goes beyond this by providing tools 
to train managers, organisations, 
employees and the broader public.

The  project  has  developed  the 
‘Advanced Collaboration in Crisis 
Management’  (ACCM)  frame-
work, which consists of ﬁ ve ACCM 
simulation games. Together, they 
address  competency  in  high-
performance  collaboration  dur-
ing  crisis,  individual  leadership, 
decision-making in diverse teams 
facing  a  crisis  and  barriers  to 
eﬀ ective crisis management. Users 
participate in realistic role-play-
ing incidents in which they learn 
through experience.

L4S prototypes have been tested 
by nearly 500 pilot users resulting 

in valuable input for optimisation. 
Additional pilot and commercial 
activities  are  planned  engaging 
hundreds  more  players  and  a 
detailed market analysis has been 
carried out. A multilevel exploit-
ation plan has been defined for 
execution at project completion.

The project L4S has clearly dem-
onstrated  the  platform’s  high 
potential for important impact in 
crisis management in the air and 
sea transportation sectors. L4S’ 
ultimate aim is to extend and cus-
tomise the platform to other crit-
ical infrastructures such as energy, 
financial  services  and  the  food 
industry. The consortium also plans 
to incorporate deployment modes 
such as smartphones and other 
hand-held devices.

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The  project  was  coordinated 
by  Deloitte  Business  Solutions 
Anonymi  Etaireia  Symvoulon 
Epicheiriseon in Greece.

1  

 ‘Learning 4 security’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Information and 
communication technologies’(ICT). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10081

 
 
34

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

IT AND TELE CO MMUNI CATI ONS

Human-like lenses focus on mobile phone cameras

Scientists  are  mimicking  nature  to  develop  compressible  lenses  for  the  next  generation  of 
optical devices. Technology will be applicable to biomedical implants, mobile phone cameras 
and liquid crystal displays (LCDs).

and would enable enhancements 
in performance for such devices 
as  mobile  phone  cameras  and 
ﬂ exible LCD screens.

Scientists  are  developing  such 
technology  with  EU  funding  of 
the Parylens1 project. A previous 
Framework  Programme  project 
(Multipol2) demonstrated the use 
of a polymer thin ﬁ lm, ‘Parylene’, 
deposited  on  liquid  surfaces  to 
hermetically seal the liquid without 
deforming it.

External forces, from either the 
body’s eye muscles or transpar-
ent conductive electrodes — using 
electrically  activated  polymers 
(EAPs) — can then deform the lens 
to change its focal length. The pro-
ject team set out to develop the 
appropriate flexibility of the lens 
to enable this, while maintaining 
the many favourable properties of 
Parylene, including biocompatib-
ility, transparency and chemical 
non-reactivity (inertness).

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Lenses in optical instruments are 
currently rather standard fare for 
manufacturers.  They  are  hard 
materials made to see things of 
certain sizes at speciﬁ c ranges of 
distance.

The lens of the human eye, how-
ever, is deformable and made of 
tissues  that  can  change  shape 
in a process called accommoda-
tion to focus on virtually anything 
over large distances. Contraction 

and relaxation of small muscles 
attached to the lens change the 
curvature and thicken or ﬂ atten the 
lens as needed.

The  ability  to  mimic  nature’s 
capabilities  by  manufacturing 
ﬂ exible, tuneable lenses has excit-
ing  potential  for  a  number  of 
applications in biomedicine and 
consumer electronics. Such tech-
nology  is  directly  applicable  to 
‘intraocular lens’ (IOL) implants 

To date, the flexibility issue has 
been  addressed  and  nanopart-
icles have been deposited on the 
surface to make use of their anti-
bacterial properties. In addition, 
scientists have exploited a process 
(the  so-called  ‘sol-gel  process’) 
that  produces  a  wet,  solid-like 
material to make the liquid body 
of the lens compressible.

Finally,  a  first  prototype  of  a 
flexible LCD has been produced. 
Parylens is going beyond the state 
of the art in solid-on-liquid encap-
sulation, paving the way for the 
next generation of optical devices.

The project is being coordinated 
by the Haute Ecole Spécialisée de 
Suisse Occidentale in Switzerland.

1   ‘Parylene-based artificial smart lenses 
fabricated using a novel solid-on-liquid 
deposition process’.

2   ‘Multifunctional polymer materials and 

systems with tailored mechanical, electrical 
and optical properties’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials 
and new production technologies’ (NMP). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10036

Desktop printer for the nano world

European researchers have developed the first low-power, compact laser printer for three-
dimensional (3D) glass micro-components with nano-scale features. This paves the way for 
a new generation of home-made microelectronics.

The ground-breaking Femtoprint 
project attracted media attention 
through articles in Laser Focus 
World and the British newspaper 
The Independent.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by  the  Technical  University  of 
Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

EU-funded scientists have devel-
oped  a  desktop  printer  for  3D 
glass micro-components, opto-
ﬂ uidics and opto-mechanical sys-
tems. Thanks to the Femtoprint1 
project,  3D  patterns  can  now 
be etched into glass using low-
power femtosecond laser beams. 
These patterns can then be used 
to make integrated optical com-
ponents — or further formed into 
3D structures, such as microﬂ uid-
ics channels and micro-mechani-
cal components.

This  simple  process  can  be 
applied  to  a  variety  of  sys-
tems with micro- to nano-scale 

features  and,  in  particular, 
microsystems  that  combine 
optics, fluidics and mechanical 
functionalities in a single sub-
strate. This oﬀ ers unprecedented 
levels of integration compared 
to competing micro-fabrication 
processes.

The  size  of  a  big  shoebox,  the 
femtoprinter includes state-of-
the-art  laser  technology  and 
specialised components, such as 
laser-scanning heads. New pho-
tonics devices, including polarisa-
tion converters and transparent 
actuators, were also created for 
the femtoprinter.

