Research*eu results magazine. No 26, October 2013.
Date: 2013-10-14
Institutions: CORDIS, Publications Office of the European Union
Subjects: research, research and development, research project, serial publication

No 26 October 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euIn this issue:Special feature:  ‘Turning waste into the key resource of tomorrow’.Interviews: Dr Sonia Heaven of the University of Southampton on  ‘Digesting food waste to produce energy’, page 17 Dr Mario Malinconico of IUPAC on  ‘Closing the loop for lightweight materials’, page 36•• Fractures fixed in a fraction of time, page 6• Learning workplace skills through gaming, page 13• Assessing the sustainability of aquaculture production, page 25• Breaking through the fault-testing bottleneck  in chip production, page 31• Keeping an eye on Europe's biodiversity… from space, page 41Other highlights:ISSN 1977-40282

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In this issue:
Special feature: 

‘The big clean-up: how to tackle toxic substances’.
Interview: 
‘Spotlight on nanoparticles’ imperceptible effects’ with Dr Maria Diez-Ortiz  
from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, page 35 

Other highlights:

Towards	evidence-based	public	policy	for	alcohol,	page	6
••	
•	
Inspirational	education	for	budding	scientists,	page	13
•	 Addressing	aircraft	hazards	through	cutting-edge	simulation,	page	17
•	 Unique	study	looks	at	global	population	projections	up	to	2100,	page	22
Empowering	innovation	in	photonics	through	collaboration,	page	29
•	
The	EU	keeps	an	eye	on	the	sky,	page	41
•	

In this issue:
Special feature: 

‘Plugging into wireless technologies’.
Interviews: 
Dr Vincent Peiris of CSEM on  
‘Enhanced wireless technology for body implants and sensors’, page 7 

Other highlights:

••	
•	

•	
•	
•	

Science	education	gets	a	revamp	across	Europe,	page	14
A	vision	turns	into	reality	in	the	development	of	 
electricity	networks,	page	18
Conserving	biodiversity	for	the	future	health	of	the	planet,	page	23
Perfect	skin:	more	touchy-feely	robots,	page	30
Badminton-playing	robot	tests	software	designs	of	 
the	future,	page	35

In this issue:
Special feature: 

‘Preparing for the advent of smart cities’.
Interviews: 
Marcel Bijlsma of Novay Networked Innovation on  
‘A travel app to make you feel better’, page 17  
and Arne Skou on ‘Future buildings: smart on energy’, page  23

Other highlights:

Managing	diabetes	with	data	and	ingenuity,	page	6
Are	wireless	devices	potentially	harmful?,	page	31
Making	safer	composite	materials	for	shipbuilding,	page	37
Better	bio-plastics	for	improved	home	appliances,	page	39
A	heavyweight	boost	for	Einstein:	probing	gravity	 
where no one has before, page 41

••	
•	
•	
•	
•	

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

No 22  May 2013

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

No 21  April 2013

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

No 20  March 2013

In this issue:
Special feature: 

‘Rare diseases and genetic disorders under the microscope’.
Interviews: 
Gloria Gonzalez of FIMA on 
‘A new treatment for Acute Intermittent Porphyria’, page 6
and Charles Redwood on 
‘EU project goes to the heart of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy’, page 9 

Other highlights:

Enriching European humanities, page 14
The road to greater SME involvement,  page 18
Infrastructure recycling hits the road, page 23
Advanced radio technologies for fairer 4G communications, page 29
Researchers help develop next-generation bio-plastic materials, page 36
Advancing engine technologies for space exploration, page 41

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

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

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No 11  October 2011

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Green innovation

for sustainable

solutions

F O C U S

● A strategy for the Danube 4

● The Innovation Union ﬂ agship initiative 6

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● Energy links 17 

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The Danube 
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European Commission

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Future and Emerging 
Technologies

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FOCUS● 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 38ISSN 1831-1903© PaulPaladin, ShutterstockEuropean CommissionNo 9 December 2010Risk-Sharing Finance Facility Innovative loans for innovative ideasNo 12 February 2012FOCUS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-1903build connectgrowresearch*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013 
 
 
 
 
Turning waste into a resource

The most defining difference between nature and human society is probably the way each deals with 
waste. With the former, everything is used as a resource for generating new life: dead plants and 
animals become natural fertilisers or food for a new generation of organisms, which will eventually 
go through the same process. 

Society, on the other hand, has often indulged in careless consumption and disposal — although it 
is now progressively moving away from this, in light of the dramatic consequences for human health 
and the environment. Nature has become a source of inspiration, and sustainability concepts such 
as ‘life-cycle assessment’ (LCA) now stress the importance when developing new products of having 
a clear idea of how they will be recycled. This is vital for economies, such as ours, which rely on a 
limited supply of steadily depleting resources.

3

ISSN 1831-9947

research eu

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

No 26  October 2013

In this issue:
Special feature: 

‘Turning waste into the key resource of tomorrow’.
Interviews: 
Dr Sonia Heaven of the University of Southampton on  
‘Digesting food waste to produce energy’, page 17 
Dr Mario Malinconico of IUPAC on  
‘Closing the loop for lightweight materials’, page 36

Other highlights:

•• 
• 
• 
• 

• 

Fractures fixed in a fraction of time, page 6
Learning workplace skills through gaming, page 13
Assessing the sustainability of aquaculture production, page 25
Breaking through the fault-testing bottleneck  
in chip production, page 31
Keeping an eye on Europe's biodiversity… from space, page 41

EU-funded science is playing an essential role in turning waste into a key resource for tomorrow, 
which is why this issue of research*eu results magazine is putting some of the most ground-breaking 
waste-related projects under the spotlight. This issue includes an exclusive interview with Dr Sonia Heaven of the University of Southampton 
— who coordinates an ambitious project aiming to make the recovery of energy from food-waste processes more efficient — as well as with Dr 
Mario Malinconico from IUPAC, who sheds light on the SUSRAC project, which is making a key contribution to the long-term sustainability 
of increasingly successful composite materials. Other articles related to this special feature topic are spread throughout the ‘energy and transport’, 
‘environment’ and ‘industrial technologies’ sections of the magazine. 

But other major EU science issues have not been left out. The ‘biology and medicine’ section begins with ‘Fractures fixed in a fraction of time’ on 
page 6, followed by the ‘social sciences and humanities’ section which starts with ‘Learning workplace skills through gaming’ on page 13. 

Immediately after the ‘environment’ section, which begins with a special article entitled ‘Assessing the sustainability of aquaculture production’ 
on page 25, the ‘IT and telecommunications’ section looks into solutions for ‘Breaking through the fault-testing bottleneck in chip production’, 
on page 31. Finally, the ‘space’ section features the story ‘Keeping an eye on Europe's biodiversity… from space’ on page 41.

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

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Each issue of the research*eu results magazine sheds light on a specific science topic. To find out more 
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Coming up in issue 27 of research*eu results magazine — a special dossier called ‘Spotlight on international cooperation’. 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013EDITORIAL 
 
44

TABLE OF CO NTEN TS

BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 

6

Fractures fixed in a fraction of time....................................................................................................................6

Antibiotic resistance revisited: the role of biocides ....................................................................................7

The ‘ABC’ of prescribing medication ....................................................................................................................8

Sponge enzymes: nature’s little bio-builders .................................................................................................8

Understanding the health benefits of flavanols ...........................................................................................9

Work on cell memory mechanism could help identify disease-causing mutations .............. 10

Novel drugs against trypanosomal diseases .............................................................................................. 10

New mycotoxin detection device goes from prototype to production .......................................... 11

Anxious for a cure .......................................................................................................................................................12

SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES 

13

Learning workplace skills through gaming ................................................................................................... 13

Gender equality in science .....................................................................................................................................15

Journalism students get to grips with research ........................................................................................ 15

Why Europeans are having less children ....................................................................................................... 16

New social platform boosts research on families .................................................................................... 16

ENERGY AND TRANSPORT 

17

Digesting food waste to produce energy ....................................................................................................... 17

Predicting when lightning will strike ................................................................................................................. 19

Kick-starting Europe’s electric vehicle industry .......................................................................................... 20

Making good use of biodiesel waste ................................................................................................................ 21

Waste heat utility in electricity generation ................................................................................................... 22

New industrial wizardry for biodiesel from waste ................................................................................... 22

Actinide recycling of radioactive waste .......................................................................................................... 23

Better enzymes for alternative energy sources ......................................................................................... 24

ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY 

25

Assessing the sustainability of aquaculture production ....................................................................... 25

Biodefence of the phytoplankton ....................................................................................................................... 26

Better waste management .................................................................................................................................... 26

Intelligent waste management involving European citizens .............................................................. 27

Improved waste recycling will benefit environment and boost European industry ............... 28

EU–Mediterranean power against pollution ................................................................................................. 28

Recycling Europe’s 3 million tonnes of tyre waste .................................................................................. 29

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013 
55

TA BLE OF CO NTENTS

Ocean acidification: past, present and future ............................................................................................. 30

European eels in troubled waters ...................................................................................................................... 30

IT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 

31

Breaking through the fault-testing bottleneck in chip production .................................................. 31

European scientific research now on YouTube ............................................................................................ 32

Balkan agriculture goes high-tech .................................................................................................................... 33

Aviation safety training strengthened ............................................................................................................. 34

Non-invasive optical imaging to monitor brain function ...................................................................... 34

Monitoring emerging diseases in wild animals .......................................................................................... 35

Making an online move for science .................................................................................................................. 35

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES 

36

Closing the loop for lightweight materials ................................................................................................... 36

Better aviation testing for structural safety ................................................................................................ 37

Exploring and exploiting engineered oxide interfaces ............................................................................ 38

Creating value and reducing waste by exploiting animal by-products ......................................... 39

Wood bark and peat — getting value from waste .................................................................................. 39

New device for search-and-rescue operations .......................................................................................... 40

SPACE 

41

Keeping an eye on Europe’s biodiversity… from space .......................................................................... 41

Advanced systems for spacecraft protection .............................................................................................. 42

Spotting species from space satellites ........................................................................................................... 42

Softer and safer landings enabler for future spacecraft ...................................................................... 43

Satellite surveillance for illegal logging ......................................................................................................... 44

A new data-driven cryosphere monitoring tool ......................................................................................... 45

EVENTS 

46

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 20136

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Fractures fixed in a fraction of time

Regenerative medicine is a new scientific field that focuses on helping patients heal faster. It can help a body repair broken bones in 
a fraction of the time it would normally take. An EU-funded research project is using gene therapy and stem cells to help damaged 
bones regenerate faster and open up new market opportunities for tissue-repair technology in the European medical sector.  

Regenerative medicine aims to regenerate 
damaged  tissues  by  developing  functional 
cell, tissue, and organ substitutes to repair, 
replace or enhance biological function in the 
affected area. 

The technologies involved are based on the 
successful interaction between three com-
ponents. These include the scaffold that holds 
the cells together to create the tissue’s phys-
ical form and the cells that create the tissue. 
Biological  signalling  mechanisms  (such  as 
bioreactors or devices which stimulate cells) 
that direct the cells to express the desired 
tissue phenotype (an organism's observable 
characteristics or traits) make up the third 
component.

Through his COLLREGEN1 research project, 
funded  by  the  European  Research  Council 
(ERC), Professor Fergal O’Brien of the Royal 
College  of  Surgeons  in  Ireland  is  pursuing 

specific projects in all three areas. His goal is 
to develop bone-graft substitutes from bio-
materials and laboratory-engineered bone tis-
sue for implantation in damaged areas.

By creating innovative bioengineered alter-
natives to bone grafts and transplants, Prof. 
O’Brien aims to revolutionise the healing of 
fractures and breaks and reduce treatment 
and recovery times for patients. The objective 
is to ultimately pave the way for innovative 
treatments for sufferers of other conditions 
involving tissue damage.

‘We are trying to encourage the body to repair 
itself in instances where it normally might not 
do so,’ explains Prof. O’Brien, who received an 
ERC Starting Grant for the project in 2009.

COLLREGEN is basing its research on creat-
ing collagen-based biomaterials, which are 
combined with gene therapy, growth factors 

and stem cell technology to promote tissue 
repair.

Bridging broken bones
One of the main focuses of the project has 
been the development of new scaffold ma-
terials that can be used to encourage the flow 
of oxygenated blood to damaged bone. Many 
defects fail to heal because of poor infiltration 
of blood vessels and the new tissue struggles 
to  survive  without  a  supply  of  oxygen  and 
nutrients. The scaffold provides signals for the 
recruitment of, and support for new blood ves-
sels to grow into.

With  his  team,  Prof.  O’Brien  has  devel-
oped an innovative scaffold material made 
from  collagen  and  nano-sized  particles 
of  hydroxyapatite  (a  calcium  phosphate 
ceramic) which acts as a platform to attract 
the  body’s  own  stem  cells  to  repair  bone 
in  the  damaged  area  using  gene  therapy. 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 
 
 
The cells are programmed to overproduce 
proteins which encourage the regrowth of 
healthy bone tissue.

The significance of this work is that it pro-
vides  a  way  for  new  bone  tissue  to  be 
generated where it has been damaged, or 
destroyed by disease, and avoids the need 
for surgical bone grafts. Bone grafts, either 
from another part of the person’s body, or 
from a donor, carry the risk of infection. 

There is also the risk that the grafted bone 
will not properly ‘take’ at the site where it is 
required.

Potential for further regeneration
He  explains that there is a large potential 
market for bone-graft substitute materials, 
such as the innovative scaffolds being devel-
oped  by  the  COLLREGEN  team,  and  that  a 
future objective is to develop a commercially 
viable, functionalised platform for use in the 
medical sector.

Prof. O’Brien and his team are also investigat-
ing how this process can be used not only to 
engineer bone tissue but to deliver genes that 
promote the formation of blood vessels in the 
regeneration of tissues in other parts of the 
body.

‘By  stimulating  the  body  to  repair  itself, 
using  non-viral  gene  therapeutics,  these 
negative  side  effects  can  be  avoided  and 
bone tissue growth is promoted efficiently 
and safely,’ says Prof. O’Brien.

‘This technique of using scaffolds combined 
with therapeutic genes to repair damaged 
tissue could be applied in the future to repair 
damaged heart or even brain tissue,’ explains 
Prof. O’Brien. ‘We're hoping the research we’re 

7

undertaking will lead to successful regenera-
tive therapeutics for other damaged or dis-
eased tissues in addition to bone.’

The  project  is  coordinated  by  the  Royal 
College of Surgeons in Ireland.

1  

 ‘Collagen scaffolds for bone regeneration: applied 
biomaterials, bioreactor and stem cell technology’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Ideas’ 
(European Research Council).
http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre > search > 30713

Antibiotic resistance revisited: the role of biocides

Antibiotic resistance is a serious medical issue affecting health-care efficacy and sometimes 
causing life-threatening infections or sepsis. An EU-funded project aimed to investigate the 
extent  to  which  the  antibiotic  resistance  phenomenon  could  be  caused  or  exacerbated  by 
improper use of biocides.

Biocide  refers  to  a  family  of 
compounds that have the abil-
ity to control or deter the harm-
ful effects of various pathogens. 
Despite biocide usage for hun-
dreds of years in antisepsis, dis-
infection and preservation, they 
remain  effective  against  most 
bacterial and fungal species.

An increasing number of reports 
note the co- and cross-resistance 
between  antibiotics  and  bioc-
ides, raising speculation on the 

potential hazard of biocide use. 
The EU-funded BIOHYPO1 project 
was initiated to investigate this 
issue.

The key issue raised by BIOHYPO 
concerned assessing the impact 
of biocides’ use in the food chain 
on the emergence of antibiotic-
resistant human pathogens. The 
work  focused  on  four  biocides: 
triclosan,  benzalkonium  chlo-
ride,  chlorhexidine  and  sodium 
hypochlorite.

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Partners performed phenotypic 
screening of over 4000 strains 
of  the  species  Staphylococcus 
aureus,  Salmonella  Enteritidis, 
Escherichia coli and Enterococcus 
faecalis. Their aim was to deter-
mine the ‘minimal inhibitory con-
centration’  (MIC)  and  ‘minimal 
bactericidal concentration’ (MBC) 
of  biocide  susceptibility.  These 
values  are  publically  available 
online and would help determine 
the required effective doses for 
each case.

A  reduced  susceptibility  to  tri-
closan  was  observed  in  some 
strains  of  S.  aureus  to  be  due 
to the aberrant expression of a 
‘Fatty-acid  biosynthesis’  (FabI) 
gene. This was caused either by 
the acquisition of an additional 
allele  —  one  of  the  alterna-
tive forms of the gene — from  
S.  hemolyticus  or  by  an  inser-
tion upstream of the endogenous 
FabI sequence.

BIOHYPO  partners  studied  the 
reduced susceptibility to biocides 
in  relation  to  antibiotic  resist-
ance  and  found  no  correlation 
overall. However, they believed 

this might change as they could 
detect  plasmids  in  S.  aureus 
carrying both the ‘cation’ resist-
ance gene QacA and the sh-fabI 
gene.

Information  generated  by  the 
BIOHYPO  consortium  will  help 
shape  intervention  strategies 
for limiting the impact of bioc-
ide use on antibiotic resistance. 
Dissemination of BIOHYPO data 
and  results  to  the  European 
Committee  for  Standardization 
(CEN) will also aid the legislative 
efforts  of  public  authorities  in 
this arena.

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

1 

 ‘Confronting the clinical relevance of 
biocide-induced antibiotic resistance’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Food, agriculture and fisheries, and 
biotechnology’ (KBBE).
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/9974_en.html
Project website:   
https://kdbio.inesc-id.pt/biohypo/ 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 
8

The ‘ABC’ of prescribing medication

Medicine is an important component of health care, but can 
be a bitter pill to swallow for patients. Since as many as half 
of European patients do not take medication as prescribed,  
a European project has identified ways to improve compliance.

Medication  is  at  the  heart  of 
modern  medicine.  It  not  only 
saves  lives,  but  also  improves 
the quality of life and health of 
patients.  For  medicines  to  be 
effective they must be taken as 
prescribed. However, up to half 
of European patients reportedly 
do not adhere to their doctors’ 
orders, resulting in non-response 
to  therapy,  the  progression  of 
diseases, and a greater economic 
burden on patients, their families 
and society.

ABC1  was  an  EU-financed  pro-
ject  set  up  to  provide  empiri-
cal evidence on how to enhance 
patient adherence and improve 
the use of medication in Europe. 
Targeting different clinical sec-
tors,  health-care  settings  and 
population  groups,  the  project 
identified  the  determinants  of 
non-compliance and investigated 
current adherence management 
practices. 

The project team also assessed 
the  effectiveness  of  various 

interventions and produced policy 
recommendations  for  health-
care professionals, policy-mak-
ers,  patients,  industry  and  the 
research community.

Of  the  771  non-compliance 
factors  identified  by  ABC,  the 
majority were related to imple-
mentation, with only 47 linked to 
persistence with medication. This 
means that measures to improve 
implementation  could  have  an 
enormous impact.

Therefore,  the  project  con-
cluded that patients need to be 
empowered and supported with 
information and education when 
medication  is  first  prescribed. 
Health-care  professionals  also 
need more education and train-
ing  on  patient-centred  care, 
identifying and addressing non-
adherence,  and  choosing  the 
right intervention.

To achieve this, ABC recommends 
the  two  parties  should  discuss 
the  patient’s  treatment  beliefs 

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and preferences, forge a partner-
ship to make decisions on treat-
ment, and build up mutual trust.

M o r e ov e r,   w h e r e   p o s s i b l e , 
industry  should  simplify  medi-
cation  regimens,  while  health-
care providers should prioritise 
adherence support. In addition, 
governments should raise pub-
lic awareness, promote effective 
interventions and support further 
research in the field.

The  project’s  integrated  set  of 
recommendations  could  make 
patients’ adherence to their pre-
scribed  medication  as  simple 
as ‘ABC’, with huge benefits for 

patients,  their  loved  ones  and 
society.

The project was coordinated by 
the Medical University of Łódź in 
Poland.

1 

 ‘Ascertaining barriers for compliance: 
policies for safe, effective and cost-
effective use of medicines in Europe’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Health’.
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11555_en.html
Project website: 
http://abcproject.eu/index.php 

Sponge enzymes: nature’s little bio-builders

Sponges seem an unlikely source for innovation, yet they may hold the key to new nanotechnologies, innovative optical devices 
and new ways of regrowing human bone and preventing bone disease. Difficult to believe? Not for Werner E.G. Müller. In the 
BIOSILICA1 project, he and his team are developing ways to adapt the complex processes that natural glassy sponges use to build 
their wondrous biosilica structures for use in biodegradable implants that would facilitate bone healing after surgery or fractures.

Biomineralisation is the forma-
tion  of  composite  structures 
containing  inorganic  materials 
by  living  organisms  —  for  ex-
ample,  an  eggshell  or  a  tooth. 
Biosilica is an important biomin-
eral — produced on the scale of 
gigatonnes through biosilicifica-
tion,  mainly  by  marine  organ-
isms, such as siliceous sponges.

The length of the delicate, intri-
cate  biosilica  structures  found 
in  siliceous  sponges  ranges 

from  nanometres  to  millime-
t r e s .   T h e s e   b e a u t i f u l   o p e n 
frameworks  of  rod-  and  star-
shaped  biosilica  spicules  have 
amazed  scientists  since  they 
were first observed. But to the 
more application-oriented eye, 
they have other interesting fea-
tures:  nanometre-scale  silica 
structures  form  vital  compon-
ents  in  micro-  and  nanoelec-
tronics, such as insulators and 
optical wave guides. In addition, 
biosilica  holds  the  promise  of 

biocompatibility — a vital prop-
erty for medical implants.

its  processes  for  a  range  of 
exciting new technologies.

A t   t h e   U n i v e r s i t y   M e d i c a l 
Center of Johannes Gutenberg 
University  Mainz  in  Germany, 
Professor  Werner  E.  G.  Müller 
a n d   h i s   c o - w o r ke r s   i n   t h e 
I n s t i t u t e   fo r   P h y s i o l o g i c a l 
Chemistry  are  using  an  ERC 
Advanced Grant to uncover the 
fundamental  mechanism  of 
biomineralisation, in particular 
biosilicification, and to harness 

‘The beauty of nature is that it 
finds strategies to make things 
happen.  In  chemistry,  change 
is constrained by the activation 
energy  needed  for  a  chemical 
reaction — you must put in a lot 
of energy in order to get things 
going,’  says  Werner  Müller.  ‘In 
contrast, biochemical reactions 
get round this by using natural 
catalysts to reduce the activation 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 
 
 
9

results at ambient temperatures 
and with much less energy expendi-
ture by using enzymes that expe-
dite chemical processes simply by 
binding transiently to the materials 
involved.

Building on a new 
paradigm
‘The  discovery  of  the  enzyme 
catalyst silicatein in the last dec-
ade, and its role in the formation 
of inorganic biosilica, produced a 
paradigm  change  for  research-
ers. We now know that only a few 
enzymes  can  control  reactions, 
but our research shows that it is 
not limited to biosilica — other 
biomaterials  containing  metals 
can also be produced using spe-
cific enzymes,’ explains Professor 
Müller. His team is taking biosilici-
fication research further by bring-
ing  in  cutting-edge  techniques 
from structural biology, biochem-
istry, bioengineering and material 
sciences.  Already  this  research 
has  borne  fruit  in  the  parallel 
SI-BONE-POC2 project awarded by 
the ERC.

‘Sponge structures are extremely 
diverse and it’s the same for animal 
bones; each species has its own 
specific body plan. Even though we 
don’t know how this is determined 
in  humans,  we  have  discovered 
that bone growth is controlled by 
enzymes  as  well,  which  led  us 
to  produce  prosthetic  implants 
using biosilica made in vitro. These 
implants have proved highly bio-
compatible in animal experiments 
— they are not rejected by the host 
organism.

‘We are also discovering that they 
offer other benefits: they are bio-
degradable over time, thus remov-
ing the need for surgery to remove 
them,  as  is  done  for  metal  pins 
used  to  repair  fractures.  Even 
better,  this  slow  biodegradation 
allows for a controlled regrowth 
of new bone. Indeed, the biosilica 
also seems to promote new bone 
growth. This is not so surprising 
since human bodies contain bio-
silica  and  glassy  sponges  were 
among  the  first  organisms  to 
evolve on earth. They are thought 

to be the ancestors of vertebrates 
—  so  a  strong  biocompatibility 
reflects this.

In SI-BONE-POC, we are taking this 
research forward. In particular, we 
are looking at the role which the 
silicatein enzyme might play in pre-
venting and even curing osteopor-
osis, an age-related bone disease 
that brings huge costs and great 
misery to sufferers, and which is on 
the rise as we live longer.’

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
the University Medical Center of 
Johannes  Gutenberg  University 
Mainz in Germany.

1 

2 

 ‘From gene to biomineral: Biosynthesis 
and application of sponge biosilica’.
 ‘Silica-based nanobiomedical 
approaches for treatment of bone 
diseases: Proof-of-Concept’.

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

energy required. In biosilicifica-
tion, it is enzymes that play this 
catalytic role.’

Indeed, he points out, fabricating 
silica nanostructures and optical 
components  at  present  involves 
extreme conditions: temperatures 
of around 1000 ºC for silica optical 
fibres. Yet sponges achieve similar 

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Understanding the health benefits of flavanols

It is no secret that eating the right foods can help people feel better 
and live longer. The nutrition in our daily diet is a major lifestyle 
factor  in  influencing  human  health  and  disease.  For  example, 
medical evidence has long shown that diets rich in plant-based 
foods can decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases. 

One  particular  class  of  com-
pounds,  called  flavanols,  has 
been investigated in recent years. 
Found in certain teas, fruits, and 
cocoa products, these substances 
have shown a potential to deliver 
various  health  benefits,  includ-
ing better vascular function, lower 
blood  pressure  and  improved 
immune responses. 

Recent  innovations  in  analyt-
ics,  chemistry,  food-processing 
technology, and non-invasive car-
diovascular function assessments 
have  helped  researchers  study 
flavanols more comprehensively, 
providing advances that support 
the development of future appli-
cations, including potential dietary 
recommendations. 

Multi-disciplinary research carried 
out under the project has shed new 
light  on  the  types  and  amounts 
of flavanols in cocoa, as well as 
the effects of food processing and 
manufacturing on the flavanol con-
tent of certain food products. 

The EU-funded project FLAVIOLA1 
aimed  to  advance  our  know-
ledge  of  the  delivery,  function 
and  health  benefits  of  dietary 
flavanols. 

FLAVIOLA researchers say their 
research  has  provided  a  much 
clearer  understanding  of  the 
cardiovascular  and  circulatory 
health benefits of flavanols —  
a benefit for public health. 

consumption, and provided insights 
into the action mechanisms that 
underlie the biological effects of 
this plant-derived nutrient. 

FLAVIOLA researchers have also 
compiled a comprehensive data-
base of the amounts and types of 
flavanols consumed in 14 countries 
across the European Union. This 
will enable better interpretation of 
dietary  intervention  studies  and 
clearer associations between fla-
vanol consumption and health. 

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Germany, France, the Netherlands, 
Sweden, Switzerland and the United 
Kingdom. 

The  project  was  coordinated  by 
the  University  of  Düsseldorf  in 
Germany.

1  

 ‘Targeted delivery of dietary flavanols 
for optimal human cell function: Effect 
on cardiovascular health’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Food, agriculture and fisheries, and 
biotechnology’ (KBBE).
http://cordis.europa.eu/news > search > 
35973
Project website: http://www.flaviola.org/

These  novel  findings  have  also 
advanced  our  understanding 
of  what  happens  to  flavanols 
in  the  human  body  following 

The project, which was completed 
early  in  2013,  received  around 
EUR  3  million  in  EU  funding.  It 
included researchers from Belgium, 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10

Work on cell memory mechanism could help identify 
disease-causing mutations

When a ‘mother’ cell divides into ‘daughter’ cells — as often 
as  once  every  24  hours  —  the  latter  inherit  the  identity 
and functions of the former. A team at Sweden’s Karolinska 
Institutet has recently unveiled the mechanisms behind this 
memory  transmission,  with  help  from  various  institutions 
and EU-funded projects. 

The way our cells continuously 
divide to form two identical cop-
ies is key to our own existence. 
Without  cell  division  we  would 
not be able to grow or heal from 
injuries.  In  fact,  most  of  the 
species  populating  our  planet, 
including humans, simply would 
not exist. 

Despite  its  importance,  some 
of  the  underlying  mechanisms 
behind  cell  division  are  still 
unknown.  This  was  the  case  of 
‘cell memory’ transmission, a pro-
cess which allows daughter cells 
to inherit their functions — insulin 
production, for instance — from 
mother cells. Despite many years 
of intense research, no general 
mechanism had been discovered 
which  could  explain  how  this 
works. 

Admittedly, the process is mind-
boggling:  transcription  factors 
— proteins which are bound to 
specific DNA sequences, control 
the flow of genetic information 
and  thereby  determine  a  cell’s 
identity  and  function  —  are 
erased each time a cell divides. 
Surprisingly enough, these binding 
patterns are eventually restored 
in  both  mother  and  daugh-
ter  cells.  A  mystery?  Not  any-
more, according to Jussi Taipale, 
Professor at the Department of 

Biosciences and Nutrition (BioNut) 
at Karolinska Institutet and head 
of the research team behind the 
discovery. 

‘The problem is that there is so 
much DNA in a cell that it would 
be impossible for the transcrip-
tion factors to find their way back 
within a reasonable time frame. 
But now we have found a possible 
mechanism for how this cellular 
memory works, and how it helps 
the cell remember the order that 
existed  before  the  cell  divided, 
helping the transcription factors 
find their correct places,’ explains 
Prof. Taipale. 

H a v i n g   p r o d u c e d   t h e   m o s t 
complete map yet of transcrip-
tion factors in a cell, the group 
found that a large protein com-
plex called cohesin is positioned 
as  a  ring  around  the  two  DNA 
strands  that  are  formed  when 
a  cell  divides,  marking  virtu-
ally  all  the  places  on  the  DNA 
where transcription factors were 
bound. Cohesin encircles the DNA 
strand,  and  the  protein  com-
plexes  that  replicate  DNA  can 
pass  through  the  ring  without 
displacing it. Since the two new 
DNA  strands  are  caught  in  the 
ring, only one cohesin is needed 
to mark the two, thereby helping 
the transcription factors to find 

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their original binding region on 
both DNA strands. 

‘More research is needed before 
we  can  be  sure,  but  so  far  all 
experiments support our model,’ 
Martin Enge, assistant professor 
at BioNut, Karolinska Institutet, 
says. 

Transcription factors play a piv-
otal role in many illnesses, includ-
ing cancer and many hereditary 
diseases.  In  future,  the  team’s 
discovery  may  therefore  have 
direct consequences for patients 
with  cancer  or  hereditary  dis-
eases, with cohesin functioning 
as an indicator of which DNA se-
quences might contain disease-
causing mutations. 

‘Currently,  we  analyse  DNA  se-
quences that are directly located 
in genes, which constitute about 
3 %  of  the  genome.  However, 
most mutations that have been 
shown  to  cause  cancer  are 
located outside of genes. We can-
not  analyse  these  in  a  reliable 
manner — the genome is simply 
too large. By only analysing DNA 
sequences that bind to cohesin, 
roughly  1 %  of  the  genome,  it 
would  allow  us  to  analyse  an 

individual’s mutations and make it 
much easier to conduct studies to 
identify novel harmful mutations,’ 
Enge concludes. 

The research was supported by 
the  Center  for  Biosciences  at 
Karolinska  Institutet,  the  Knut 
and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, 
the  Swedish  Research  Council, 
Science for Life Laboratory, the 
Swedish  Cancer  Foundation, 
t h e   E R C   A d v a n c e d   G r a n t 
GROWTHCONTROL1, and the EU 
FP7 Health project SYSCOL2.

The project is coordinated by the 
Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

1 

2 

 ‘Dissecting the transcriptional 
mechanisms controlling growth 
during normal development and 
cancer’, funded under the FP7 
specific programme ‘Ideas’ (European 
Research Council).
 ‘Systems biology of colorectal 
cancer’, funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Health’.

http://cordis.europa.eu/news > search > 
35997
Project website: http://syscol-project.eu/

Novel drugs against trypanosomal diseases

Experts in parasite biology and medicinal chemistry teamed up 
to identify compounds with potent activity against protozoa of 
the Trypanosomatidae family. They investigated strategies that 
intervene with the basic metabolism and DNA in these protozoa.

Protozoa of the genera Leishmania 
and Trypanosoma are responsible 

for Leishmaniasis, African trypa-
nosomiasis and Chagas disease. 

Leishmaniasis alone gives rise to 
over 2 million clinical cases annu-
ally, while nearly 18 million people 
are  infected  with  Trypanosoma 
cruzi  (Chagas  disease).  Overall, 
these infected diseases have been 
relatively  neglected  in  research 
but are the cause of substantial 

morbidity and mortality in endemic 
regions, found mainly in tropical 
and sub-tropical areas.

As a result, new tools and drug 
targets  are  required  for  com-
bating  pathogenic  protozoa. 
Antimetabolites  against  purine 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 
 
11

targeting  of  the  ‘Deoxyuridine 
triphosphate  nucleotidohydro-
lase’  (dUTPase)  enzyme  impli-
cated in nucleotide metabolism. 
Using RNA interference, the con-
sortium unveiled the importance 
of dUTPase for parasite growth 
and proliferation. Parasites with 
reduced enzyme levels exhibited 
either absence of or an enlarged 
nucleus, and presented defects in 
cell cycle progression.

To prepare inhibitors for the dUT-
Pase enzyme, scientists screened 
a chemical library of over 62 000 
compounds. Three-dimensional 
(3D) analysis of the enzyme for 
the  identification  of  potential 
targets revealed a polar active 
site requiring significant further 
structural  optimisation  of  the 
selected compounds.

Although the nucleotide antime-
tabolite work of the TRYPOBASE 

project  exhibited  higher  anti-
parasite  potential,  informa-
tion generated on the dUTPase 
enzyme in particular is expected 
to drive future research on this 
target.  Following  optimisation, 
the identified compounds have 
the potential to progress down 
the development pathway rapidly 
toward clinical candidates.

The project was coordinated by 
the  Spanish  National  Research 
Council in Spain.

1 

  ‘Nucleobase derivatives as drugs 
against trypanosomal diseases’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Health’.
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11551_en.html
Project website: 
http://www.ipb.csic.es/trypobase.html

and pyrimidine (components of 
DNA  helix  nucleobases)  have 
been used with great success in 
the  treatment  of  a  wide  range 
of diseases, including cancer and 
AIDS.

The EU-funded TRYPOBASE1 pro-
ject  explored  the  anti-parasite 
potential  of  novel  nucleobase 
derivatives.  Among  the  pro-
ject’s objectives were to screen 

drug-like compounds in vitro and 
in vivo, as well as to synthesise 
novel ones. To this end, a library 
of nearly 7000 nucleoside and 
nucleobase  derivatives  was 
screened and several compounds 
exhibited anti-parasite activity, 
especially against T. cruzi.