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1  

 ‘Femtosecond laser printer for glass 
microsystems with nano-scale features’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials 
and new production technologies’ (NMP). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10221

 
 
 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

INDUSTRIA L TECH NO LOGIES

35

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Collecting water from thin air

Humans have been extracting liquid water from water vapour for centuries, but novel materials can improve the efficiency and 
capacity of techniques for capturing water from thin air. They are set to help meet the growing challenge of water shortages.

For  centuries,  Bedouins  and  other  desert 
dwellers have been using a variety of trad-
itional techniques to capture, and make usa-
ble, the water present as vapour in the air 
— such as collecting the dawn dew. It is even 
believed that the ancient city of Feodosiya in 
the Crimea used a sophisticated system of ‘air 
wells’ to gather water from the atmosphere.

With climate change being accompanied by 
a growing demand for water, more and more 
regions  of  the  world  are  becoming  water-
stressed, pushing scientists to bring vapour-
capturing technology into the 21st century.

One  promising  avenue  being  pursued  by 
the  EU-backed  CAPWA1  project  is  the  use 
of novel membranes to harvest water from 
industrial installations, namely power plants, 

water-cooling towers and paper mills. CAPWA 
is developing a commercially viable denim-
based  composite  membrane,  as  well  as 
exploring alternative coatings.

To date, the project has been running accord-
ing to plan, although there have been some 
teething problems with some membrane mod-
ules. CAPWA partners have decided on the size 
and capacity targets for the pilot membranes: 
100 litres per hour (L/hr) at a gas- and coal-
ﬁ red power plant, and 20 L/hr at paper mills in 
the Netherlands and South Africa.

Moreover, an alternative approach employing 
hydrophobic membranes will be tested in a 
cooling tower (which sits above a geothermal 
well) in Tunisia. Using this technology, the heat 
exchanger area is reduced by some 25 %.

These alternative membranes are showing 
promising results, in particular for thermal 
distillation  processes.  For  the  rest  of  the 
project term, research activity is moving for-
ward in anticipation of the beginning of end-
user testing.

The project was coordinated by Kema in the 
Netherlands.

1 

‘Capture of evaporated water with novel membranes’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Cooperation’ 
under the research theme ‘Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, 
materials and new production technologies’ (NMP). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > search > offers > 
10335

 
 
36

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

INDUS TRI AL TECHNO LO GI ES

Compostable textiles

Scientists are developing novel textiles from 100 % renewable 
and natural materials. Ground covers and insect screens are 
among the numerous products targeted for the application of 
this eco-friendly technology.

Europe is committed to reducing 
the greenhouse gas (GHG) emis-
sions associated with the use of 
non-renewable materials based on 
fossil fuels. In assessing the future 
of textiles and clothing, bio-renew-
able polymers have emerged as a 
promising alternative to conven-
tional petrochemical-based poly-
propylene (PP) materials.

Bio-renewable polymers are widely 
used for low-end products such 
as packaging materials. However, 
their properties, lifetime and bio-
degradation schedules after use 
do  not  currently  support  their 
application  to  the  desired  end 
products. Although market share 
of bio-based polymers is growing, 
extending  applications  through 
material improvement will be key 
to continued success.

The EU-funded Bioagrotex1 pro-
ject is levelling the playing ﬁ eld. It 
is formulating 100 % renewable 
agro-textiles via combination with 
natural ﬁ bres and bio-resins.

In  the  first  case,  natural  fibre-
based  ground  covers  are  being 
upgraded through application of 
furan-based  bio-resins  to  sig-
nificantly enhance service life. In 
the second case, starch-based or 
‘polyactic acid’ (PLA)-based melt-
processable biopolymers are being 
made  into  a  range  of  products 
including yarns and tapes. Further 
processing is being exploited using 
standard techniques to produce a 
range of products such as ground 
covers and insect screens.

Scientists have developed a wide 
range of biopolymers and evalu-
ated  their  compatibility  with 
production methods (e.g. textile 
extrusion).  Different  formulae 
for  their  composition  are  being 
assessed  and  optimised.  The 
consortium has also evaluated a 
number of natural fibre types for 
processing characteristics, yield 
and  properties  leading  to  im-
portant improvements. A number 
of  water-based  bio-resins  have 
also been developed and tested 

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on an industrial scale. Preliminary 
biodegradation tests conﬁ rmed an 
extended product life of biopoly-
mers treated with bio-resins and 
of PLA-based materials in general.

Partners  are  carrying  out  field 
tests on industrial demonstrators 
of all processes at selected loca-
tions,  and  the  first  agro-textile 
products  are  being  brought  to 
market. Longer lifetimes and com-
patibility with composting should 
be important beneﬁ ts — as well as 
reduced GHG emissions associated 
with materials and processing. 

The project was coordinated by the 
Centre Scientiﬁ que et Technique de 
l’Industrie Textile Belge in Belgium.

1  

 ‘Development of new agro-textiles from 
renewable resources and with a tailored 
biodegradability’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under 
the research theme ‘Nanosciences, 
nanotechnologies, materials and new 
production technologies’ (NMP). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 6326

Ultrasound technology for micro-manufacturing

Scientists  are  optimising  ultrasound  technology  used  to 
produce miniaturised parts with high accuracy and precision. 
Results  will  positively  impact  manufacturing  in  numerous 
industrial sectors.

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C o m p o n e n t s ,   w h e t h e r   fo r 
consumer  devices  or  indus-
trial  equipment,  are  becoming 
smaller  and  smaller  —  often 
d r i v e n   by   t h e   d e m a n d   fo r 
increased  performance  and 
functionality  in  a  small  pack-
a g e .   T h e   u s e   o f   p o l y m e r s , 
including plastics, has become 
widespread.  Polymers  offer 
light weight, low cost and ease 
of  processing.  They  are  also 
o(cid:2) en combined with other ma-
terials as fillers and reinforce-
ment  to  provide  additional 
functionality.

Large  plastic  components  are 
typically  produced  using  an 
extruder,  a  large  syringe-like 
machine that features a screw-
shaped plunger. The screw mixes 

and  pushes  the  melted  plastic 
into moulds (injection moulding), 
where  the  plastic  sets,  taking 
the form of the desired product.

Micro-moulding, the moulding of 
small parts required by current 
technological design trends, has 
faced certain limitations. Injection 
moulding processes used so suc-
cessfully for large parts introduce 
issues of dosage precision, pro-
cess accuracy and repeatability 
when used to manufacture mini-
aturised components.

An  earlier  project,  Sonoplast1, 
p r e v i o u s l y   f u n d e d   u n d e r 
t h e   S e v e n t h   F r a m e w o r k 
Programme  (FP7),  successfully 
demonstrated a prototype injec-
tion-moulding machine based on 

 
 
 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

INDUSTRIA L TECH NO LOGIES

37

ultrasound technology. It melted 
plastic material and filled small 
cavities with higher quality com-
pared to conventional injection 
moulding.

Scientists initiated the SONO“R”US2 
project to optimise the technology 
and develop a market-ready ultra-
sonic moulding machine for mini-
ature parts. Within the first nine 
months of the SONO“R”US project, 
scientists made major improve-
ments and are well on the way to 
pre-industrial machine validation.

The  optimised  machine  was 
achieved through a novel, high-
accuracy feeding system, rede-
sign of the ejection system and 
development  of  an  enhanced 
control system. SONO“R”US tech-
nology also provides significant 
cost benefits in terms of energy 
consumption  (100  times  less 
than current technology) and raw 
material usage.

On  completion,  SONO“R”US  is 
expected  to  deliver  a  market-
ready  micro-injection-moulding 

machine that overcomes diﬃ  cul-
ties currently faced by industry. It 
is optimised to market needs with 
special consideration of the elec-
tric/electronics, automotive, optics 
and telecommunications sectors.

A(cid:2) er ﬁ nishing the validation of the 
equipment,  and  a  technological 
feasibility study for new markets, 
SONO“R”US will be in a position to 
provide a broad range of manu-
facturing sectors with cost-eﬃ  cient 
and high-precision manufacturing 
of mini- and micro-parts.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
Mateu y Sole in Spain.

1  

2  

 ‘New process and machinery for 
microparts moulding based on ultrasound 
excitation’.
 ‘Machine for microparts moulding based 
on ultrasound excitation’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Capacities’ under the theme ‘Research for 
the benefit of SMEs’.
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10045

Europe’s wonderful water technologies

It  is  a  little-known  fact  that  the  EU  has  been  developing 
amazing water technologies over the last decade. Now that 
these technologies are ready for industry and may well lead 
to new water policies, the Union is spreading the word.

There are a lot of opportunities 
in the EU’s water sector, both in 
terms  of  new  technology  and 
for  jobs.  Scientists,  especially 
students and young research-
ers,  as  well  as  policy-makers, 
businessmen  and  the  general 
public need to know more.

In response to this, the EU has 
invested in a large-scale com-
munication drive known as the 
Stream1 project. It is an innova-
tive  approach  that  involves 
e-learning,  summer  schools, 
videos, posters, pamphlets and 
webinars.

During  the  first  year  of  the 
project, water experts and sci-
ence communicators presented 
the  first  summer  school  in 
Barcelona  to  participants  rep-
resenting 12 diﬀ erent nationali-
ties. They also released the ﬁ rst 
module of an e-learning course.

Amsterdam’s  water  week  pro-
vided  the  perfect  platform  to 
reach target researchers, politi-
cians, non-governmental organ-
isations (NGOs) and industries. 

The  seminars  held  there  were 
streamed  to  over  540  online 
v i e w e r s .   T h e   p r o j e c t   t e a m 
plans to use all major upcom-
ing  water  events  to  dissem-
inate  more  water  technology 
information.

Raising  awareness  of  avail-
able  tools  in  the  water  sector 
is a step forward in addressing 
Europe’s water challenges. The 
technologies need to be prop-
erly exploited on a large scale 
in  order  to  foster  sustainable 
development  and  economic 
growth.

The  project  was  coordinated 
b y   M i n e r v a   C o n s u l t i n g   & 
Communication in Belgium.

1  

 ‘Sustainable technologies and research for 
European aquatic management’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Environment’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10356

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38

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

INDUS TRI AL TECHNO LO GI ES

Patches for steel components in ships and bridges

Repairing compromised steel in bridges and ships often requires replacement of components. 
Patch technology adapted from aerospace applications may soon make costly and time-
consuming replacements a thing of the past.

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Steel  structures,  such  as  ships, 
bridges and oﬀ shore marine con-
structions, are subjected to large 
and constant loads during their 
service  lifetimes.  Fatigue  and 
corrosion can create dangerous 
changes in the structural integrity 
of components.

Fatigue  cracks  are  usually 
repaired by renewing part of the 
weld, welding cracks in the panel 
or  replacing  the  panel  itself. 
Corroded members are replaced, 
but  such  interventions  can  be 
both costly and time consuming.

Composite  patch  repairs  and 
reinforcements  overcome  most 
of  the  difficulties  encountered 
with  conventional  repairs.  They 
have been used with great suc-
cess  in  the  aerospace  industry. 
However, normal repair costs of 
an aerospace structure are quite 
diﬀ erent from those for a bridge 
or marine structure. In addition, 
there  are  technical  considera-
tions which must be evaluated for 
implementation.

European  scientists  sought  to 
demonstrate their environmental 

safety  and  feasibility  with  EU 
funding of the Co-patch1 project.

The first 18 months of the pro-
ject  saw  selection  of  the  civil 
infrastructure  and  marine  test 
cases  as  well  as  creation  of  a 
strong partnership with various 
stakeholders.

Scientists developed the inspec-
tion procedure tailored to sub-
sequent  patch  repair,  unfolded 
a  quality  assurance  plan  for 
patch production, and identified 
non-destructive  testing  (NDT) 

methods that were appropriate 
for the project’s goals.

The consortium is currently col-
lecting  data  on  material  prop-
erties that will provide vital input 
to ‘ﬁ nite element models’ (FEMs) 
of  patches  and  the  patch-to-
metal joint.