An  alternative  strategy  was 
explored  by  the  TRYPOBASE 
consortium.  This  entailed  the 

New mycotoxin detection device goes from prototype to 
production

Mycotoxins are naturally occurring fungi which typically grow on wheat-based foodstuffs, including cereals and bread, under 
humid conditions. They can cause a variety of adverse health effects in humans, such as damaging kidneys or compromising 
immune systems. In an effort to safeguard the food chain, a series of EU-funded research teams have developed a low-cost 
device able to detect traces of mycotoxins in feed, food and beverages. 

Traditional methods of detect-
ing  toxins  in  food  products 
are often unreliable and prove 
costly and time-consuming for 
SMEs. Against this background, 
the  University  of  Rome  and 
the  Research  Institute  INESC 
M N ,   P o r t u g a l   l a u n c h e d   t h e 
OTASENS1 project. 

The  researchers  developed  a 
novel  device  able  to  perform 
rapid detection and quantifica-
tion of ochratoxin A or OTA — a 
highly toxic strain of mycotoxin 
— in wine, beer and feed through 
a linear array of amorphous sil-
icon (a-Si:H) photosensors depos-
ited on a glass substrate. 

The  device  is  able  to  detect 
highly toxic varieties of myco-
toxins.  It  was  integrated  with 
surfaces  treated  in  different 
ways  in  order  to  gauge  their 
sensitivity  to  mycotoxins  in 
several  food  and  feed  prod-
u c t s .   S p e a r h e a d e d   by   t w o 
SMEs, OTASENS experimented 

with different extraction meth-
odologies  by  analysing  food 
that  was  naturally  contami-
nated and fortified with OTA. 

Mycotoxins are often resistant 
to decomposition and as such 
can  remain  in  the  food  chain, 
posing  a  threat  to  important 
s o u r c e s   o f   h u m a n   n u t r i -
tion  —  particularly  meat  and 
dairy  products.  To  tackle  this, 
the new device will be able to 
perform  a  reliable  analysis  in 
various settings, including can-
teens,  breweries  and  farms, 
with the aim of satisfying food 
quality control requirements. 

Now  that  a  compact  portable 
device has been developed, the 
next step is to make the tran-
sition from prototype to com-
mercial  device.  The  recently 
l a u n c h e d   D E M O T O X 2 
project  aims  to  do  just 

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 
 
 
 
 
12

that, preparing a pre-series of 
devices ready to be introduced 
into  the  commercial  market 
within the next two years. 

SMEs,  which  are  very  inter-
ested  in  a  low-cost  and  effi-
cient  method  of  identifying 
contamination  in  food,  will 
b e   w o r k i n g   t o g e t h e r   w i t h 
researchers  from  OTASENS.  A 
small team will prepare around 
2 0   d e m o n s t r a t i v e   d e v i c e s 
which  will  be  distributed  to 
end-users in various sectors to 

pilot  the  device's  commercial 
potential. 

Combining  expertise  in  prod-
uct development, management 
and  risk  mitigation,  members 
o f   OTA S E N S   a n d   D E M OTO X 
have set out to take the device 
to market with the assistance 
of competent external bodies. 
A  kick-off  meeting  took  place 
in late August to demonstrate 
the new device to stakeholders 
and  interest  groups.  Through 
c o m m e r c i a l i s a t i o n ,   p r o j e c t 

partners  hope  to  make  SMEs 
in the food industry more com-
petitive while increasing safety 
across the food chain.

1 

2 

The DEMOTOX project is coord-
inated by Automation in Italy; 
OTASENS  was  coordinated  by 
Giesinger  Biermanufaktur  & 
Specialitaten Braugesellschaft 
in Germany.

  ‘Novel photosensor-based device for 
rapid and quantitative ochratoxin A 
determination in wine, beer and feed’.
 ‘A new device to detect quickly 
and friendly ochratoxin A and 
other mycotoxins in feed, food and 
beverage’.

Both projects are funded under the FP7 
specific programme ‘Capacities’ under the 
theme ‘Research for the benefit of SMEs’.
http://cordis.europa.eu/news > search > 
35989
Project websites:
http://www.otasens.it/
http://www.demotox.it/

Anxious for a cure

New  research  has  revealed  some  of  the  underlying  environmental,  behavioural  and  biological  factors  behind  anxiety.  The 
condition affects countless individuals and has even become an economic burden due to the amount of sick leave sufferers 
take from work.

Scientists have known for a long 
time  that  two  brain  hormones, 
‘gamma-aminobutyric  acid’ 
(GABA) and serotonin, play a role 
in anxiety. It has recently come to 
light that environmental risk fac-
tors may affect serotonin-related 
genes, and that GABA receptors 
play an important role in mediat-
ing the anxiety-countering effects 
of  GABA.  It  is  also  now  known 
that these two hormonal systems 

interact, although deeper insights 
are needed if targeted therapies 
are to be developed.

Specialists in development, neu-
ronal plasticity, neurobehaviour, 
neuropharmacology and mouse 
genetics  came  together  under 
the EU-funded DEVANX1 project 
to gain further related insights. 
They focused on how GABA and 
serotonin systems interact in the 

developmental programming of 
anxiety.

circuits involved in remembering 
anxiety-causing stimuli.

Project researchers fully charac-
terised  various  mouse  models, 
including some that were defi-
cient in serotonin or certain GABA 
receptor  activities.  They  were 
able to determine the role of two 
GABA  receptors,  GABAb1A  and 
GABAb1B, as well as the impli-
cation  of  specific  hippocampal 

The  team  also  validated  new 
genetic methods to examine ser-
otonin circuits. They found that 
pharmacogenetic  approaches 
worked  well  to  tease  apart 
 anxiety-related circuits.

A number of scientific publica-
tions have been published relat-
ing to this research, pointing to 
the  massive  contribution  the 
DEVANX project has made to the 
field. A better understanding of 
the mechanisms driving anxiety 
could lead to novel therapeutic 
approaches.

The project was coordinated by 
INSERM in France.

1 

  ‘Serotonin and GABA-B receptors in 
anxiety: From developmental risk 
factors to treatment’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Health’.
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/7393_en.html
Project website: http://devanx.vitamib.com/

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 
 
13

T
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©

Learning workplace skills through 
gaming

In the current economic environment, highly skilled, productive and efficient workers are among a company’s best assets. 
But keeping employees at peak performance and teaching them new skills requires effective lifelong learning. A technology-
enhanced approach to learning, combining elements from serious games and learning theories, is now being developed.

Training programmes, seminars and work-
place  learning  courses  are  widely  used 
today by organisations of all sizes looking 
to  develop  employee  skill  sets  and  build 
competence in performing different tasks. 
Many focus on reducing so-called ‘Time to 
competence’ (TTC), the period it takes for an 
employee to be proficient in a certain role. 
The main route to shorten TTC is a bespoke 
face-to-face or blended course, which tends 
to  be  resource-intensive  —  courses  cost 
money  and  time  to  set  up  and  run,  and 
workers often need to miss work to attend 
them. In addition, it is widely recognised that 

a  classroom  approach  to  learning  is  less 
effective and engaging than practice-orien-
tated, interactive methods. 

‘Ideally, if you’re trying to train someone to 
be a project manager you want them to ex-
perience being a project manager and learn 
the skills on the job, so to speak. However, it 
is risky and potentially very costly for a com-
pany to put someone without the right training 
in such a position — they could make mis-
takes or be ineffective,’ says Dr Hans Torvatn, 
a senior research scientist at the Institute of 
Technology and Society (SINTEF) in Norway. 

But what if they could take on the role of a 
project manager, experience the challenges 
of the position, make mistakes, learn from 
them, and try again? 

That is the thinking behind a project man-
aged  by  Dr  Torvatn  to  develop  a  game-
based  approach  to  training  using  virtual 
reality (VR) environments and simulations to 
quickly and cost-effectively teach knowledge 
workers — such as engineers, doctors, civil 
servants or project managers — new skills. 
Called TARGET1, the project is focused 
on methods and tools for cost-effective 

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES 
14

dynamic  competence  development,  with 
flexible learning contexts of varying com-
plexity and longevity. TARGET has a budget 
of  EUR 9.4  million,  with  funding  of  EUR 
6.8 million from the European Commission. 
The consortium involves 15 partners from 
11 European countries. 

Although  games,  VR  and  simulations  are 
already well-established training tools, they 
have mostly been used to date to teach peo-
ple specific technical skills or enhance exist-
ing ones through practice. 

‘For example, there are training simulators 
for doctors who perform surgery to improve 
their dexterity or for resource managers to 
practice  planning,  but  in  TARGET  we  are 
focusing on what could be described as “soft 
skills”  or  higher  cognitive  skills  —  things 
like negotiation, trust-building, leadership 
and  communication,‘  the  project  manager 
explains. 

‘TARGET is built on modern approaches to 
pedagogy and learning, especially ideas on 
personalised learning and learning plans, 
where Threshold Concepts play a key role. 
One  may  perceive  a  Threshold  Concept 
as  a  gateway  in  a  particular  knowledge 
domain,  which  once  mastered,  leads  to 
emergent  new  knowledge  as  the  indi-
vidual’s  understanding  is  expanded  and 
they are transformed into thinking like a 
practitioner.’ 

Unique approach
The approach addresses several key learn-
ing challenges, including taking into account 
that  each  learner  is  a  unique  individual, 
with different cognitive abilities, emotional 
intelligence,  personality,  knowledge  and 
experience.  Therefore,  Dr  Torvatn  says,  it 
is not feasible to develop a single solution 
tailored to all learners, but rather it is ne-
cessary to support mass individualisation. 
The problems are exacerbated by the need 
to retain the capacity to handle unpredicted 
events, meaning that at least some of the 
learners and managers in an organisation 
need to attain novel ways of understand-
ing and the ability to think with different 
perspectives. 

For the trainee, learning begins by logging 
into the TARGET platform and undergoing 
an  analysis  to  determine  their  learning 
goals  and  build  a  personalised  learning 
plan. They are then offered a range of dif-
ferent stories or scenarios to choose from, 
in  each  of  which  they  take  on  a  specific 
role that they play out as an avatar in a 
virtual  reality  environment.  The  project 
team has so far designed three scenarios 
— 'stakeholder management' (SM), 'sus-
tainable global manufacturing' (SGM) and 
'social architect' (SA) — under which the 

system  was  evaluated  with  engineering, 
project management and business school 
students. 

What would you like to learn today? 
If a worker needs to develop interpersonal 
skills  for  conducting  business  in  highly 
dynamic,  complex  and  demanding  social 
environments, for example, they might be 
guided to play the role of an energy com-
pany  manager  negotiating  with  a  town 
mayor,  a  farmer  and  an  environmental 
campaigner about the installation of a wind 
farm. 

If they need to develop leadership abilities 
and build experience in managing multicul-
tural business relationships, they might take 
on the role of a manager charged with put-
ting together a team for a new project. 

Or if they need to develop long-term critical 
and strategic thinking skills, they might act 
as a sustainability manager attempting to 
draw up a sustainable global manufacturing 
strategy  for  a  medium-sized  company, 
where the CEO supports the strategy but the 
rest of the key stakeholders do not. 

‘As part of the total evaluation efforts, the 
three scenarios have been evaluated in tri-
als by different project partners involving 
more  than  60  participants  across  Europe. 
However, evidently many different scenarios 
are possible depending on the needs of the 
employer  and  the  employee,’  Dr  Torvatn 
says. ‘The training they receive is interac-
tive,  engaging  and  highly  personalised  to 
their requirements, depending on the skills 
they need to develop for the job they plan 
to perform.’ 

Game plan
Within each game, the roles and attitudes 
of different ‘Non-player characters’ (NPCs), 
along with other factors, can change dynam-
ically to meet specific requirements — such 
as becoming more confrontational or delay-
ing  tasks  within  a  project.  A  ‘Competence 
performance analyser’ (CPA) looks at each 
player’s performance during the game and 
scores  them  on  different  skills.  When  the 
session is finished, the CPA gives them visual 
feedback in the form of video playback of 
what they did, correlated with their scores 
on a timeline, therefore supporting the ne-
cessary reflection for learning. Players are 
also able to interact with other participants 
and share experiences in a VR social space 
called the ‘Lounge’. 

‘Players can play the games as many times 
as  they  like.  They  can  try  different  strat-
egies, make mistakes, reflect on them and 
learn from them. In that way they learn from 
experience — it’s a case of practice makes 
perfect,’ Dr Torvatn says. 

The  main  problem  the  TARGET  team  had 
to overcome was to transform theories of 
learning into models that software develop-
ers could use to develop the various com-
ponents,  and  then  integrate  them  into  a 
total system. There were also other techno-
logical challenges, such as enabling dialogue 
between players and NPCs and the personal-
isation of stories tailored to the individual’s 
learning needs. 

‘The system is a prototype and some fea-
tures  undoubtedly  require  more  work,’  Dr 
Torvatn acknowledges. ‘However, there is a 
lot of interest in the platform, and especially 
in this approach to reducing time-to-compe-
tence for knowledge workers, particularly as 
using VR and games in this way is consid-
erably less expensive and time-consuming 
than devising personalised real-world train-
ing programmes.’

Several of the project partners plan to con-
tinue  work  on  the  platform  now  the  pro-
ject has ended, and the team is interested 
in  using  the  technology  commercially  to 
design  game  scenarios  for  companies  to 
train workers to meet their specific business 
requirements. 

‘In the future, this approach to training and 
skills development is likely to become more 
widespread. If you look at the younger gen-
eration of workers and those now entering 
the workforce, they are very accustomed to 
playing games and to this style of learning. 
They  won’t  just  need  this  sort  of  interac-
tive, personalised training, they will in fact 
demand  it,’  the  TARGET  project  manager 
says. 

The  project  was  coordinated  by  SINTEF  in 
Norway.

1 

 ‘Transformative, adaptive, responsive and engaging 
environment’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Cooperation’ 
under the research theme ‘Information and communication 
technologies’ (ICT). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/story/rcn/11445_en.html
Project website: http://www.reachyourtarget.org/ 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIESGender equality in science

Although gender equality policies are in place, women are still 
under-represented  in  scientific  and  technological  research 
(STR).  An  EU-funded  initiative  worked  towards  improving 
the  capacity  of  STR  organisations  to  manage,  monitor  and 
increase gender diversity.

The  WHIST1  project  fostered  a 
joint  learning  process  between 
institutions in Denmark, Germany 
and  Fra nc e:  the   Uni ve rs i ty 
of  Aarhus,  the  Fraunhofer-
Institut  für  Arbeitswirtschaft 
und Organisation (IAO), and the 
European  Space  Agency  (ESA), 
respectively.  The  idea  was  to 
gain insights into gender-equality 
actions that really work to pro-
mote diversity.

S u c h   a c t i o n s   i n c l u d e   t h e 
University  of  Aarhus’  mentor-
ing  programme  and  an  incen-
tive  scheme  aimed  at  hiring 

20 women  professors.  ESA,  on 
the  other  hand,  implemented 
actions  aimed  at  encouraging 
a corporate culture that under-
stands and values cultural and 
gender diversity. And, amongst 
other  actions,  the  Fraunhofer-
IAO  created a re-entry support 
service aimed at employees on 
parental leave.

These experimental actions have 
ignited real change at the institu-
tions, ensuring that women are 
able to participate at all levels of 
research. Other institutions have 
already  started  to  adopt  some 

15

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these  practices  and  the  WHIST 
project  has  produced  guide-
lines  for  more  to  follow  suite. 
Fundamentally, the project has 
contributed to a positive change 
in  attitude  regarding  gender 
equality.

The project was coordinated by 
the Dipartimento per i Diritti e le 
Pari Opportunità in Italy.

1 

 ‘Women’s careers hitting the target: 
Gender management in scientific and 
technological research’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Capacities’ under the theme ‘Science in 
Society’ (SIS). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/6595_en.html

Journalism students get to grips with research

Communication of research science to the general public can be ineffective or inaccurate due to a lack of understanding on the 
part of journalists. To address this, final-year journalism students were given the opportunity to spend some time in research 
labs and write about their experiences.

The EU has identified that sci-
ence  communication  to  the 
general  public  is  lacking  in 
several aspects. This includes 
insufficient  engagement  and 
d e b a t e   b e t w e e n   r e s e a r c h -
ers  and  the  public,  as  well 
a s   a   p e r c e i v e d   d i s t r u s t   o f 

journalists  in  communicating 
scientific results.

RELATE 1  was  an  EU-funded 
project that placed 78 journal-
ism  students  in  30  research 
l a b o r a t o r i e s .   T h e   s t u d e n t s 
spent a week in the laboratory 

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learning  about  the  daily  lives 
of  scientists,  and  then  wrote 
about their experiences.

RELATE  was  established  as  a 
pilot  project  to  get  research 
labs  on-board,  with  the  aim 
of  creating  a  permanent  pro-
g r a m m e .   T h e   p r o j e c t   a l s o 
aimed  to  bridge  the  divide 
b e t w e e n   r e s e a r c h e r s   a n d 
journalists.

Students  wrote  daily  blogs  of 
their  experiences  in  order  to 
monitor  the  effectiveness  of 
the  programme.  At  the  end 
of  their  week-long  stay,  they 
wrote feature articles, approxi-
mately  25 %  of  which  were 
published in various print and 
online media.

This project has improved sci-
ence  journalism  in  Europe  by 
bringing  together  researchers 
and  journalists  in  a  new  way, 

a n d   by   e x t e n d i n g   i n t e r d i s -
ciplinary  communication  and 
u n d e r s t a n d i n g .   I n   a d d i t i o n , 
hands-on scientific experience 
for  journalists  will  translate 
into  more  accessible  science 
communication for the public. 
The  articles  published  by  the 
students  are  available  on  the 
project website.