A composite patch was designed, 
produced and applied to the deck 
of a sea-going oil tanker showing 
that patch repairs can be a viable, 
cost-effective  and  permanent 
alternative  to  traditional  repair 
methods.

Co-patch technology is innovative, 
cost effective and applicable to 
a  variety  of  steel  structures.  It 
should enhance the competitive 
position  of  the  already  strong 
European shipbuilding and repair 
industry as well as generate new 
jobs for skilled technicians ready 
to fly quickly to any site where 
repair is needed.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
National Technical University of 
Athens in Greece.

1  

 ‘Composite patch repair for marine 
and civil engineering infrastructure 
applications’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Transport’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 9999

Automated adaptation of plastics-processing parameters

Scientists  are  developing  process-control  technology  for  novel  plastics.  Online  sensing  and 
automatic process adaptation will help small businesses bring new products to market more 
efficiently — taking less time, costing less money and producing less material waste.

While  not  everyone  can  define 
the  term  polymer,  it  would  be 
difficult to find a person in the 
EU who does not use or benefit 
from polymers on a daily basis. 
Polymers are molecules made of 
long chains of repeating subu-
nits (monomers) — with plastics 

being perhaps the most familiar 
polymers in everyday life.

become a rapidly growing ﬁ eld of 
research.

With  the  advent  of  nanomate-
rials  (compounds  with  at  least 
one  dimension  on  the  scale  of 
atoms and molecules), ‘polymer 
nanocomposites’  (PNCs)  have 

PNCs combine the already ubiq-
uitous polymers with advanced 
and  multifunctional  nanopart-
icles.  Such  compounds  have 
a   t r e m e n d o u s   a n d   l a r g e l y 

untapped potential for improv-
ing performance of known poly-
mers  and  for  the  development 
of  novel  functionalities  in  new 
applications.

As  is  the  case  with  every  new 
class of materials, optimisation 
of  processing  parameters  can 
be time consuming and expen-
sive  when  wanting  to  produce 
the  desired  product  with  the 
required  specifications.  It  can 

 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

INDUSTRIA L TECH NO LOGIES

39

also  generate  a  considerable 
amount of waste material.

A European consortium initiated 
the Nanoonspect1 project to accel-
erate  the  commercialisation  of 
PNCs with process optimisation 
technology.  A  characterisation 
tool,  the  ‘Onbox’,  using  novel 
sensors together with process-
control technology based on an 
‘artiﬁ cial neural network’ (ANN) 
and expert system (ES), will en-
able precise production of PNCs 
without waste.

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To  date,  five  sensors  have 
been  designed  and  incorp-
orated into the Onbox tool pilot 
device,  designed  to  provide 
2  to  10  times  higher  reso-
lution than existing technology. 
Scientists  have  developed  a 
novel production process based 
on integration of ‘Nexxus’ wet-
ting technology (to wet the dry 
polymer-particle  combination) 

for  improved  dispersion  of 
nanoparticles.

T h e   p l a s t i c s   s u p p l y   c h a i n 
is  dominated  by  small  and 
m e d i u m - s i z e d   e n t e r p r i s e s 
(SMEs).  Technology  from  the 
Nanoonspect project should pro-
vide a signiﬁ cant market boost to 
these companies by decreasing 
associated  costs  and  speeding 

time  to  commercialisation  of 
novel PNCs and related products. 
In  addition,  sensor,  processing 
and  control  technologies  have 
high potential for adaptation to 
numerous  other  products  and 
industries.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
Fr a u n h o fe r - G e s e l l s c h a f t   i n 
Germany.

1  

 ‘‘Reliable integrated on-line 
characterisation tool for thermoplastic 
compound’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, 
materials and new production 
technologies’ (NMP). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10035

On-demand production of spare parts

Scientists have developed a successful business model based 
on rapid, on-demand manufacture of individual spare parts. 
Exploitation should significantly reduce warehouse stock and 
associated costs.

as a result of rapid innovation and 
reduced time-to-market.

As a result, companies are required 
to keep their warehouses full of 
spare  parts  for  potential  needs 
that may never arise. Such stocks 
do not only increase costs but they 
also generate much scrap material 
and make logistics more complex.

Rapid  manufacturing  (RM)  tech-
nology, as its name implies, is a 
process that enables fast manufac-
ture of o(cid:2) en-complex parts. It has 
proved quite beneﬁ cial for the pro-
duction of prototypes and small vol-
umes of novel products, which are 
particularly important for small and 
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

RM enables cost-effective manu-
facture  of  one-off  parts  on 
demand. Its obvious advantages 
as an alternative to warehouses 
full of — potentially useless — 
spare  parts  have  inspired  the 

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The number and variety of prod-
ucts available on the market con-
tinue  to  increase.  At  the  same 
time, their lifetime is decreasing 

EU-funded Directspare1 project. The 
project involved integrating com-
puter-aided engineering (CAE) tech-
niques with a unique set of design 
rules for the development of a truly 
knowledge-based system (KBS).

Process automation was included 
wherever possible and new, rapid-
design  tools  were  developed. 
DirectSpare scientists standard-
ised processes in manufacturing, 
product logistics, process certiﬁ ca-
tion and business management. 
In addition, they developed a total 
quality management (TQM) sys-
tem and software tools for CAE 
and RM input data, process control 
and ﬁ nal product quality.

To  ensure  its  effectiveness,  the 
system also required the creation 
of the necessary information and 
communications technology (ICT) 
to catalogue all parts. 

All project objectives have been 
achieved and successfully applied 
to selected spare parts in various 
industries. In addition, a selection 
tool was developed to assess the 
suitability of a given part for RM 
processes,  and  future  research 

activities and business opportunities 
were identiﬁ ed.

Directspare  processes  and  tools 
should help reduce warehouse stock 
and prevent capital depreciation, as 
well as lower energy consumption 
related to warehouse management 
and wastage when parts become 
obsolete. These cost savings, com-
bined with the rapid replacement 
of necessary parts, are expected to 
boost European competitiveness 
and to beneﬁ t SMEs in particular.