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

1 

‘Research labs for teaching journalists’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Capacities’ under the research theme 
‘Science in Society’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11480_en.html
Project website:  
http://relateproject.eu 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES 
 
 
 
16

Why Europeans are having less children

Several  factors  influence  changes  in  birth  rates.  An  EU-
funded  project  used  an  integrated  macro-micro  approach 
to  investigate  these  reasons  for  the  purpose  of  informing 
family-oriented policies.

Most European countries have 
l ow   fe r t i l i t y   r a t e s   b e c a u s e 
various obstacles prevent peo-
ple  from  having  their  desired 
number of children. The REPRO1 
project was established to gain 
insights into these obstacles. It 
involved  researchers  from  12 
countries who maintained close 
contact  with  the  Organisation 
for Economic Co-operation and 
Development  (OECD)  and  the 
European Commission.

T h e   r e s e a r c h e r s   i d e n t i f i e d 
economic  uncertainty  as  one 
of  the  main  factors  associ-
a t e d   w i t h   v a r i a b l e   fe r t i l i t y 
rates.  Unemployment  among 

men and job insecurity among 
women  were  associated  with 
lower fertility rates.

O t h e r   f i n d i n g s   w e r e   t h a t 
increased  fertility  rates  could 
be  achieved  through  creating 
opportunities for women to com-
bine family life and employment, 
or by providing affordable, qual-
ity childcare. Paid and employ-
m e n t - p r o t e c t e d   l e a v e   a n d 
financial transfers, on the other 
hand,  were  found  to  be  less 
influential on fertility rates. On a 
more personal level, individuals’ 
beliefs about positive outcomes, 
level of education and age did 
seem to influence birth rates.

These  insights  have  led  to  a 
better  understanding  of  why 
fertility  is  low  in  the  EU.  The 
information is useful for those 
decision-makers  developing 
family policies that encourage 
having more children.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by   t h e   Vi e n n a   I n s t i t u t e   o f 
Demography in Austria.

1 

 ‘Reproductive decision-making in a 
macro-micro perspective’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Socio-economic 
sciences and humanities’ (SSH). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11278_en.html
Project website:  
http://vidrepro.oeaw.ac.at/ 

New social platform boosts research on families

Today’s  social  trends  and  developments  are  changing  the 
way  families  function,  prompting  the  need  for  more  in-
depth  research  and  better-informed  polices  to  enhance 
family well-being.

Modern  values,  rapidly  ageing 
populations and a shift in priorities 
are all changing our fundamental 
understanding  of  the  European 
family. Current research on family 
well-being is necessary to redefine 
policies in this respect and secure 
a better future for European citi-
zens. The aim of the EU-funded 
project FAMILYPLATFORM1 was to 
identify the social challenges and 
explore their effect on the family 
unit.

By establishing a social platform 
in conjunction with various stake-
holders  and  policy-makers,  the 
project sought to reconcile the per-
spectives of different social groups 
to map key trends and challenges 
facing families. It identified know-
ledge gaps and research needs on 
the topic, providing important data 
on family life and family policies 
across Europe.

Through  a  series  of  workshops, 
the project team investigated the 
impact of key societal trends on 
family  life,  promoting  valuable 
exchanges  among  stakeholders 
and researchers. Specific topics in-
vestigated included providing care 
for family members, management 
of everyday family life, migration, 
mobility, inequality and family life 
changes. FAMILYPLATFORM also 
looked  at  how  new  media  and 
information  technologies  shape 
family life and behaviour, includ-
ing  risks  and  new  opportunities 
linked  to  the  development  of 
communication.

Having updated family research 
data  and  generated  key  policy 
questions to upgrade policy-mak-
ing, the project set out a research 
agenda for the future. Project out-
comes  included  comprehensive 
field reports on several important 

family topics from social services 
to  education.  FAMILYPLATFORM 
also organised a congress, work-
shop and conferences with focus 
groups  that  investigated  and 
reviewed the project's results, in 
addition  to  launching  an  online 
platform for discussion.

Overall, the project is expected to 
show how national disparities in 
family policies can be evaluated 
in the long run. It will help stake-
holders in policy and research to 
understand the needs and desires 
of families, encouraging the imple-
mentation of family-relevant pol-
icies. From living environments and 
social welfare to state policies and 
social equality, European families 

can look forward to better policies 
and an enhanced quality of life in 
the future.

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

1 

 ‘Social platform on research for 
families and family policies’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Socio-economic 
sciences and humanities’ (SSH). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11277_en.html

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES 
 
 
 
 
 
17

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Digesting food waste to produce 
energy

Scientists are putting food waste, growing energy needs and climate change — three of society’s most important challenges 
— into an equation so that every bit adds up: generating energy from food waste could be the most workable, sustainable 
solution to tackle these issues simultaneously. Well aware of this potential, the VALORGAS1 project set out to improve existing 
processes and technologies.

Food  waste  arising  from  homes,  restau-
rants, catering facilities, food markets and 
food-processing activities represents a large 
fraction  of  the  municipal  waste  stream. 
According  to  the  European  Commission, 
some 90 million tonnes of food is wasted 
annually in Europe, and this figure is con-
stantly growing. Not only is it unaccepta-
ble when close to 900 million people in the 
world are suffering from hunger, but food 
waste usually ends up in landfills where it 
generates  enormous  quantities  of  green-
house gases (GHGs). Food waste is unsus-
tainable, in every sense of the word.

While  a  zero-food-waste  society  would 
require  a  revolution  in  the  way  we  con-
sume and produce food, the emergence of 
a second generation of biofuels as a serious 

political,  scientific  and  commercial  option 
could help us turn a dead loss into a signifi-
cant gain. However, conventional combustion 
processes are not the best way to access the 
high energy potential of food waste, as its 
high moisture content tends to lower its heat 
value.

Anaerobic digestion of food waste could help 
overcome this issue. It allows for highly effi-
cient recovery of second-generation biofuel 
gas with multiple applications for the end-
user, captures nutrients present in the waste 
and allows these to be returned to agricul-
tural use, reduces moisture content in the re-
sidual waste stream, and is compatible with 
advanced automated sorting technologies. 
The  EU-funded  project  VALORGAS  aims  to 
tap into this potential, and project coordinator  

Dr  Sonia  Heaven  told  research*eu  results 
magazine how it expects to do so.

What are the main objectives of the 
project? 
In the UK, for instance, food wastes that can 
be segregated account for around 24 % of 
the  total  waste  from  household,  industry 
and businesses. Reusing this waste to gen-
erate energy through anaerobic digestion is 
the main scientific and technical challenge 
facing VALORGAS — which we aim to take on 
by proceeding to a thorough analysis of the 
current methods before identifying necessary 
improvements.

VALORGAS  is  focusing  on  many  aspects 
of  biogas  production:  both  the  pro-
cesses  —  such  as  improvement  of 

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENERGY AND TRANSPORT 
 
 
 
18

waste-collection  schemes,  optimisation  of 
pre-treatment,  and  determination  of  the 
energy and carbon footprint — and the food 
waste itself, by improving the current under-
standing of the chemical and microbiological 
factors affecting the potential energy gain. 

The team also aims to improve current tech-
nologies in order to increase productivity and 
achieve  a  good  mass  and  energy  balance 
around two full-scale digesters treating food 
waste, one at ‘mesophilic’ and one at ‘ther-
mophilic’  temperature.  The  next  step  will 
be developing low-cost small-scale biogas 
upgrading technologies and storage systems 
for  application  in  transportation  and  local 
low-pressure distribution systems. 

Finally, the project will evaluate the appro-
priateness  of  scale  of  digestion  and  end-
use energy conversion technologies as well 
as their potential markets, with a focus on 
the potential of food waste digestion as a 
second-generation biofuel source across the 
EU in terms of energy yield, environmental 
benefit and end-user requirements. 

What is new or innovative about the 
project and the way it is addressing 
these issues?
Anaerobic digestion is not a new technology, 
but its application to energy recovery in the 
field of municipal waste treatment is quite 
recent in Europe. When this project began, 
the use of source-segregated food wastes 
as a feedstock was not widespread, in part 
because of the technical challenges linked 
with collection, handling, pre-treatment and 
digestion of this material. 

The research includes a number of innovative 
components in terms of the underlying sci-
ence and technological applications; but its 
main novelty lies in the holistic way by which 
it is addressing these issues. This is brought 
about by having a single common goal: to 
evaluate and, where possible, to improve the 
energy  production  process  with  respect  to 
the overall net energy gain achieved within 
defined system boundaries that include col-
lection, sorting, processing, and beneficial use 
of recovered material. 

What first drew you to research in 
this area?
The motivation was rather technical.  Previous 
trials with the anaerobic digestion of source-
segregated food waste in laboratories and in 
the field led to quite unusual conditions, includ-
ing very high concentrations of ammonia and 
volatile fatty acids (which are normally con-
sidered to inhibit the process).  The digesters 
could operate for quite long periods in these 
conditions, with good yields of biogas, but a 
small shock or change in conditions could pro-
duce instability and, in extreme cases, rapid 
and complete failure of the process.  

We wanted to explain why this happened and 
find solutions which would allow us to make 
use of this energy- and nutrient-rich waste 
stream for renewable energy production.  So 
we started by looking at some of the more 
fundamental scientific issues related to the 
factors affecting microbial populations and 
metabolic pathways: some of this work was 
co-funded by the UK government. 

However, we soon realised that, in order to 
optimise renewable energy production, you 
need to consider the whole process from col-
lection and pre-processing of the material, 
to anaerobic digestion, and then utilisation 
of the biogas and ‘digestate’. This has to be 
assessed  in  a  rational  way,  looking  at  the 
whole-life energy balance and comparing dif-
ferent options, to be sure that we understand 
the  consequences  of  our  choices  and  can 
select the best combination of solutions. 

What are some of the difficulties 
you have encountered and how did 
you solve them?
The biggest difficulties have probably been 
scientific ones — trying analytical techniques 
used in other applications only to find they do 
not give clear results in this case, or testing 
approaches that were not as promising as 
originally hoped. We have tried to overcome 
those by using alternative methods, and com-
ing up with new ideas. But like all consortia 
we have had our share of other problems — 
misunderstandings between partners, prob-
lems  with  travel,  and  sadly  even  the  loss 
of one partner due to bankruptcy.  We have 
managed to deal with those issues by having 
tolerant and flexible partners, with everyone 
being willing to reallocate work between con-
sortium members to ensure we do the best 
job and deliver the best results we can. 

What are the concrete results from 
the research so far?
Our big successes are that we have found a 
way to solve the problems of unstable oper-
ation of food waste digestion, through sup-
plementation  by  trace  elements.  We  also 
came up with a hypothesis about the reasons 
behind this instability, in terms of underlying 
microbiology and metabolic pathways, and 
have proved it is correct.  

This approach only works in mesophilic tem-
peratures, but we have also developed and 
tested a method of stripping ammonia from 
digesters to levels below the toxic threshold, 
which can be used in thermophilic conditions. 
The recovered ammonia can then be used to 
provide high-value agricultural fertiliser prod-
ucts with much lower fossil fuel inputs.  

Other  project  outcomes  include  work  on 
small-scale low-cost gas upgrading systems 
which  has  led  to  the  development  of  new 
systems that will shortly be coming to the 

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Dr Sonia Heaven

market and will make a significant contri-
bution to the efficient use of biogas in local 
transportation systems.   

We have also designed a mechanistic model 
of  waste-collection  systems  that  allows 
you to compare the efficiency and resource 
demand in terms of fuel consumption, green-
house gas (GHG) emissions, number of ve-
hicles  required  and  amount  of  staff  time.  
This can be used to assess existing systems 
or look for optimum solutions, and is avail-
able in the form of a free software package.  

And we have developed a methodology for a 
whole life assessment of schemes for renew-
able energy production from anaerobic diges-
tion of organic municipal or industrial wastes. 
This consists of the collections software plus 
a modelling tool for determining the energy 
balance from anaerobic digestion through to 
utilisation of the end products. It is already 
available  in  spreadsheet  form  and  will  be 
released as a software package as soon as it 
has been fully beta tested. 

How and when do you expect the 
results of your work to impact 
food-waste-related policies and 
initiatives? 
The  results  of  the  research  have  already 
begun to affect food-waste policy and prac-
tice. Addition of trace elements to food-waste 
digesters is becoming common practice, and 
thanks to this work we can now advise opera-
tors on the correct components and dosages.  
Correct operation enables a large increase 
in  the  amount  of  food-waste  that  can  be 
treated: when we started the project, long-
term stable operation of food-waste digest-
ers could not be at loading rates above 2 kg 
of ‘organic dry matter’ (ODM) per cubic metre 
(m3) per day. In our laboratories we are now 
operating at 8 kg ODM/m3/day with no signs 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENERGY AND TRANSPORT 
 
 
of  instability  or  loss  of  performance.  This 
means  a  four-fold  increase  in  the  amount 
of material that can be treated by a given 
digester — or in the case of a new digester, 
it could be one-quarter of the size.  While 
few or no commercial plants are running at a 
loading of 8 kg ODM/m3/day on pure source-
segregated  domestic  food  waste,  loading 
rates are creeping up and so the profitability 
and resource efficiency is increasing. The work 
has also given us a clear idea on the advan-
tages and disadvantages of collecting source-
segregated  food  waste  from  households, 
in terms of the overall energy balance and 
usability of the outputs: and this type of col-
lection is now becoming more popular. But we 
expect some of the major impacts to occur 
in the 6-12 months following the project. In 
Italy, Finland, the UK and Portugal the part-
ners are helping to shape the agenda on dis-
cussions of the optimum systems for use of 
organic wastes. The conclusions on stability 
use of digestate are already being considered 

by national agencies and will go forward for 
consideration in the ‘End-of-Waste criteria’ of 
the EU’s Waste Framework Directive.  

What are the next steps of the 
project, or next topics for your 
research?
The research outputs have raised some very 
interesting questions. On the scientific side, 
we  would  like  to  further  extend  our  fun-
damental  knowledge  of  these  anaerobic 
systems  so  that  we  can  understand  their 
limitations and turn these to our advantage 
by applying them to biotechnology applica-
tions for bio-based production. In engineering 
terms,  we  see  numerous  opportunities  to 
extend some of the systems we have been 
developing for source-segregated domestic 
food waste to other organic wastes — espe-
cially for dealing with problematic high-nitro-
gen materials like slaughterhouse wastes and 
animal and poultry manures. There is huge 
scope for further development of technical 

19

solutions for ammonia removal, gas upgrad-
ing, digestate conditioning and even hydro-
gen production. We would also like to be part 
of the wider attempt to produce clear and 
rational methodologies for the assessment of 
energy balances, to allow effective and unbi-
ased comparison between options.  

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

1 

 ‘Valorisation of food waste to biogas’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Cooperation’ 
under the research theme ‘Energy’.
Project website:
http://www.valorgas.soton.ac.uk/

Predicting when lightning will strike

When  something  is  unlikely  to  happen,  people  often  say  that  there  is  a  greater  chance  of 
being  struck  by  lightning.  The  fact  is  however  that  lightning  does  strike,  and  is  one  of  the 
leading weather-related causes of death and injury. 

Furthermore,  important  infra-
structure,  including  airports, 
h o s p i t a l s ,   s p o r t s   s t a d i u m s 
and  power  lines,  can  often  be 
affected by lighting. Electronic 
components  are  particularly 
vulnerable to lightning-induced 
transient voltages. 

There  is  therefore  a  poten-
t i a l l y   h u g e   m a r ke t   fo r   a c -
curate lightning data. National 

Meteorological  Services  (MET) 
in a number of Member States 
already  provide  some  data,  in 
most cases because of the inci-
dence of forest fires. Lightning 
is  estimated  to  cause  up  to 
16 % of forest fires in the EU, 
costing EUR 70 million in miti-
gation efforts a year. 

However, this data tends to be 
very  expensive  for  end-users, 

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a n d   i s   o f t e n   n o t   a c c u r a t e 
enough  to  make  a  significant 
d i f fe r e n c e .   T h e   E U - f u n d e d 
LOLIGHT 1  project  sought  to 
address  this  by  developing  a 
low-cost  system  capable  of 
detecting  lightning  to  an  ac-
curacy of 100 metres. 

In  addition,  the  system  can 
track  and  predict  lightning 
events  in  real  time,  and  map 
lightning  patterns  within  an 
area of 200 kilometres. 

This  project  has  outstanding 
commercial  potential.  The  ac-
curate  and  quick  location  of 
strikes  can  help  reduce  costs 
associated with lightning, such 
as forest fires. Power distribu-
tion  companies  also  stand  to 
benefit from this service, since 
they  can  prepare  for  storm-
caused power outages by pro-
active load-management plans 
before operations are impacted. 

When  power  disturbances  are 
not  handled  quickly,  there  is 
risk of cascading failure. When 
a  power  line  goes  down,  the 

electricity  that  once  flowed 
d ow n   t h e   d a m a g e d   l i n e   i s 
forced  down  other  paths.  If 
those  other  lines  are  already 
c l o s e   t o   f u l l   c a p a c i t y,   t h e 
onslaught  of  electricity  will 
cause  them  to  overload  as  a 
result of congestion, creating a 
domino effect that is the lead-
ing cause of massive blackouts. 

The  project  also  offers  cost 
savings  for  airports  and  the 
air traffic control sector. During 
lightning threats, aircrafts have 
to re-route around the hazard-
ous  area,  using  up  fuel  and 
man  hours.  By  using  precise, 
real-time  monitoring,  routes 
can  be  planned  more  accur-
ately, benefiting both the indus-
try and passengers.

The project was coordinated by 
MFKK in Hungary.