The  project  was  coordinated  by 
Materialise NV in Belgium.

1  

 ‘Strengthening the industries competitive 
position by the development of a logistical 
and technological system for spare parts 
that is based on on-demand production’.

Funded under the FP7 specific pro gramme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, mater-
ials and new production technologies’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10043

 
 
 
 
40

SPACE

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

Keeping an eye on rising sea levels

Advanced satellite imaging and novel high-tech modelling techniques are helping Europe unravel the complexities of melting 
ice caps and rising sea levels, enabling researchers to address impending threats more readily.

The polar caps are melting at an alarming 
rate,  and  sea  levels  are  rising  faster  than 
predicted. It is crucial to understand these cli-
mate changes and address them if we want 
to  ensure  the  safety  and  livelihood  of  our 
coastal cities.

To this end, the EU-funded project Ice2sea1 
is investigating the loss of continental ice, 
which includes mountain glacier systems, ice 
caps and ice sheets. By understanding the 
key processes behind melting ice, the pro-
ject is improving projections of sea-level rise 
through satellite technology and high-tech 
modelling approaches that can predict likely 
changes over the next 200 years.

To  perfect  the  proposed  solution,  Ice2sea 
is looking at processes in the cryosphere by 
conducting experiments in Greenland, as well 
as in the Arctic’s Svalbard archipelago and 
across the Antarctic region.

So far, the project team has begun measur-
ing the impact of melting ice in Greenland 
on  basal  water  pressure  to  estimate  the 
ﬂ ow speed of ice towards the sea. It is moni-
toring the calving of icebergs from tidewa-
ter glaciers in Svalbard and measuring snow 
redistribution caused by wind in Antarctica. 
The work builds on new satellite technology 
that measures elevation, mass and velocity 
changes, as well as enhanced remote sens-
ing to gather ﬁ eld data. Importantly, the team 
also built global digital inventories of moun-
tain glaciers and island ice caps to improve 
climate-change modelling.

Based on intensive testing and ongoing stud-
ies,  the  project  is  expected  to  yield  com-
prehensive,  evidence-based  projections  of 
rising  sea  levels,  particularly  with  respect 
to European coastlines. It will help predict 
extreme  events,  improve  coastal  defences 
and assist Europe in adapting to rising sea 

levels. Ice2sea will support the global debate 
over climate change mitigation and provide 
invaluable  knowledge  regarding  the  inter-
action between ice, oceans and atmosphere.

The project is coordinated by the NERC British 
Antarctic Survey in the United Kingdom.

1 

 ‘Estimating the future contribution of continental ice to 
sea-level rise’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Cooperation’ 
under the research theme ‘Environment’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > search > offers 
> 9973

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research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

41

SPACE

More efficient and versatile space propellants

Scientists are increasing the efficiency of state-of-the-art space propellants for small satellites. The technology should provide 
a significant boost to the competitiveness of the EU space industry.

To date, scientists have devel-
oped  the  necessary  plasma 
simulation  tools  to  allow  for 
detailed  modelling  of  very 
complex  physical  phenomena. 
These tools, along with intensive 
experimentation, helped inves-
tigators  develop  an  innovative 
helicon technology with ionisa-
tion eﬃ  ciency 10 times as high 
as conventional helicon sources 
in the low-power regime. A fea-
sibility study was also conducted 
for the dual-mode combination 
thruster,  demonstrating  its 
potential beneﬁ ts.

The HPC.COM thruster is based 
on helicon technology but gets 
an extra boost in terms of size 
and  power.  It  should  be  highly 
attractive for a variety of space 
missions,  including  explora-
tion, scientiﬁ c research, EO and 
telecommunications. 

The project was coordinated by 
the University of Padua in Italy.

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P l a s m a - p r o p u l s i o n   r o c k e t 
engines  use  plasma  instead 
of  solid,  liquid  or  gas  propel-
lants to generate part or all of 
the thrust. They ionise conven-
tional  propellants  with  elec-
trical  energy  and  accelerate 
the resulting plasma. Although 
they  are  less  powerful  than 
conventional thrusters, plasma- 
or electric-propulsion systems 
can operate at higher efficien-
cies for longer periods of time. 

With small satellites commonly 
ﬁ nding applications in the ﬁ eld 
of  ‘Earth  observation’  (EO), 
they  have  recently  received 
renewed interest — having ﬁ rst 
been used in a space mission in 
1964.

Helicon  thrusters  are  at  the 
f r o n t i e r   o f   p l a s m a   p r o p e l -
lants.  Scientists  initiated  the 
EU-funded  HPH.COM 1  project 
to design and optimise a space 

plasma thruster based on heli-
con radio-frequency (RF) tech-
nology.  They  are  investigating 
its use to enhance micro-satel-
lites’ altitude and position con-
trol.  The  study  also  assesses 
the  possibility  of  developing  a 
combined two-mode thruster. It 
would enable both a low-thrust, 
high-efficiency  plasma  mode 
and a high-thrust, low-eﬃ  ciency 
hydrazine  mode  exploiting  the 
ﬂ ammable liquid hydrazine.

1 

 ‘Helicon plasma hydrazine combined 
micro’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 6793

Keeping satellites on track

Scientists  are  developing  a  predictive  tool  to  maintain  satellite  operation  during  periods  of 
extreme solar activity. It should also help keep space assets safe while reducing dependence 
on foreign technology.

Many satellites, o(cid:2) en called ‘low 
Earth orbit’ (LEO) satellites, orbit 
in the outer layer of the Earth’s 
atmosphere, where space shut-
tles and the International Space 
Station (ISS) are also operating. 

T h i s   r e g i o n ,   k n ow n   a s   t h e 
thermosphere  (literally,  ‘heat 
sphere’),  is  exposed  to  extra-
ordinary  amounts  of  energy 
from  the  Sun.  Temperatures 
rise with altitude and eventually 

reach more than 1 000 degrees 
Celsius (°C).