1 

 ‘Lightning Mapping and Supercell 
Tracking System’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Capacities’ under the theme ‘Research for 
the benefit of SMEs’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/news > search > 
35993
Project website: http://www.lolight.eu 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENERGY AND TRANSPORT 
 
 
20

Kick-starting Europe’s electric vehicle industry

Electric vehicles (e-vehicles, or EVs) are set to play a key role in the future of urban mobility, reducing pollution, decreasing 
dependence on fossil fuels and saving drivers money. Although e-vehicles make up only a tiny fraction of the European car fleet 
at present, sales are expected to grow exponentially over the coming years, thanks, in no small measure, to advances in e-vehicle 
technology being made by EU-funded researchers. Fully electric vehicle technologies that optimise safety, energy consumption 
and kinetic energy recovery are also major contributors to ongoing improvements in the performance of hybrid vehicles.

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Across the European Union, trans-
port accounts for more than 70 % 
of total oil consumption, the vast 
majority  of  which  is  imported 
from abroad. With more than 1 
million additional cars going on 
to Europe’s roads every 50 days, 
fuel  consumption,  congestion 
and pollution will only continue 
to increase if the internal com-
bustion engine remains the main 
source  of  automotive  power. 
Hence, the EU, national govern-
ments and private companies are 
spending  billions  on  supporting 
the development of e-vehicles. 

‘Rather  than  offering  forms  of 
mobility based on ever-increasing 
energy prices, the industry is now 
faced  with  satisfying  a  rational 
demand for mobility: clean, safe 
and low-energy-consumption ve-
hicles,  requiring  less  energy  to 
be produced, and using recycla-
ble  and  eventually  self-dispos-
able  materials,’  says  Dr  Pietro 
Perlo, the CEO of Interactive Fully 
Electrical  Vehicles  (IFEVS),  an 
Italian SME dedicated to e-vehicle 
development. 

Dr  Perlo  helped  oversee  the 
development of ground-breaking 
e-vehicle technology in the P-MOB1 
project,  supported  by  almost 
EUR 2.8 million in funding from the 
European Commission. Involving 
researchers from six companies 

(Siemens  from  Germany;  Mazel 
from Spain; IFEVS, Polimodel and 
Fiat from Italy; and Magnomatics 
from the United Kingdom), as well 
as the University of Sheffield in 
the UK, the project resulted in the 
development of a novel prototype 
electric car with a range of up to 
20  kilometres  (km)  powered  by 
solar power alone. 

Coordinated by the Fiat Research 
Centre  in  Turin,  Italy,  the  team 
behind P-MOB sought to break the 
link between increasing transport 
capacity and rising road deaths, 
congestion and pollution by devel-
oping an e-vehicle prototype that 
is not only clean, but extremely 
safe and compact. To do so, the 
researchers took a novel approach 
to advanced systems integration 
focusing,  among  other  things, 
on solar cells, e-motor and mag-
netic torque control, power-energy 
management, distributed accu-
mulators and technologies to en-
able e-vehicles to put power back 
into the grid when not in use. 

‘The design has met the highest 
safety ranking, a low footprint and 
extremely low energy consumption, 
making the vehicle ideal for most 
people’s needs in cities as well as 
suburban roads,’ Dr Perlo notes. 

The prototype is a small compact 
vehicle — weighing less than 600 

kilogrammes (kg) before the instal-
lation  of  the  battery  pack,  and 
with a top speed of over 100 km 
per hour (km/h) — which meets 
new regulations on ‘micro’ electric 
vehicles. It also complies with the 
classical  regulations  for  vehicle 
categories such as M1 (a car with 
eight or less passenger seats). 

Aerodynamic, safe and 
solar powered 
A  parallel  project  called  WIDE-
MOB2,  also  involving  the  P-MOB 
partners, helped address the design 
and  development  of  the  basic 
building blocks of electric vehicles. 
The WIDE-MOB team worked on 
optimised aerodynamics to radi-
cally reduce the drag at any speed, 
lightweight  and  low-cost  bod-
ies designed for high safety in the 
event of a frontal or lateral crash, 
as well as a variety of technologies 
for distributed propulsion. 

‘Our vehicle is the first with a two-
motor powertrain with one motor 
per axle. We have two doors on 
one  side  only  ensuring  a  high 
degree of safety, better ergonom-
ics and reduced complexity with 
extremely low aerodynamic drag: 
around 30 % lower than other ve-
hicles of the same dimensions,’ Dr 
Perlo explains. ‘All the technologies 
were developed during the course 
of the project by the partners. Only 
the battery cells were produced 

outside Europe, though the design 
came from within the project.’

The project’s integrated ICT-based 
control systems allow for the op-
eration  of  two  motors  and  two 
differentials — so the vehicle’s 
front and rear axles are independ-
ent, providing effective four-wheel 
drive — as well as variation of 
the  torque  ratio,  depending  on 
driving conditions, which provides 
a variety of important benefits. 
It  increases  vehicle  control  on 
small  radius  curves,  improves 
adherence on wet and icy roads, 
provides the impression of faster 
acceleration  without  drawing 
more power and allows for fail-
safe operation: if one motor fails 
the other will always allow you to 
return home. Most significantly, 
this in turn ensures that a single 
motor failure will not cause loss 
of control of the vehicle, particu-
larly at high speeds. 

In addition, the use of two motors 
combined with ICT-based smart 
energy  management  enables 
higher efficiency, because the two 
motors can individually be oper-
ated at peak performance in all 
driving conditions, while maximis-
ing energy recovery during brak-
ing through distributed braking on 
two axles combined with virtual 
‘anti-lock braking system’ (ABS) 
control. 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENERGY AND TRANSPORT 
21

Meanwhile,  smart  photovoltaic 
panels with smart diodes and self-
adapting electronics minimise loss 
of energy generation due to shad-
ows  or  a  single  malfunctioning 
cell. Like most electric vehicles, the 
P-MOB prototype can be charged 
directly from the electricity grid. 
The addition of flexible high-effi-
ciency  mono-crystalline  silicon 
solar-cell  technology,  however, 
means that it can also be powered 
by the sun alone and can even sell 
back power to the electricity grid 
once its batteries are full. 

In  trials  at  Fiat’s  testing  track 
in Turin, the vehicle was able to 
travel 20 km powered solely by its 
solar cells — more than enough 
for the average European daily 
commuter, especially in sunnier 
southern Europe. 

‘The vehicle’s performance met 
our expectations for the design: 
it showed very high stability on 
small radius curves and had an 
average energy consumption of 
around 80 Watt-hours per kilome-
tre,’ Dr Perlo says. ‘We presented 

it to the public at events in Turin, 
Athens and Brussels and received 
very positive feedback.’

this will put the overall road trans-
port industry in trouble in the next 
few years,’ he says. 

The prototype was designed using 
the first variable design platform 
for  micro  electric  vehicles,  also 
created  within  the  P-MOB  and 
WIDE-MOB projects, and now set 
to continue its evolution within the 
EU-MOBY R&D platform, supported 
by the European Commission. 

‘The idea of having a vehicle that 
with minor additions could meet 
both the homologation of micro 
electric  vehicles  and  the  clas-
sical M1 world is new and is en-
abling novel business approaches. 
All  these  concepts  have  been 
patented,’ Dr Perlo notes. 

However, he points out that bat-
teries are at the heart of electrical 
vehicles  and  Europe’s  lack  of  a 
strong battery industry remains a 
challenge to home-grown technol-
ogy. ‘No doubt a new level of pan-
European industrial organisation is 
needed to specifically address the 
manufacture of batteries because 

Nonetheless,  electric  vehicle 
sales  in  Europe  are  expected 
to  increase  apace,  rising  from 
45 000  this  year  to  400 000  in 
2015, representing around 3.5 % 
of  new  passenger  car  registra-
tions.  As  technology  improves, 
prices  will  also  drop,  with  a 
small to mid-sized electric pas-
senger car with a range of 250 
km on a single charge predicted 
to  cost  EUR 15 000  within  four 
years, down from EUR 20 000 at 
present. 

Another  incentive  to  switch  to 
electric  is  likely  to  come  from 
EU plans to progressively reduce 
overall passenger car fleet CO2 
emissions over the coming years. 

‘This  will  likely  induce  a  deep 
change in the personal mobility 
offer: the conventional passenger 
car price will increase due to the 
technology  to  achieve  the  CO2 
emission threshold while electric 

vehicles will fall in cost thanks 
to the optimisation of the manu-
facturing process and increasing 
sales,’  Dr  Perlo  predicts.  ‘There 
will be a new equilibrium in the 
market and there will be room for 
new vehicle concepts such as the 
one developed in P-MOB.’

The project is coordinated by the 
Fiat Research Centre in Italy.

1 

2 

 ‘Integrated enabling technologies 
for efficient electrical personal 
mobility’, funded under FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Information and 
communication technologies’ (ICT).
 ‘Building blocks concepts for efficient 
and safe multiuse urban electrical 
vehicles’, funded under FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Transport’.

http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11511_en.html
Project websites:
P-MOB  
http://eeepro.shef.ac.uk/p-mob/
WIDE-MOB  
http://eeepro.shef.ac.uk/wide-mob/

Making good use of biodiesel waste

EU-funded  scientists  are  developing  a  win-win  concept  for 
biodiesel  producers.  They  are  recruiting  microorganisms  to 
convert a major biodiesel waste by-product into value-added 
liquid fuels in an advanced biorefinery concept.

In the quest to reduce dependence 
on fossil fuels and the associated 
impact on global climate change 
and energy security, biodiesel pro-
duction from vegetable oils for the 
transportation sector has gained 
tremendous ground. However, with 
increasing production of valuable 
biodiesel,  there  is  now  a  large 
excess of one of its by-products, 
glycerol (also known as glycerine).

In  order  to  make  biodiesel  pro-
duction sustainable, the market 
requires new uses for glycerol in 
other advanced liquid fuels, bio-
energy  applications  and  green 
biochemicals. In addition, incorpor-
ating the production of such exist-
ing  and  novel  substances  in  an 
advanced biorefinery concept will 
enhance the competitiveness of 
current biodiesel producers.

Scientists initiated the EU-funded 
project GLYFINERY1 to create just 
such an integrated and sustainable 
production  process.  Research  is 
focused  on  the  development  of 
novel biocatalysts that favour high 
yields of desired products from 
glycerol using the majority of the 
feedstock in the process.

Having identified the most prom-
ising biocatalytic microorganisms 
and the fermentation processes 
for biological conversion, the third 
and  fourth  project  years  have 
been  devoted  to  optimising  the 
bioprocess design and to develop-
ing and optimising the recovery 
processes. Five potential products 
were  identified  during  the  third 
year  (1,3-Propanediol  (PDO), 
butanol,  ethanol,  biodiesel  and 
biomethane). Processes for all five 

were  optimised  and  scaled-up 
leading to initial pilot-scale tests. 
Fermentation products were fed 
into an anaerobic biodigester to 
recover  biomethane.  Production 
and recovery partners collaborated 
closely on a ‘life-cycle assessment’ 
(LCA)  to  develop  methods  both 
economically and environmentally 
sustainable for integration into an 
advanced biorefinery concept.

GLYFINERY has successfully dem-
onstrated the technical, economic 
and environmental feasibility of 
converting glycerol to value-added 
products for sustainable biodiesel 
production  and  effective  waste 
management.  In  the  face  of  a 
glycerol glut as global biodiesel 
production continues to increase, 
the developed technology should 
have  an  important  impact  on 
the  competiveness  of  biodiesel 
production.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by  the  Technical  University  of 
Denmark.

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1 

 ‘Sustainable and integrated production 
of liquid biofuels, bioenergy and 
green chemicals from glycerol in 
biorefineries’.

Funded under FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Energy’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/6202_en.html
Project website:
http://www.glyfinery.net/

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENERGY AND TRANSPORT 
 
22

Waste heat utility in electricity generation

Industries utilise energy generating heat that goes to waste. 
An EU-funded initiative has been researching how to utilise 
waste heat for electricity generation.

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The  LOVE 1  project  members 
intend  to  identify  low-tem-
p e r a t u r e   —   l e s s   t h a n   1 2 0 
degrees Celsius (°C) — waste-
h e a t   s o u r c e s   a n d   d e v e l o p 
cost-effective technologies for 
their  conversion  into  electri-
city. Methodologies have been 
developed  for  characterising 
waste-heat sources.

LOVE  researchers  developed 
models  of  ‘low-temperature 
heat valorisation’ (LTHV) cycles 
for  integration  into  a  district 
heating  system  case  study. 
‘Organic  Rankine  Cycle’  (ORC) 
prototypes  were  integrated 
into  two  pilot-study  cement 
plants  for  waste-heat  recov-
e r y   a n d   p ow e r   g e n e r a t i o n . 
Components  that  include  a 
radial-inflow  turbine,  finned-
tube and packed-column heat 
exchanger were designed and 
sized  for  these  pilot  studies. 
Cost  effectiveness  and  effi-
ciency  of  the  ORC  prototypes 
were  assessed  at  the  cement 
plants. ORC efficiency optimi-
sation  was  found  to  be  con-
strained by its use on different 
waste-heat sources. Necessary 
modifications  would  be  eco-
nomically  viable,  but  possibly 
only for large-scale production.

Two prototypes of polymeric gas-
liquid heat exchangers were also 
developed by LOVE researchers 
to undergo laboratory-scale test-
ing. Their aim is to reduce pres-
sure drop on the gas side before 
pilot testing at a plant.

The  LOVE  consortium  holds 
regular  meetings  and  main-
t a i n s   a n   u p d a t e d   p r o j e c t 
website for internal communi-
cation  and  the  dissemination 
of  results.  An  industrial  advi-
sory  committee  meeting  was 
also  held  to  present  project 
results to industrial represent-
atives  to  increase  application 
potential.

S u c c e s s f u l   L O V E   p r o j e c t 
outcomes  will  result  in  the 
i n t r o d u c t i o n   o f   n ov e l   h e a t 
e x c h a n g e r s ,   c o s t - e f fe c t i v e 
r a d i a l - i n f l ow   t u r b i n e s   a n d 
more to international markets. 
These  novel  technologies  and 
methodologies  could  produce 
electricity  from  waste  heat 
at  industrial  plants  thereby 
significantly  reducing  global 
energy consumption.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
the Swiss Federal Institute of 
Technology  of  Lausanne  in 
Switzerland.

1 

 ‘Low-temperature heat valorisation 
towards electricity production’.

Funded under FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Energy’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11332_en.html
Project website: http://love.epfl.ch/

New industrial wizardry for biodiesel from waste

Demand for biodiesel is on the rise as the world starts to look beyond fossil fuels in the search for more sustainable 
alternatives.  Researchers  have  developed  new  methods  of  production  using  a  broad  range  of  feedstock  wastes  to 
produce the fuel while reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Diesel use in Europe and Latin 
America  is  predicted  to  rise 
over  the  next  20  years,  from 
both passenger cars and heavy 
vehicles.  In  order  to  meet  the 
EU’s  mandate  to  increase  the 
use  of  bio diesel  in  normal 

diesel  engines,  more  efficient 
methods  of  biodiesel  produc-
tion are needed.

The  EU-funded  DIBANET1  pro-
ject  aimed  to  address  this 
need  by  improving  biodiesel 

production  from  a  range  of 
c o m m o n   fe e d s t o c k   w a s t e s 
in  Europe  and  Latin  America. 
It  involved  cooperation  and 
knowledge-sharing  between 
European  and  Latin  American 
research  institutions,  with  a 

view to decreasing the reliance 
of  these  regions  on  imported 
diesel.

DIBANET has pioneered a novel 
way  of  testing  new  sources 
o f   b i o m a s s   fo r   b i o d i e s e l 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENERGY AND TRANSPORT 
 
23

p r o d u c t i o n   p o t e n t i a l .   T h e i r 
approach  will  decrease  costs 
and  harmful  environmental 
effects.

Another major accomplishment 
of  the  new  DIBANET  process-
ing  method  was  the  highest 
reported  yield  yet  of  levulinic 
acid,  a  key  biofuel  precursor. 
T h i s   w a s   a c h i e v e d   t h r o u g h 
o p t i m i s a t i o n   e f fo r t s   t h a t 
involved  the  combination  of 
novel  catalysts  and  computer 
modelling.

By  broadening  the  range  of 
raw  materials  and  improving 
the yield of the biodiesel pro-
duction  process,  this  project 
has made great strides in the 
field. The participating regions 

are set to rely less on imported 
diesel and they should simul-
taneously improve the sustain-
ability  of  their  own  biodiesel 
production.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by the University of Limerick in 
Ireland.

1 

 ‘The production of sustainable diesel 
miscible biofuels from the residues 
and wastes of Europe and Latin 
America’.

Funded under FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Energy’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11537_en.html
Project website: http://www.dibanet.org/

Actinide recycling of radioactive waste

When used nuclear fuel is discharged from nuclear reactors, it is still mainly made up of uranium (around 95 %). But it also 
contains radioactive elements such as actinides (plutonium and the minor actinides) and other fission products, known as nuclear 
waste. EU-funded scientists are developing actinide separation technology in order to minimise this radioactive waste.

Actinide recycling by ‘partition-
ing  and  transmutation’  (P&T) 
is  considered  an  important 
m e t h o d   f o r   r e d u c i n g   t h e 
global inventory of radioactive 
waste.  The  EU-funded  project 
ACSEPT1 optimised promising, 
technically  mature  aqueous 
(hydrometallurgical) partition-
ing  (or  separation)  processes 
i n   a d d i t i o n   t o   d e v e l o p i n g 

s t a t e - o f - t h e - a r t   d r y   ( py r o -
chemical) processes.