As if this were not enough, con-
ditions  in  the  thermosphere 
can  change  not  only  rapidly 

but  significantly  as  a  result  of 
responses to space weather ― 
i.e. solar and geomagnetic activ-
ity. Because there is a short time 
lag between geomagnetic forc-
ing  and  response  in  the  ther-
mosphere,  rapid  thermosphere 
modelling is required for satellite 
orbit computation and debris sur-
veillance.  Unpredictable 

changes  in  altitude  and  >

 
 
42

SPACE

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

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trajectory  can  result  in  loss  of 
tracking  ability,  collisions  and 
even damage to ground assets 
during an uncontrolled re-entry.

To   p r e v e n t   s u c h   p r o b l e m s , 
Europe  lacks  a  near-real-time 
thermosphere prediction model 
for regular ‘nowcasts’ and fore-
casts. Thanks to EU funding of 
the ATMOP1 project, scientists are 
developing an advanced predic-
tive  ‘drag  temperature model’ 
(DTM)  and  a  global  physical 
model  —  a  ‘Coupled  middle 
a t m o s p h e r e - t h e r m os p h e r e 

m o d e l   ( C M AT 2 )   —   a b l e   t o 
as similate near-real-time data.

The  models  are  based  on  the 
most comprehensive data avail-
able, assimilating acceleration 
measurements from instrumen-
tation on-board two satellites as 
they experienced extreme space 
weather events during the previ-
ous solar cycle.

and  dependencies.  They  also 
designed the thermospheric data-
assimilation  systems.  Several 
model trials were carried out to 
test both model performance and 
data  integration.  Furthermore, 
researchers developed an obser-
vation quality-control protocol to 
use in determining which obser-
vations should be included in the 
databases.

During the first reporting period, 
scientists  made  important  pro-
gress in constructing databases 
and defining model parameters 

ATMOP  will  provide  the  first 
European satellite drag model-
ling  and  prediction  tool.  It  will 
help  keep  space  assets  safe 

from  extreme  space  weather 
phenomena while reducing the 
EU's  dependence  on  foreign 
technology for the purpose.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
Deimos Space in Spain.

1 

 ‘Advanced thermosphere modelling for 
orbit prediction’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10330

Close-up on coastal waters

High-tech,  cutting-edge  advances  for  evaluating  the  quality  of  water  in  coastal  zones  will  have  a  positive  impact  on 
aquaculture, offshore projects and the environment.

With  the  advent  of  climate 
c h a n g e ,   i n c r e a s i n g   p o l l u -
tion  and  threats  to  ecosys-
tems,  researchers  are  looking 
for  smarter  ways  to  monitor 
coastal  areas  and  marine  en-
vironments. The EU-funded pro-
ject Aquamar1 is providing Earth 
observation-based water-quality 
services to support monitoring 
agencies and industries focusing 

on  coastal  areas.  It  is  improv-
ing assessment of marine water 
quality  in  cost-effective  ways 
and  through  better  modelling 
techniques.

In  line  with  EU  directives  on 
marine  water  quality,  the  pro-
ject is developing indicators for 
algal bloom forecasting, aqua-
culture  precision  farming,  and 

bathing  water  quality.  It  aims 
to develop innovative products 
and  services  to  test  the  water 
by  using  advanced  software 
algorithms  and  sophisticated 
remote-sensing  methods.  This 
will involve harmonisation and 
implementation  of  a  service 
quality  validation  process,  as 
well  as  dissemination  of  best 

practices  to  the  community  of 
service providers.

Progress  on  sustainability  of 
coasts,  advanced  sensor  tech-
nology,  related  processes  and 
valuable  coastal  assessment 
tools  has  already  been  high-
lighted  on  the  project  website 
and  communicated  to  stake-
holders.  Dissemination  has 

 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

43

SPACE

included brochures, newsletters, 
publications  and  information 
which have appeared on several 
governmental  or  professional 
websites specialising in this ﬁ eld 
of research.

The  emerging  research  and 
development is expected to help 

support the sea transport sec-
tor,  among  others,  particularly 
in relation to the energy sector 
and  large  offshore  infrastruc-
ture  such  as  maritime  wind 
parks. It will also boost services 
under the EU’s Water Framework 
Directive,  bringing  enhanced 
sustainability  and  an  array  of 

services that could protect our 
coasts  and  mitigate  environ-
mental damage.

The project was coordinated by 
Thales Alenia Space in France.

1 

 ‘Marine water-quality information 
services’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10022

EU-sourced space electronics

Scientists are improving key semiconductor technology for space applications. Capabilities will eliminate dependence on non-
EU sources and enhance the competitiveness of the European space industry.

Gallium  nitride  (GaN)  is  the 
m o s t   e x c i t i n g   s e m i c o n d u c -
tor  material  since  silicon  (Si). 
Power electronic devices made 
from  GaN  promise  to  operate 
reliably  at  very  high  tempera-
tures  and  voltages  compared 
to their Si and gallium arsenide 
(GaAs) predecessors. Ability to 
withstand  very  high  levels  of 
radiation extends the range of 
potential  markets,  and  makes 
the material particularly appeal-
ing to the space industry. Silicon 
carbide  (SiC)  is  another  semi-
conductor  material  of  inter-
est that has been around for a 
bit  longer  but  whose  develop-
ment has been delayed due to 
technical difficulties associated 
with  the  manufacture  of  SiC 
substrates.

A European consortium is focus-
ing  on  these  two  materials 
using EU funding for the EUSIC1 
project.  Currently,  Europe  is 
dependent  on  non-EU  sources 
for such technologies in future 
space  applications.  However, 
most of the process chain 
is  in  place.  Providing  the 

>

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44

SPACE

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

missing link — a reliable source 
of  high-quality  SiC  substrates 
— is the main goal of EUSIC. In 
fact, scientists are aiming for a 
product superior to that avail-
able outside the EU, increasing 
its competitive edge as well as 
relieving dependence.

Scientists are working together 
to improve the quality of semi-
insulating  SiC  substrates  pro-
duced  by  a  partner  firm,  the 
leading  manufacturer  of  SiC 

substrates in Europe. Important 
improvements to the perform-
ance  of  GaN  devices  are  also 
expected.

During  the  current  reporting 
period,  EUSIC  resumed  growth 
of  SiC  crystals  and  the  prepa-
ration of wafers. The improved 
wafers  were  tested  according 
to  a  number  of  specifications 
with very good results. A ‘high-
electron-mobility  transistor’ 
(HEMT) structure was grown on 

the wafers and its performance 
was measured using benchmark 
substrates.

American supply for other coun-
tries  and  their  high-powered 
electronics programmes.

Continued research and optimi-
sation by the EUSIC team should 
ensure  the  EU's  independence 
from  non-EU  suppliers  of  crit-
ical GaN space technologies and 
capabilities. This independence 
will  eliminate  past  problems, 
such  as  trade  restrictions,  as 
well  as  providing  an  alterna-
tive to the predominantly North 

The project was coordinated by 
Sicrystal AG in Germany.

1 

 ‘High-quality European GaN-wafer on 
SiC substrates for space applications’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Co-
operation’ under the research theme ‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > search > 
offers > 10319

Natural brakes for spacecraft

European scientists are developing more fuel-efficient space travel, thereby providing more 
room for crew and cargo. Manned missions bringing back heavy samples are the impetus.

Space vehicles travel at astonish-
ingly high speeds. They use pro-
pulsive techniques (relying on the 
use of their propellants or fuels) 
to slow and guide them so they 

can be captured into orbit around 
a planetary body.

For  any  such  body  with  an 
atmosphere, aerocapture is an 

attractive  alternative.  It  is  an 
orbit-insertion  technique  that 
relies  on  atmospheric  drag  to 
decelerate  a  spacecraft  and 
place  it  in  its  circular  orbit. 

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Aerocapture allows a spacecra(cid:2)  
to  slow  itself  from  interplan-
etary to orbital speeds by pass-
ing through the atmosphere just 
once  —  with  some  additional 
b r i e f   c o r r e c t i v e   p r o p u l s i v e 
manoeuvres.

Although  it  has  never  been 
tested  in  a  real  mission,  the 
technology  has  been  stud-
ied and developed for over 20 
years and is now coming to fru-
ition. If conclusive, it could save 
up to 30 % of payload mass at 
launch  time  by  reducing  fuel 
requirements.  This  is  particu-
larly important in manned mis-
sions in which samples need to 
be brought back to Earth.

Such  missions  are  already  on 
the  horizon  for  the  Moon  and 
Mars,  and  the  new  technol-
ogy will also be necessary for 
docking and exchange missions 
between ‘low Earth orbit’ (LEO) 
and ‘geostationary orbit’ (GEO) 
satellites. Thus, aerocapture is 
expected to become one of the 
core capabilities for planetary 
exploration.

A European consortium is rais-
ing  the  ‘technology  readiness 
level’ (TRL) for aerospace cap-
ture  thanks  to  EU  funding  of 
the Aerofast1 project. The over-
arching  project  goal  is  to  lay 
the groundwork (a TRL of three 
or four) for a ﬂ ight demonstra-
tion. Actual operational readi-
ness requires a TRL of six.

Aerofast scientists made signiﬁ -
cant modiﬁ cations to algorithms 

 
 
research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

45

SPACE

for  planetary  navigation  and 
a e r o c a p t u r e   a n d   b u i l t   t e s t 
equipment to evaluate perform-
ance. They also demonstrated a 
prototype of thermal protection 
system for such a mission and 
defined on-board instrumenta-
tion to be used in the recovery 
(descent) phase of aerocapture.

Aerocapture technology is com-
plex  and  multidisciplinary  and 
human lives will depend on its 
faultless operation. Aerofast is 
increasing the levels of readi-
ness  for  such  technology  by 
laying  the  groundwork  for  a 
demonstration mission. If suc-
cessful, its completion will bring 

the  world  one  step  closer  to 
cost-effective,  long-distance, 
heavy payload missions — such 
as human-led space exploration 
and  automated  sample-return 
missions to other planets.

The project was coordinated by 
Astrium in France.

1 

 ‘Aerocapture for future space 
transportation’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10010

A European space exploration roadmap

European  and  international  experts  have  developed  a  scientific  roadmap  for  future  human  space  missions,  as  part  of  a 
European space strategy.

Past space missions have dem-
onstrated  the  feasibility  of 
human  survival  and  high-level 
functioning in space for extended 
periods  of  time.  Technological, 
medical and psychological issues 
associated  with  even  longer 
missions  however  must  be 
addressed  before  humans  are 
able to venture further aﬁ eld or 
stay in space for longer.

The  European  Space  Agency 
(ESA) has identiﬁ ed returning to 
the  Moon  and  human  explora-
tion  of  Mars  as  key  drivers  of 
its high-level space architecture 
development. Both the ESA and 
the  National  Aeronautics  and 
Space  Administration  (NASA) 
have  developed  strategies  and 

roadmaps  for  achieving  future 
space exploration goals. However, 
Europe itself does not have its 
own  roadmap  approved  and 
endorsed by European scientific 
and industrial communities.

A European consortium initiated 
the  EU-funded  Theseus 1  pro-
ject to ﬁ ll this critical need while 
maintaining synergy with the ESA 
strategy. Scientists developed an 
integrated life sciences research 
roadmap to address such issues 
as life support systems, behav-
iour  and  performance,  preven-
tion of bone loss and recycling 
technologies.

Theseus  formed  and  coordin-
ated  14  expert  groups  (EGs) 

of  European  and  international 
experts  in  related  disciplines. 
The EGs succeeded in identify-
ing 99 key scientific issues rep-
resenting  the  most  important 
challenges and opportunities for 
future human space exploration. 
These  were  used  to  formulate 
three main themes consisting of 
adaptation to space environment, 
countermeasures  to  multiple 
stressors, and tools and meth-
ods. The Theseus roadmap was 
finalised and officially launched 
in March 2012.