A q u e o u s   s e p a r a t i o n   p r o -
cesses are focused largely on 
the  development  of  actinide 
separation  processes  based 
on the liquid-liquid extraction 
technology.  A  prerequisite  is 
the  design  of  new  molecules 
e x t r a c t i n g   t h e s e   a c t i n i d e s 

selectively. An additional con-
version step allows their trans-
formation  into  metal  oxides 
suitable  for  fuel  re-fabrica-
tion.  Approximately  150  new 
molecules  were  synthesised 
and  tested  for  their  extrac-
tion  capability.  Of  these,  five 
were selected for further stud-
ies. Four separation processes 
were  successfully  tested  on 

genuine  spent  fuel  solutions 
at  the  lab-scale,  including  a 
h o t - t e s t   d e m o n s t r a t i o n   o f 
an  innovative  ‘Group  actinide 
extraction’  (GANEX)  process 
achieved thanks to the strong 
c o l l a b o r a t i o n   b e t w e e n   t h e 
partners.

ACSEPT  also  enhanced  two 
pyrochemical processes (high-
temperature processes in non-
organic media such as molten 
salts and liquid metals) while 
simultaneously  investigating 
actinide  recycling  and  waste 
management.  Previous  stud-
ies,  such  as  the  FP6  project, 
EUROPART2, have enabled the 
d e v e l o p m e n t   o f   p r o c e s s e s 
in  which  actinides  are  selec-
tively  recovered  into  alumin-
ium.  In  ACSEPT,  two  process 
options  have  been  developed 
to recover actinides from alu-
minium.  In  addition,  partners 
successfully  studied  fission 
product  release  during  head-
end step spent fuel treatments 
at  temperatures  up  to  2500 
degrees Celsius (°C). Moreover, 
two materials have been 
characterised  for  their 

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENERGY AND TRANSPORT 
 
 
 
24

potential  use  as  confinement 
matrices,  one  for  salt  waste 
a n d   t h e   o t h e r   fo r   m e t a l l i c 
waste.

ACSEPT placed great emphasis 
on education and training, with 
funding also being allotted to 
15 student exchanges and the 
hiring  of  a  two  postdoctoral 
fellows.  In  March  2010,  an 
international workshop empha-
sised  student  contributions 
to the field, with ACSEPT stu-
dents making 22 presentations 

and chairing various sessions. 
In  2012,  ACSEPT  results were 
widely  disseminated  thanks 
to  the  organisation  of  a  spe-
cific  technical  session  of  the 
International  ATALANTE  2012 
Conference  gathering  more 
than 400 people in the field.

A C S E P T   t h u s   m a d e   a n   i m -
portant  contribution  to  pro-
cess  separation  for  actinide 
r e c y c l i n g   a n d   t r a n s m u t a -
tion,  providing  information  to 
policy-makers  and  the  public 

regarding  greater  safety  and 
t h e   s u s t a i n a b i l i t y   o f   t h e 
nuclear energy sector.

1 

2 

T h e   p r o j e c t   w a s   c o o r d i n -
ated  by  the  Atomic  Energy 
a n d   A l t e r n a t i v e   E n e r g i e s 
Commission in France.

 ‘Actinide recycling by separation and 
transmutation’.
 ‘European research program for the 
partitioning of minor actinides and 
some long-lived fission products 
from high active wastes issuing the 
reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programmes of the European Atomic 
Energy Community (Euratom) under the 
research theme ‘Nuclear fission and 
radiation protection’.
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11379_en.html
Project website: http://www.acsept.org/ 

Better enzymes for alternative energy sources

EU-funded scientists are putting genomics to work to find novel enzymes that convert woody 
plant  residues  into  bioethanol.  Lowering  costs  and  increasing  efficiency  should  enhance 
market adoption of this renewable liquid fuel.

enabling  the  optimisation  of 
processes for pretreatment and 
fermentation.

D I S C O   i s   d e l i v e r i n g   p r e v i -
ously  lacking  knowledge  on 
the  detailed  structure  of  pre-
treated lignocellulose and enzy-
matic  hydrolysis  mechanisms 
essential  for  suitable  enzyme 
selection  for  specific  targets. 
Numerous novel enzymes that 
enhance the efficiency of bio-
mass conversion to bioethanol 
have  been  discovered.  DISCO 
research  outcomes  are  mak-
ing a significant contribution to 
lowering the cost and increas-
ing the efficiency of bioethanol 
production for major impact on 
market uptake.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by the VTT Technical Research 
Centre of Finland.

1 

 ‘Targeted discovery of novel cellulases 
and hemicellulases and their reaction 
mechanisms for hydrolysis of 
lignocellulosic biomass’.

Funded under FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Food, agriculture and fisheries, and 
biotechnology’ (KBBE).
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11007_en.html
Project website:  
http://www.disco-project.eu/

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Cellulose is the main constitu-
ent  of  plant  cell  walls  and  is 
often referred to as dietary fibre. 
As  such,  the  majority  of  fibre 
in the human diet comes from 
fruits and vegetables. A lack of 
appropriate  enzymes  to  break 
down  the  cellulose  is  bene-
ficial  for  people  as  the  bulky 
fibre  provides  a  good  workout 
for the gastrointestinal system. 
However, in the renewable fuels 
industry, difficulty in finding effi-
cient  enzymes  to  break  down 
cellulose and hemicellulose has 
been  a  thorn  in  the  sides  of 
engineers and scientists.

Woody  plants  and  their  resi-
dues are a great source of sug-
ars  that  can  be  fermented  to 

produce  bioethanol.  However, 
the  cellulose  and  hemicellu-
loses  (complex  sugars)  that 
they contain must first be bro-
ken  down  into  simple  sugars. 
The cellulose and hemicellulose 
are  tightly  bound  to  another 
organic polymer, lignin, in a lig-
nocellulose complex that is dif-
ficult to break down. Scientists 
launched  the  EU-funded  pro-
ject DISCO1 to search for novel 
enzymes that break down cel-
lulose  and  hemicellulose  and 
increase  the  efficiency  of  the 
fermentation process for ‘sim-
ultaneous saccharification and 
fermentation’ (SSF).

S c i e n t i s t s   d e v e l o p e d   a n d 
optimised  the  pretreatment 

methods for selected biomass 
feedstock  using  chemical  and 
microscopy  analytical  tech-
niques  developed  within  the 
project to characterise biomass 
structure.  Investigators  used 
classical  genomic  screening 
of  about  950  strains  of  fungi 
mostly  from  new  soil  isolates 
that  break  down  lignocellu-
loses,  to  identify  novel  prom-
ising  enzymes.  Together  with 
modern  functional  screening 
of metagenomics libraries, the 
enzyme discovery process has 
been  quite  fruitful.  The  most 
promising candidates are being 
cloned and produced in bacteria 
for  analysis  of  mechanisms 
of  action.  Results  are  already 
providing  important  insights 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENERGY AND TRANSPORT 
 
25

Assessing the sustainability of 
aquaculture production

Global consumption of seafood has risen dramatically over the last decade, due to a growing population, increased affluence 
and changing eating habits — many now see seafood as a healthy alternative to meat. The EU is the largest single regional 
importer, with many of its imports coming from Asia. 

The EU-funded project SEAT1 is building up 
an understanding of new Asian aquatic food 
chains  —  and  looking  into  their  sustain-
ability.  The  international  team’s  research 
covered the top four aquaculture products 
making their way into European shops and 
restaurants:  tilapia,  pangasius  (catfish), 
shrimps and prawns. 

The project  brings  together  European and 
Asian  researchers  as  well  as  small  busi-
ness stakeholders from Bangladesh, China, 
Thailand and Vietnam. 

The team began by developing a compre-
hensive picture of the value chains for each 

product through interviews and focus groups 
in all four countries. This helped to establish 
the history of production and processing at 
each site studied, along with local views on 
limits  to  increasing  production.  The  work 
also allowed the team to identify important 
stakeholder groups. 

The next step was a life-cycle assessment of 
all the processes involved in getting aquatic 
products to consumers, from the production 
of feed — which includes soybeans in Brazil 
and maize in the US — to the consumer’s 
disposal of food waste. A life-cycle analysis 
helped detect the parts of the chain that are 
problematic. 

The analysis has been translated into stat-
istical data demonstrating clearly why some 
processes are more sustainable than others. 
The SEAT assessment is the first of its kind 
in terms of coverage and detail. 

This data has also been fed into specially 
developed models able to predict the risk 
of  other  activities,  such  as  agriculture,  to 
existing aquaculture practice, as well as any 
environmental change resulting from aqua-
culture practices. 

In  South-East  Asia,  most  fish  farms  use 
ponds. As farming has intensified and 
local populations remain reliant on the 

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY 
 
26

same water bodies, aquaculture waste has 
the  potential  to  pose  health  and  environ-
mental risks to nearby communities and land 
areas. 

The  models  are  tailored  to  each  species 
and each country. By inputting data on pro-
duction  practices  and  water-management 
strategies at each farm, the researchers will 
be able to estimate nutrient levels and the 
potential  for  eutrophication  —  excessive 
growth of algae due to a high concentration 
of nutrients — and risk of chemical contam-
ination in water systems. 

The SEAT project also developed a system to 
help local fish farmers predict potential environ-
mental impacts before they occur, by combining 
large-scale ‘pollution’ models with models which 
predict interactions within individual farms. 

The  team  has  investigated  the  social  and 
ethical effects of aquaculture production in 
Bangladesh, China, Thailand and Vietnam. 
They found that stories of very poor condi-
tions at farms and processing plants are not 
necessarily  true,  and  emphasise  the  high 
levels of local employment created by the 
aquaculture industry — in Bangladesh, there 
are 250 000 farmers producing black tiger 
shrimps. 

The SEAT project is due to finish in November 
2013. The research should help ensure Asian 
aquaculture production is sustainable. It will 
also  lead  to  stronger  scientific,  business, 
industry and policy links between Europe and 
Asia. 

The  research  will  feed  into  the  develop-
ment of an Ethical Aquaculture Food Index 

(EAFI) — a decision-support tool that brings 
together all outputs of the project to ensure 
the continued supply of sustainable aqua-
culture products to the EU. 

The project is coordinated by the University 
of Stirling in the United Kingdom.

1 

‘Sustainable trade in ethical aquaculture’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Cooperation’ 
under the research theme ‘Food, agriculture and fisheries, 
and biotechnology’ (KBBE). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/news > search > 35992
Project website: http://seatglobal.eu/ 

Biodefence of the phytoplankton

Plankton behaviour and availability determine the survival of 
the  entire  marine  ecosystem.  The  LIDPOP  project  identified 
dramatic changes in both the morphology and behaviour of 
phytoplankton in response to grazers.

Plankton are aquatic organisms 
that cannot swim against the cur-
rent.  Phytoplankton  is  an  algae 
that  lives  near  the  surface  of 
the water where there is enough 
light to support photosynthesis. 
Zooplankton are a different class 
of plankton that feed on phyto-
plankton. The LIDPOP1 project was 
set up with EU funding to study 
the  defence  mechanisms  that 
allow phytoplankton to survive.

LIDPOP  was  a  multidisciplinary 
project drawing on methods and 
expertise from small-scale hydro-
dynamics,  analytical  chemistry 
and ecological modelling. Project 

researchers  performed  multiple 
experiments with cultures of both 
phytoplankton and zooplankton to 
identify small molecule mediators 
that could protect phytoplankton 
from grazer attacks. They found 
that some phytoplankton increase 
their  production  of  toxic  sub-
stances in response to chemical 
cues from zooplankton grazers.

Gathering  information  on  the 
effect  of  grazer-induced  toxin 
formation is very important for 
the  development  of  computer 
models  of  the  marine  ecosys-
tem. The LIDPOP team developed 
a  MatLab  algorithm  to  identify 

Better waste management

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the algae-based toxin that was 
responsible for preventing inter-
action between the two types of 
plankton.

This  method  could  be  used  to 
study plankton ecology and prolif-
eration as it is sensitive enough to 
identify minute concentrations of 
the released chemicals. Outcomes 
of the study could lead to the rec-
ognition of plankton behaviour as 
a backbone of the entire marine 
ecosystem.

The project was coordinated by the 
Technical University of Denmark.

1 

 ‘Linking inducible chemical defences and 
phytoplankton population dynamics’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘People’ (Marie-Curie 
actions). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11273_en.html

Regions from across Europe have come together to promote innovation in the waste industry.

Handling waste is a huge chal-
lenge for societies — it is costly 
to deal with and can cause ser-
ious  environmental  problems. 
However, if dealt with in a smart 
manner,  the  negative  impacts 

can  be  minimal  and  waste 
can  create  lucrative  business 
opportunities.

Approaches  to  waste  manage-
ment vary widely. An EU-funded 

research project, WASTEKIT1 cre-
ated  a  network  across  Europe 
so  that  authorities  and  busi-
nesses in the waste sector could 
learn from each other. With each 
sharing  their  specific  areas  of 

expertise,  the  team  comprised 
19  project  partners  from  four 
regions  —  in  Bulgaria,  Italy, 
the Netherlands and the United 
Kingdom.

WASTEKIT  identified  strengths 
and weaknesses in the respective 
waste-management  systems, 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY 
 
27

looking at five key areas: waste 
to energy technologies, options 
for plastics, knowledge transfer, 
funding models, and public com-
munications. Results were shared 
at a number of events and col-
lated in an online database, en-
abling other regions not directly 
involved to benefit as well.

Every  citizen  in  Europe  cre-
ates  waste  and  is  affected  by 
how we deal with it. WASTEKIT 
will help to make future waste 
management more efficient and 
sustainable.

The project was coordinated by 
Amsterdam Innovation Motor in 
the Netherlands.

1 

 ‘Waste management focusing on 
knowledge and integration to create 
transnational economic development’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Capacities’ under the 
theme ‘Regions of knowledge’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11398_en.html
Project website:
http://www.wastekit.nl/

New concept for containing waste

The  European  Union’s  (EU)  approach  to  waste  management  is  based  on  three  principles: 
waste prevention, reuse and recycling, and improving final disposal and monitoring. In 2010, 
the total generation of waste from economic activities and households in the EU amounted to 
2570 million tonnes, which equates to 5.1 tonnes of waste per person.

As we come to realise our impact 
on  the  environment  and  the 
severity of our actions, more and 
more  stringent  environmental 
requirements,  norms  and  laws 
are enforced. This means industry 
needs to come up with ever more 
innovative solutions in all sectors of 
their work, from transport to waste 
management, construction to IT 
solutions.

The  EU-funded  project  BURBA1 
presents a new concept of waste 
service. It uses surveillance and 
feedback to create an optimised 
collection  service,  and  a  social 
game aspect to reward positive 
behaviour. The three-year study is 

using cutting-edge low-cost ‘radio-
frequency  identification’  (RFID) 
and ‘location-based service’ (LBS) 
technologies  for  the  separation 
and collection of waste at source. 
These are integrated into an ‘intel-
ligent waste container’ (IWAC) with 
a capacity of 1100 litres for use in 
densely populated areas and even-
tually for industrial areas.

The IWAC will be able to identify a 
citizen or user through a personal 
RFID card, to control the recepta-
cle’s lid and, therefore, to give feed-
back about the correct disposal by 
the user. From this data, the waste 
management team can assess the 
disposal correctness of individuals, 

groups,  blocks  and  buildings  by 
location and time of day. This data 
is sent to a control centre where all 
the information about all the IWACs 
is  collected.  The  same  informa-
tion is also available to the citizens 
through their mobile phone and is 
providing support to appropriate 
sorting and disposal of waste. This 
gives a detailed profile of the col-
lection services required by address 
and time. The use of waste disposal 
identification could also prevent ille-
gal disposal of waste.

The integration among municipali-
ties, citizens and the IWAC allows 
for incentive-based programmes 
to increase the recycling efficiency 
of those using the technology. The 
BURBA project allows for unique 
computing of waste sorting efforts 
and develops a system that can 
reward positive behaviour, such as 
discount rates on waste disposal 
and taxes.

BURBA involved nine partners from 
Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal and 
China. The organisations included 
university research for prototyping 
state-of-the-art equipment, and 
small  and  medium-sized  enter-
prises  (SMEs)  to  analyse  safety 
regulations and localisation tech-
nologies. ‘We chose three differ-
ent-sized cities (Camogli in Italy, 
Santander in Spain and Rzeszow 

in  Poland)  with  different  habits 
in order to have a complete view 
of  what  the  problem  is  all  over 
Europe,’ said Simona Bruna, coord-
inator of the project at D’Appolonia, 
the Italian company coordinating 
the project and representing one 
of the industrial components of the 
study.

Throughout the study, researchers 
have produced a ‘life-cycle analysis’ 
(LCA), the practical scope of which 
is to study not only the possible 
benefits of improving waste truck 
fleet collection paths but also to 
ensure savings are not outweighed 
by the production and utilisation 
costs of the system.

The BURBA team is on the point of 
finalising the first project prototypes 
and further testing them in the real 
environment. A network of IWAC 
facilities will be available in Italy, 
Poland and Spain. ‘The technology 
developed seems to be quite prom-
ising and [the users of the service] 
are very interested in validating it,’ 
concluded Bruna. 

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
D’Appolonia in Italy.

1 

 ‘Bottom-up selection, collection and 
management of urban waste’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Environment’. 
http://ec.europa.eu/research > 
headlines > search > 30693
Project website:  
http://www.burbaproject.net/

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY 
 
 
 
28

Improved waste recycling will benefit environment and 
boost European industry

Waste from electrical and electronic equipment is one of the fastest growing waste streams 
in  the  European  Union  (EU).  The  increasing  prevalence  of  affordable  electronics  means 
landfill sites are filling up with the consequent waste from sources such as light bulbs, spent 
batteries, printed circuit boards, liquid crystal displays and cathode ray tubes. The quantity of 
such waste doubles every 12 to 15 years.

In  addition,  this  waste  con-
tains  rare  and  precious  metals. 
Emerging green technologies, such 
as solar cells and energy-efficient 
light bulbs, depend heavily on raw 
materials like gallium, indium and 
rare-earth  elements.  Improved 
electronic-waste recycling could 
thus not only reduce the environ-
mental impact from new mining, 
but also boost European industry 
and provide resource security.

That is the aim of the EU-funded 
project  HYDROWEEE  DEMO 1. 
Started in October 2012, the pro-
ject brings together research or-
ganisations across four European 
countries with EUR 2.6 million in 
EU funding.

H Y D R O W E E E   D E M O   b u i l d s 
upon  the  earlier  success  of 
HYDROWEEE, an EU-funded pro-
ject  that  concluded  in  February 
2012.  That  project  laid  the 
groundwork for the design of a 
mobile plant using liquid solvents 

to  extract  metals  like  yttrium, 
indium, lithium, cobalt, zinc, copper, 
gold, silver, nickel, lead and tin in a 
high purity from electronic waste.

The  objective  of  HYDROWEEE 
DEMO is to build two demonstra-
tion plants — one stationary and 
one mobile — to test the perform-
ance of the techniques devised. 
The demo plants will also develop 
processes  to  recover  additional 
metals from ‘Waste electrical and 
electronic equipment’ (WEEE), and 
expand beyond that waste stream 
to other sectors such as automo-
tive waste.

The  project,  which  runs  until 
September 2016, will assess the 
technical outcomes of the plants, 
their health risks, and benefits to 
society and the environment.

It  is  particularly  designed  to 
cater to the needs of small and 
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 
Several SMEs can use the services 

of a single mobile plant, limiting 
the necessary quantities of waste 
as  well  as  equipment  cost.  In 
addition, the HYDROWEEE DEMO 
plants will produce pure enough 
metals for SMEs to use directly, 
thereby cutting down on their pro-
duction costs and making them 
more competitive with large multi-
national companies.

The  project  is  presently  in  the 
final round of offers to select the 
supplier  of  components  for  the 
stationary plant, due to become 
operational later during 2013. The 
mobile plant will be ready in spring 
or summer 2014.

‘ I   a l w a y s   c o m p a r e   o u r 
HYDROWEEE plant with a kitchen. 
Depending on the different ingredi-
ents and recipes, or processes, you 
can get a different output,’ explains 
Bernd Kopacek, the project coord-
inator. ‘Therefore, we would like, 
on the one hand, to optimise our 
already  developed  “recipes”  for 

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powder  from  fluorescent  lamps 
and cathode ray tubes, liquid crys-
tal displays, printedcircuit boards 
and  lithium-ion  batteries,  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  to  develop 
additional “recipes” for other input 
 materials,’ he concludes. 

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
Kopacek in Austria.

1 

 ‘Innovative hydrometallurgical processes 
to recover metals from WEEE including 
lamps and batteries’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Environment’. 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/
infocentre > search > 30873
Project website:  
http://www.4980.timewarp.at/sat/
hydroWEEE/

EU-Mediterranean power against pollution

Dynamic partnerships, enterprising projects, new databases and valuable research exchanges have helped to improve the 
management of solid waste and wastewater in the Mediterranean region.

The Mediterranean region is con-
sidered  to  be  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  regions  in  the  world. 
However, the Mediterranean Sea 
is  threatened  by  the  pollution 
and effluents of the thousands of 
towns, cities and industries that 
dot its coasts. Much of the pres-
sure comes from solid waste and 
wastewater  that  end  up  in  the 
sea or in the rivers and lakes that 
lead to it.

A g a i n s t   t h i s   b a c kd r o p ,   t h e 
EU-funded project SOWAEUMED1 

sought to overcome this ominous 
development.

Project  members  built  robust 
partnerships  among  scientists, 
policy-makers  and  industry 
experts on the topic across the 
EU  with  Associated  States  and 
Mediterranean  countries.  They 
reinforced  treatment  technol-
ogies related to water and waste 
control by linking with concerned 
institutions, conducting training 
and encouraging mobility of staff 
among  all  implicated  nations. 

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY 
 
 
 
29

Part  of  this  effort  involved 
strengthening  institutions  to 
exploit  not  only  conventional 
treatment approaches but also 
advanced solutions and nanosci-
ence-based treatment technol-
ogies and applications.

To  achieve  its  aims  the  pro-
ject  team  reinforced  research 
and development (R&D) infra-
structure  by  acquiring  new 
equipment  for  scientific  and 
technological research centres. 
It  outlined  pivotal  topics  that 
should  be  researched,  in  add-
ition  to  communicating  these 
research priorities and deliver-
ing roadmaps to stakeholders. 

These  included  researchers, 
inventors,  decision-makers, 
f u n d i n g   a g e n c i e s ,   i n n ov a -
tors,  industry  investors  and 
policy-makers.

S OWA E U M E D   m a d e   s i g n i f i -
cant  progress  in  researching 
water  and  sediment  in  differ-
ent areas, as well as in study-
ing  methods  of  purification 
of  polluted  waters.  It  investi-
gated  pollution  parameters 
and  fostered  researcher  and 
expert  exchanges  among  dif-
ferent  countries  in  the  region. 
Achievements also involved dis-
seminating  relevant  informa-
tion to concerned stakeholders, 

holding regular meetings to map 
future priorities, and reinforcing 
businesses  involved  in  waste 
and water treatment.

Overall, the project led to much 
more  solid  research  relation-
ships  and  partnerships,  which 
is  expected  to  yield  joint  EU–
Mediterranean projects in envir-
onmental fields. It also improved 
databases that will help launch 
more  projects,  and  linked  with 
other EU initiatives in the field. 
The outcome is expected to be a 
cleaner Mediterranean and a bet-
ter standard of living for numer-
ous  communities  across  the 
region.

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

1 

 ‘Network in solid-waste and water 
treatment between Europe and 
Mediterranean countries’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Capacities’ under the 
theme ‘Stimulating the realisation 
of the full research potential of 
the enlarged European Union 
Community’ (Regional Potential). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/10535_en.html
Project website:
http://grupsderecerca.uab.cat/
sowaeumed/

Recycling Europe’s 3 million tonnes of tyre waste

Almost  1  billion  tyres  reach  the  end  of  their  life  around  the  world  annually  —  some  350 
million of these in the EU, and numbers are increasing every year. 

Waste tyres are potentially fully 
recyclable.  The  recovered  ma-
terials can be put to other uses, 
in  turn  reducing  the  environ-
mental  impact  of  this  priority 
waste stream. With this aim, the 
EU-funded  project  TYGRE1  set 
out to find new uses for Europe’s 
waste tyres — estimated to be 
3.5 million tonnes a year. 

Tyres contain steel, and a large 
amount  of  organic  materials, 
which  can  be  used  instead 
of  coal  or  biomass  as  a  fuel 
source  or  as  secondary  raw 
materials for high added-value 
by-products. 

The project team is investigat-
ing  new  ways  to  harness  this 

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resource through a process able 
to produce a fuel gas or ‘syngas’ 
(mainly a mixture of hydrogen, 
carbon  monoxide  and  dioxide, 
and  methane),  along  with  a 
ceramic material, silicon carbide. 

Leading  this  project  is  the 
Italian  National  Agency  for 
N e w   Te c h n o l o g i e s ,   E n e r g y 
a n d   S u s t a i n a b l e   E c o n o m i c 
Development (ENEA) in Portici, 
I t a l y.   S a b r i n a   P o r t o f i n o ,   a 
researcher at ENEA, says such 
by-products are a ‘must’ in the 
recycling process. 

‘Basically, the main idea consists 
in  redirecting  the  gasification 
process towards the material re-
cycling,’ she says. ‘Therefore, to 
increase the added value of the 
gasification we decided to cou-
ple a second process, dedicated 
to  the  synthesis  of  ceramics, 
such  as  silicon  carbide  —  the 
carbon reacts with silicon oxide 
at high temperature to form sil-
icon carbide.’ 

Silicon carbide can be used in 
the  manufacture  of  ceramic 
materials  and  for  electronic 
applications. 

The  project  received  EUR  3.3 
m i l l i o n   i n   E U   f u n d i n g .   T h e 

research  consortium  involves 
researchers  and  companies 
representing  the  main  value 
chain involved — tyre recycler, 
ceramic powders final user and 
pyro-carbons producer. 

Significant achievements have 
been  made  since  the  start  of 
the  project  in  2009.  The  new 
process  has  been  developed 
and tested at laboratory scale. 
A prototype plant was installed 
at  ENEA’s  facilities  in  Trisaia. 
The consortium aims to process 
20 kilograms of tyre waste per 
hour.  Operating  the  prototype 
will establish the sustainability 
of the TYGRE recycling scheme. 
The  project  team  will  then  be 
able to assess the energy bal-
ance of the whole process.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by  the  National  Agency  for 
N e w   Te c h n o l o g i e s ,   E n e r g y 
a n d   S u s t a i n a b l e   E c o n o m i c 
Development (ENEA) in Italy.

1 

 ‘High added-value materials from waste 
tyre gasification residues’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Environment’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/news > 
search > 35926
Project website: http://www.tygre.eu

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY 
 
 
30

Ocean acidification: past, present and future

The main focus of research into the increase in carbon dioxide 
(CO2)  levels  globally  centres  on  climate  change.  A  European 
initiative has investigated other effects on the world’s oceans.

Man-made CO2 is being absorbed 
by the world’s oceans globally at a 
rate of 24 million tonnes per day. 
Effects of this are a lowering of 
pH — becoming more ‘acid’ — and 
carbonate ion concentration. Most 
research prior to the EPOCA1 project 
has focused on creatures that make 
shells and skeletons with the car-
bonate ion converted into calcium 
carbonate.

EPOCA was the first international 
research effort on ocean acidifica-
tion. The 27-member consortium 
put many other processes likely to 
be affected under the microscope. 
These  include  nutrient  uptake, 
reproduction, acid-base regulation, 
nitrogen fixation and primary pro-
duction. Changes in the dynamics 
of these biological processes are 
likely to affect marine flora and 
fauna profoundly.

The four-year long project produced 
results based on four themes. One 
of the major findings under the first, 
ocean chemistry, is that acidifica-
tion measured in terms of pH drop 

in the Arctic near Iceland is 50 % 
faster than average rates in sub-
tropical zones in the Pacific Ocean.

For  biological  and  ecosystem 
responses,  EPOCA  researchers 
studied a broad range of marine 
life. There is now robust evidence 
that  many  calcifying  organisms 
are adversely affected by ocean 
acidification although there is con-
siderable difference in sensitivity, 
even between closely related spe-
cies. Citing just one of the alarming 
effects of acidification that came 
to light, severe tissue damage in 
Atlantic cod larvae was recorded. 
Synergistic  effects  of  multiple 
stressors,  including  warming, 
de oxygenation and eutrophication, 
were also investigated.

Project researchers coupled ‘Earth 
system  models’  (ESMs),  global 
and regional ocean models, and a 
sediment model to anticipate how 
acidification will alter ocean bio-
geochemistry. Climate change has 
little effect on acidification except 
in the Arctic, where freshening from 

ice melt exacerbates the situation. 
Regional model simulations high-
lighted the vulnerability of some 
near-shore regions as a result of 
river input and organic matter de-
gradation as well as local upwelling 
systems.

The book Ocean Acidification con-
tains a great deal of information 
from  the  EPOCA  project,  includ-
ing advances from the modelling 
initiative and the majority of the 
synthesis chapter. Raising aware-
ness of the gravity of ocean acidi-
fication  has  also  been  achieved 
through the EPOCA website, blog 
and collaboration with other groups 
of scientists. Working with school 
students in Plymouth, an animation 
— ‘The other CO2 problem’ — was 
produced and a film ‘Tipping Point’ 
received three awards for best sci-
entific movie at the Mediterranean 
film festival.

EPOCA  results  stand  to  have  a 
wide-ranging  impact  and  the 

project has produced evidence of 
current damage caused by acidifi-
cation as well as predictions using 
sophisticated modelling techniques. 
The  implications  for  all  ecosys-
tems as well as effects of ocean 
acidification on the development 
of  mass-spawning  fish  species 
of  high  commercial  importance  
(e.g. Atlantic cod), have been eluci-
dated. Perhaps most importantly, 
the risks and relevant thresholds — 
tipping points — have been iden-
tified and quantified.

The  project  was  coordinated  by 
CNRS in France.

1 

 ‘European project on ocean 
acidification’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Environment’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/5717_en.html
Project website:  
http://www.epoca-project.eu/ 

European eels in troubled waters

Researchers studied the reasons for declines in European eel 
populations in an effort to design a recovery plan.

Eels play an important socio-eco-
nomic and ecological role in many 
European countries, and as they 
migrate between oceans and fresh-
water rivers they can provide mark-
ers as to the health of different 
ecosystems.

Their  stocks  have  dropped  dra-
matically in recent decades and 
are now judged to be out of safe 
biological  limits.  The  EU-funded 
research  project  EELIAD1  looked 
into  the  reasons  for  this  dip  in 
population numbers. It focused on 
the  marine  phase  of  these  spe-
cies’  lives  —  an  aspect  of  their 

development about which little was 
previously known.

A first step in the project was to 
develop effective ways to tag eels. 
Different tagging methods were 
tested and new designs made. The 
researchers tagged more than 500 
eels and collected data on more 
than 3000 days of eel behaviour.

The project team, which included 
experts from marine research insti-
tutes  in  six  European  countries, 
collected and analysed eels from 
different  European  catchments. 
They developed models to simulate 

the early life history of eels and 
linked this data to larval disper-
sal  patterns  and  routes.  Results 
will feed directly into conservation 
efforts and the development of a 
European eel management plan. 
The EELIAD team raised aware-
ness of their findings by presenting 
their results at conferences and in 
a number of papers, and local and 
national media.

EELIAD has improved the know-
ledge  base  regarding  a  unique 
species of animal, while the data 
collected  increases  our  under-
standing  of  complex  ecological 
interactions.

The project was coordinated by the 
Department for Environment, Food 

and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the 
United Kingdom.

1 

 ‘European eels in the Atlantic: 
Assessment of their decline’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Environment’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11553_en.html
Project website:  
http://www.eeliad.com/ 

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY 
 
 
 
 
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I

31

Breaking through the fault-
testing bottleneck in chip 
production

A  team  of  EU-funded  researchers  have  developed  ground-breaking  technology  to  clear  one  of  the  biggest  bottlenecks 
facing the development of ever more advanced computer chips: the costly and time-consuming process of fault testing and 
verification. Their holistic approach to detecting and solving errors in chips, or ‘integrated circuits’ (ICs), promises to accelerate 
chip production, save money and dramatically lower the cost of electronic equipment and devices.

‘A decade or two ago the complexity of silicon 
chips was considerably lower than now. Since 
then, the size in terms of the number of tran-
sistors has grown to billions. Such chips are dif-
ficult to design but even more difficult to test 
and verify. Testing and verification have clearly 
become the bottleneck of the development 
process,’ explains Dr Jaan Raik, a professor of 
digital systems verification at the Department 
of Computer Engineering of Tallinn University 
of Technology in Estonia. 

One EU-funded project, PROSYD1, carried out 
extensive research on chip-manufacturing pro-
cesses and found that as much as 40 % of the 
entire IC design cycle is spent locating and cor-
recting errors caused by design mistakes. 

In recent years, numerous test and verification 
approaches have emerged. But, while they are 
good at identifying the presence of faults, they 

are usually unable to pinpoint the root cause 
of an error. 

‘It is not helpful for the designer to merely 
know that the chip is not working. It is ne-
cessary also to locate the fault and, ultim-
ately, to correct it. Relatively little attention 
has been paid to the latter tasks,’ explains Dr 
Raik. 

Until now, that is. Over the course of three 
years a consortium of universities and technol-
ogy companies teamed up in the DIAMOND2 
project to develop innovative models and tech-
nology to test, detect, verify and, most import-
antly, fix IC errors. Their approach, supported 
by almost EUR 2.9 million in funding from the 
European Commission, marks a major leap for-
ward for the semiconductor industry — offer-
ing potentially enormous time and cost savings 
if implemented widely. 

A holistic approach with three-fold 
benefits 
According to the project, a modern chip design 
project costs around EUR 60 million, but if the 
error detection and correction process could be 
accelerated by automation, these costs could be 
cut by EUR 15 million. Dr Raik, who coordinated 
DIAMOND, describes the project’s contribution to 
solving the challenge of detecting and fixing IC 
errors as three-fold. 

‘First, a holistic model for different types of faults 
was developed. Based on this model, the same 
localisation engines can be applied to design 
errors, soft errors and defects. Second, more 
efficient automated localisation and correction 
methods were developed. Particular stress was 
put on system-level approaches where previous 
research work has been inadequate. And third, 
post-silicon in-situ debug approaches were 
developed. Such approaches extend the 

>

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013IT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
 
 
32

lifetime of silicon chips by localising and isolating 
faulty regions in them,’ Dr Raik says. 

The team created an open-source system-level 
design-error localisation and correction system 
called ‘Formal repair environment for simple C’ 
(Forensic) — jointly developed by Graz University 
of Technology, the University of Bremen and 
Tallinn University of Technology, with a sec-
ond version of the environment released last 
December. 

To detect and fix errors at the register-transfer 
level, the DIAMOND researchers used a design 
elaboration system called zamiaCAD, a highly 
scalable open-source platform that can eas-
ily handle large commercial systems, such as 
those used by one of the project’s industrial 
partners, IBM. On top of that platform, the team 
implemented new error localisation methods 
capable of pinpointing design errors in such 
large designs.