The  consortium  is  now  prepar-
ing to publish project results in 
scientiﬁ c journals, and is actively 
seeking future directions based 
on  the  successful  foundations 

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that  have  been  laid  by  the 
Theseus project.

The project was coordinated by 
the European Science Foundation 
in France.

1 

 ‘Towards human exploration of space: 
a European strategy’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Space.’
http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > 
search > offers > 10361

 
 
46

EVENTS

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

Protein engineering: new approaches and applications

The Biochemical Society’s conference ‘Protein engineering: new approaches and applications’ will take place from 10 to 12 April 
2013 in Chester, UK. 

Protein engineering allows scientists to manipulate the very coding sequence that underlies the folding, structure and function of proteins. It is 
currently undergoing a renaissance with the advent of new technological approaches, and will prove central to areas ranging from synthetic biology 
to bioprocessing and nanotechnology. 

The conference will be an opportunity for researchers and diverse groups of world-leading protein engineers to exchange information and ideas on 
these recent advances.

For further information, please visit: 
http://www.biochemistry.org/tabid/379/MeetingNo/SA143/view/Conference/default.aspx 

Third International Conference on Microgeneration and Related Technologies

The Third International Conference on Microgeneration and Related Technologies will take place from 15 to 17 April 2013 
in Naples, Italy.

Microgeneration is the small-scale generation of heat and electric power by individuals, small businesses and communities to meet their own 
needs, as alternatives or supplements to traditional centralised grid-connected power. 

The conference will bring together stakeholders working in the ﬁ eld to share their knowledge on issues such as high-eﬃ  ciency distributed energy 
systems, diﬀ usion of low-carbon microgeneration technologies for residential and small commercial applications, building integration, and grid 
interconnection.

For further information, please visit: 
http://www.microgen3.eu/

Water Innovation Europe 2013

The conference ‘Water Innovation Europe 2013’ will be held from 16 to 18 April 2013 in Brussels, Belgium. It will focus on 
‘Water in the urban environment ― bringing research to the market’.

Water is not only a resource ― it has now become a serious political issue, too. The key to successful water governance is to ﬁ nd the right bal-
ance between science and policy. Organised by COST, the intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology, and 
the Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (WSSTP), the conference will focus on issues related to water in the urban environment 
and water governance. It will be a forum for scientists and decision-makers to discuss these issues and create a market for research in this ﬁ eld.

For further information, please visit: 
http://www.cost.eu/events/wie2013

Saving Energy Now

A conference entitled 'Saving Energy Now' will be held from 16 to 17 April 2013 in Brussels, Belgium. 

The EU aims to cut its energy consumption by 20 % by 2020. However, current estimates tend to indicate that the EU is not on track to achieve 
this objective. As a result, new measures on energy eﬃ  ciency are now being proposed. 

The European Promise project — launched in 2012 and funded by the European Commission under the Intelligent Energy ― Europe (IEE) pro-
gramme — will host a European-awareness conference on energy-eﬃ  cient consumer behaviour in European islands. The aim is to promote 
tried-and-tested methods for reducing the energy consumption of households. 

For further information, please visit: 
http://brusselsconference.ieepromise.eu/

research*eu results magazine — N° 21 — April 2013

47

EVENTS

First International Conference on a European Research Strategy for Intermodal Transport

The First International Conference on a European Research Strategy for Intermodal Transport will be held from 17 to 18 April 
2013 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. 

There has been continuous growth in traﬃ  c in Europe but, in contrast to the positive eﬀ ects of increased mobility, this change raises concerns 
at the European level. Suitable policy measures and the upgrade of existing networks are needed to achieve a balanced use of diﬀ erent 
transport modes. 

The conference will see researchers, industry and policy-makers discussing a targeted research strategy for intermodality that will be implemented 
in the new programming period 2014-2020.

For further information, please visit: 
http://www.intraregio.eu/intconference/

Second International Conference on Food and Environment

The Second International Conference on Food and Environment will take place from 22 to 24 April 2013 in Budapest, Hungary. 

Food and agriculture have been and remain at the heart of civilization. However, they raise concerns in terms of food scarcity and variety, which 
were previously answered by intensive farming, to the detriment of other aspects such as environmental impact and food quality. 

The conference will address the impact of modern food-production processes on the environment and human health. It will also initiate discussions 
on the best ways to produce food which complies with strict quality, quantity and sustainability standards.

For further information, please visit: 
http://www.wessex.ac.uk/13-conferences/food-and-environment-2013.html

Fostering Innovation and Strengthening Synergies within the EU

A conference entitled ‘Fostering Innovation and Strengthening Synergies within the EU’ will be held from 29 to 30 April 2013 
in Dublin, Ireland. 

A Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) is a highly integrated, creative and excellence-driven partnership which brings together the ﬁ elds of 
education, technology, research, business and entrepreneurship. It aims to innovate and inspire others with new innovation models.

The conference will answer questions regarding the role and contribution of KICs, within the framework of a wider discussion on the future of EU 
innovation policies and the integration of the so-called Knowledge Triangle (business, research, innovation) within the EU and globally.

For further information, please visit: 
http://eit.europa.eu/events/event-information/fostering-innovation-and-strengthening-synergies-within-the-eu/

European Brain Research Successes and Next Challenges

A conference on ‘European Brain Research Successes and Next Challenges’ will be held within the framework of the European 
Month of the Brain on 14 May 2013 in Brussels, Belgium. 

Brain-related disorders aﬀ ect at least one in three people, and treating them already costs some EUR 800 billion in Europe every year. Although 
research into the brain has shown great progress in recent years, further advances in neuroscience are crucial to keep our ageing societies and our 
economy healthy. 

This conference will raise awareness of the beneﬁ ts, added value and impact of EU-supported research in the area of brain research and health 
care. Discussions will be centred on emerging and future scientiﬁ c challenges in this ﬁ eld.

For further information, please visit: 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/conferences/2013/brain-month/index_en.cfm?pg=conference&sub=general

 
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