In addition, because so-called soft errors — such 
as those caused by the effects of radiation — are 
increasingly becoming an issue in new nanome-
tre-scale technologies, IBM and the University of 
Bremen jointly developed efficient simulation and 
vulnerability check approaches for such faults. 
Meanwhile, a post-silicon fault-management 
system to extend the lifetime of future chips was 
designed by Ericsson, the University of Linköping 
and Estonian ‘electronic design automation’ (EDA) 
company Testonica. 

‘The key innovations of the DIAMOND project are 
the holistic handling of different kinds of faults, 
as well as new engines for system-level fault 
localisation and correction, for soft error analysis 
and for fault management,’ Dr Raik summarises. 

An almost four-fold increase in 
efficiency 
The upshot is major gains in the efficiency of 
the processes used to find and correct faults. 

‘At the system-level, Forensic was able to cor-
rect 60 % of the benchmark designs compared 
to 16 % with previous tools,’ the project coord-
inator notes. ‘At the register-transfer level, we 
performed a case study on a real processor 
design. We cooperated with a design team at 
TU Ilmenau who kindly provided us with docu-
mented bug cases. The DIAMOND methods 
were able to locate all the bugs in a couple of 
minutes, versus several hours needed for man-
ual localisation.’ 

These  new,  more  efficient  fault  correction 
methods mean huge savings. IBM estimates 
that EUR 15 million per chip project could be 
saved if fault diagnosis and correction effi-
ciency can be doubled. For a consumer, ultim-
ately, it means cheaper and safer electronic 
products. 

IBM has so far filed two patents on technol-
ogies developed in DIAMOND and is continuing 
to exploit the results internally, including suc-
cessfully applying the testing and verifica-
tion tools in design projects. Ericsson, another 
project partner, is also exploiting the results 
internally and is applying the new fault-man-
agement technology in product developments. 

EDA companies TransEDA and Testonica — 
the latter a spin-off of the research group 
at Tallinn University of Technology — have 
included the fault-diagnosis tools in their prod-
uct portfolios. Testonica has filed one patent on 
technologies developed in DIAMOND. 

Meanwhile, some of the results have been 
presented  to  chipmaker  Intel  and  several 
SMEs have also expressed interest. 

‘The  interest  from  outside  has  been  quite 
strong,’ Dr Raik notes. ‘There is a clear trend 
towards multi-core designs due mainly to the 
need to keep the power dissipation of future 
chips under control. I therefore see that test, 
reliability and design will become more inter-
twined within multi-core systems. In fact, the 
regularity and modularity inherent to multi-
core architectures provides new opportunities 
for test, verification and design.’ 

On the strength of these results, the project’s 
work could be expected to help shorten the 
time for new chips to be designed, produced 
and come to market — accelerating innov-
ation in electronic devices — as well as lead-
ing to lower prices for electronic equipment. 

The project was coordinated by the Tallinn 
University of Technology in Estonia.

1 

2 

 ‘Property-based system design’, funded under the FP6 
specific programme ‘Information Society Technologies’ 
(IST).
 ‘Diagnosis, error-modelling and correction for reliable 
systems design’, funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Information and communication technologies’ (ICT).

http://cordis.europa.eu/marketplace > search > offers > 
11512
Project website:
http://www.fp7-diamond.eu/

European scientific research 
now on YouTube

EU-funded  media  experts  distributed  short  documentaries 
via the internet to raise awareness of European research.

Broadview.TV (BTV), an interna-
tional  award-winning  film  and 
internet  production  company, 
and  United  Docs,  one  of  the 
largest German TV distributors, 
became  partners  to  communi-
cate  EU  research  to  the  public 
at large. With EU-funding of the 
project COMED1, they produced 
nine  short  videos  and  a  trailer 
about EU-funded health-related 
research projects. The films show 
interviews with researchers and 
patients, and provide news about 

the projects in non-scientific lan-
guage to inform the public and 
enhance young people’s percep-
tions of science.

The  creation  of  a  project  logo 
was  an  important  marketing 
tool to increase recognition and 
awareness and it is present on 
all  information  disseminated. 
Partners exploited the medium 
most  used  by  youth  today,  the 
internet. Videos were distributed 
via  video-sharing  portals  such 

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013IT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
 
 
33

as  YouTube,  social  network-
ing  services  such  as  Facebook, 
podcasts,  blogs,  online  maga-
zines  and  the  project  website. 
They  also  distributed  the  vid-
eos  to  television  broadcasters. 
Of course, dissemination would 
not have been complete without 
presentations at scientific confer-
ences to raise awareness on the 

part of the research community 
and encourage more scientists to 
develop innovative ways of tar-
getting the public.

COMED filled an important gap 
between  science  and  society, 
using brief and snappy videos to 
generate excitement and enthu-
siasm  about  the  potential  of 

scientific research — targetting 
the  general  public,  and  in  par-
ticular, young people. 

1 

 ‘Communication of medical research 
through film production and wide 
distribution’.

The project was coordinated by 
Broadview.TV in Germany.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Health’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/6652_en.html

Balkan agriculture goes high-tech

New remote-sensing technology for use in agriculture and environmental management has supported stakeholders in the 
industry, helping to build new partnerships between the Western Balkans and the EU.

Agriculture  can  benefit  greatly 
from new sensing technologies 
to monitor the environment and 
other important parameters. The 
EU-funded project AGROSENSE1 
explored  new  opportunities  in 
this area.

Working to upgrade agriculture 
methods and forestry protection 
in the Western Balkan Countries 
(WBCs),  the  project  took  the 
region of Vojvodina in Serbia as a 
test case. It then acquired the ne-
cessary equipment and hired EU 
experts in the field, developing a 
system that employs unmanned 
aerial vehicles, sophisticated sen-
sors and thermal cameras.

Sensing  and  monitoring  sys-
tems were distributed in fields 
to monitor soil conditions, crop 
growth  and  other  parameters, 
representing  a  new  system  of 
precision agriculture. Results of 
the  live  demonstration,  which 
involved  measuring  a  range  of 
bio-parameters, were unveiled on 
the project’s website.

In  parallel,  the  experts  trained 
WBC  actors  in  areas  such  as 
environmental monitoring appli-
cations, simulation tools, integra-
tion of wireless technologies and 
coordination of research projects. 
This  raised  awareness  of  the 
project’s potential among those 
interested in the technology for 
agriculture, forestry and environ-
mental protection.

Most  importantly,  the  project’s 
progress led to the launch of the 
BioSense Centre in conjunction 

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with the University of Novi Sad. 
The centre has already become 
an  important  regional  actor  in 
European research. Related net-
working activities and new part-
nerships  brought  stakeholders 
from  Serbia  and  other  WBCs 
together with actors from Italy 
and Slovenia.

As dissemination of the project’s 
results spread, it helped influence 
government institutions to adopt 
precision agriculture, promoting 
the approach to the agricultural 
industry,  farmers  and  students 
involved.  This  was  achieved 
through  several  conferences, 

agricultural  fairs  and  publica-
tions.  A  key  achievement  with 
respect to dissemination was the 
BioSense09 workshop in Novi Sad 
on sensing technology in agricul-
ture, forestry and environment.

Noteworthy as well, in addition to 
stakeholders related to agricul-
ture, academic staff from related 
fields such as ecology and water 
management showed great inter-
est in the AGROSENSE project. All 
these efforts have helped to build 
stronger science and technology 
(S&T) cooperation opportunities 
among WBCs and with the rest 
of Europe.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by the University of Novi Sad’s 
Faculty of Technical Sciences in 
Serbia.

1 

 ‘Wireless sensor networks and remote 
sensing — foundation of a modern 
agricultural infrastructure in the region’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Capacities’ under the 
theme ‘Stimulating the realisation of the 
full research potential of the enlarged 
European Union community’ (REGPOT). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/6284_en.html

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013IT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
34

Aviation safety training strengthened

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New simulation systems and training modules will help pilots 
avoid catastrophic events in the air and save lives in the process. 

Loss of control in flight, often attri-
buted to a lack of crew awareness 
and experience in recovering from 
extreme flight conditions, is the most 
common cause of fatal accidents in 
aviation. These extreme conditions 
include aviation ‘upsets’ such as a 
high roll-angle of more than 45 °, 
where the pilot inadvertently allows 
the situation to become critical. With 
plans to make training for upset-
recovery mandatory, the EU is look-
ing at new, effective ways to train 
pilots in overcoming these poten-
tially fatal events.

The  EU-funded  SUPRA1  project 
worked on improving flight simu-
lations of upset conditions. As cur-
rent simulation technology is not 
capable of such modelling, the pro-
ject team furthered the state of the 

art in flight-dynamics modelling and 
motion cueing to address shortcom-
ings in ground-based simulators.

SUPRA based its work on previous 
modelling efforts, which use wind-
tunnel techniques and novel com-
putational fluid dynamics to predict 
the behaviour of fighter aircraft in 
flight. It also developed motion cue-
ing improvements and investigated 
numerous flight regimes not typ-
ically encountered during the normal 
flight operations of commercial aer-
oplanes. Another important achieve-
ment involved the correct replication 
of  physical  strain  on  the  human 
body during an upset using centrifu-
gation as a simulator solution.

In effect, SUPRA successfully devel-
oped a generic model to capture the 

key aerodynamic behaviour of trans-
port-category aircraft in high-inci-
dence flight. It brought in expert test 
pilots to evaluate the concept and 
validate its viability. The research 
was disseminated to stakeholders 
through the project website and a 
symposium that attracted aeroplane 
manufacturers and operators as 
well as aviation authorities.

Once the technology is exploited 
to  improve  pilot  flight-handling 
skills, it will help pilots re-establish 
stable control of the aircraft after 
upsets. As these incidents count for 
10–20  % of fatal accidents in public 

air transport, this simulation technol-
ogy should help save lives, not only 
in Europe but hopefully across the 
globe as well.

The project was coordinated by TNO 
in the Netherlands.

1  

 ‘Simulation of upset recovery in 
aviation’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Transport’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/10561_en.html
Project website: www.supra.aero 

Non-invasive optical imaging to monitor brain function

A European consortium worked towards the development of 
advanced  non-invasive  imaging  methodologies  for  in  vivo 
diagnosis,  monitoring  and  prognosis  of  major  neurological 
diseases.  This  integrated  approach  could  revolutionise  the 
diagnosis and monitoring of conditions including stroke and 
severe brain trauma.

‘Computed tomography’ (CT), ‘mag-
netic  resonance  imaging’  (MRI) 
and ‘positron emission tomogra-
phy’ (PET) are imaging techniques 
that provide vital anatomical and 
physiological  data  for  guiding 
medical  diagnosis  and  therapy. 
However,  these  methods cannot 
assess systemic parameters such 
as heart rate or blood pressure, and 
they cannot be applied at the bed-
side. Electroencephalography (EEG), 
on the other hand, is a well-estab-
lished technique that can continu-
ously and non-invasively monitor 
the brain.

The  EU-funded  NEUROPT1  con-
sortium was motivated to gener-
ate a clinical tool for continuous 
monitoring of the haemodynamic 
parameters of cerebral oxygenation 

and perfusion. This tool should also 
complement MRI/CT/PET methods 
and  at  the  same  time  be  com-
patible with existing neuro-mon-
itoring techniques (EEG, Doppler 
ultrasound).

To  achieve  this,  partners had to 
improve spatial resolution of cur-
rent imaging techniques, remove 
‘artefacts’  —  elements  of  the 
image that result from the pro-
cessing techniques rather than the 
subject  being  monitored  —  and 
enable the absolute quantification 
of physiological parameters. To this 
end, they employed time-resolved 
techniques that offer greater sen-
sitivity than most optical methods 
and distinguish between surface 
tissues  (e.g.  skin  and  skull)  and 
brain tissue.

Novel photonic devices were con-
structed, as well as device proto-
types for use in the clinical setting, 
including a specialised helmet for 
attaching the optical fibres to the 
head.  Through  software  devel-
opment,  researchers  could  also 
analyse the time-resolved meas-
urements on the head and calculate 
the oxy- and deoxyhaemoglobin 
concentrations.  Additionally, 
NEUROPT researchers worked on 
realistic  modelling  and  compu-
tation, especially with a view to 
improving light propagation in the 
human head.

The feasibility of this combinatorial 
approach was tested in separate 
visual and motor studies in healthy 
individuals. It was further success-
fully applied to performing meas-
urements in patients with acute 
neurological conditions, photosensi-
tive epilepsy or stroke.

Given the non-invasive nature of 
the  NEUROPT  approach  and  its 
potential to be continuously applied 
at the bedside, it should facilitate 

the diagnosis of functional brain 
impairment and monitor its pro-
gress. As a result, it should improve 
the prognosis of patients with ser-
ious neurological conditions and 
could also be applied to imaging 
the brains of infants.

The project was coordinated by the 
Politecnico di Milano in Italy.

1 

 ‘Non-invasive imaging of brain 
function and disease by pulsed near 
infrared light’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Health’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/6016_en.html
Project website:  
http://www.neuropt.eu/project.html

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013IT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
 
 
 
 
Monitoring emerging diseases in wild animals

35

Three-quarters of the new human diseases that have emerged 
in the last two decades have originated from wildlife species. 
The  goal  of  the  WILDTECH  project  is  to  design  a  surveillance 
system  that  will  detect  and  monitor  the  potential  spread  of 
pathogenic infections in wildlife.

The spread of wildlife diseases 
affecting  both  humans  and 
domestic animals is believed to 
be caused by a rapid evolution 
of viral pathogens adjusting to 
changes  in  the  human  popula-
tion, host–pathogen relationship 
and environmental pollution. 

Previously,  there  had  been  no 
coordinated  effort  to  monitor 
the  spread  of  infection  in  the 
European Union. To address this 
problem,  the  WILDTECH1  pro-
ject  established  a  platform  for 
high-throughput wildlife-disease 
diagnosis.

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Making an online move for science

Young Europeans are turning away from scientific studies and 
careers.  This  poses  a  problem,  as  humankind  faces  serious 
challenges that can only be addressed with renewed research 
efforts.

The  EU-funded  POR 1  project 
was  therefore  developed  with 
the aim of raising public inter-
est  in  science,  particularly 
among young people, by means 
of  a  computer  game.  The  POR 
game  consisted  of  two  parts: 
a  long-term  strategy  research 
game, and a short-term hospi-
tal  game.  Within  the  research 
game, players entered as scien-
tists, selected a specific research 
topic and worked at a research 
institution.

Gamers  shared  responsibility 
in  securing  funding,  skills  and 
resources to perform their tasks, 
while managing their own energy 
and well-being. This gave play-
ers an inside look into the real 
world of scientific researchers. 
Completed  research  projects 
were published in virtual journals.

The  second  part  of  the  game 
took  part  in  a  hospital.  In  the 
real-time,  three-dimensional 
(3D)  environment,  players  had 
the opportunity to assume the 
role  of  medical  doctors.  The 
challenge  of  the  game  was  to 
manage  a  doctor’s  daily  life, 
overseeing  the  treatment  of 
several  patients  with  differ-
ent diseases within a tight time 
frame.

I n   b o t h   g a m e s ,   e x p e r i e n c e 
earned the players rewards, titles 
and  new  resources.  A  strong 
resource base was also provided 
for players, giving them up-to-
date  medical  knowledge  that 
could  be  used  both  online  and 
in the real world. This included 
a virtual library, scientific picture 
gallery and a database of Nobel 
laureates.

WILDTECH  research  members 
designed  a  prototype  micro-
array chip to identify both known 
and novel pathogens in wildlife 
populations.  They  also  devel-
oped high-throughput serological 
screening of wildlife populations 
for potential infectious agents. 
This technology allows for con-
tinuous  monitoring  of  disease 
spread in wildlife and evaluation 
of potential risks to the human 
population.

Investigators  established  a 
pathogen database to store all 
the information about samples 
run  in  the  project.  Part  of  that 
data  related  to  the  pathogen 
characterisation was forwarded 
t o   t h e   Wi l d p r o ®   e l e c t r o n i c 
encyclopaedia.

Project  activities  resulted  in 
the  construction  of  a  multi-
host  disease  model  essential 

for  epidemiologists  across  the 
EU. In the long term, this work 
will prevent the proliferation of 
food-borne  pathogens,  which 
could significantly reduce mor-
tality rate and improve welfare 
for  both  human  and  animal 
populations.

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

1  

 ‘Novel technologies for surveillance of 
emerging and re-emerging infections of 
wildlife’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Food, agriculture and 
fisheries, and biotechnology’ (KBBE).
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11325_en.html
Project website:
http://www.wildtechproject.com

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The  game  received  more  than 
120 000 unique visitors on the 
site.  Radio,  press  releases  and 
various websites were all used 
to spread the word about POR, 
while  users  shared  the  game 
on  their  personal  social  media 
platforms.

POR  managed  to  tackle  the 
image problem of scientists as 
perceived  by  today’s  youth  by 
allowing players to encounter all 
the positive and interesting char-
acteristics of a scientific career. 

The project was coordinated by 
Biolution in Austria.

1  

 ‘Disseminate the power of research 
through an on-line simulation of the 
scientific endeavour’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Health’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/10449_en.html

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013IT AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
 
 
 
36

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Closing the loop for lightweight 
materials

From  next-generation  planes  to  electric  vehicles  and  their  already  heavy  batteries,  every  extra  kilogramme  matters  when 
trying to achieve more sustainable transportation. Lightweight, high-performance materials have never been so successful, 
but their end-of-life remains a key concern.

Every time a scientist or engineer comes to 
grips with the brain-teasing issue of green-
house gas emissions and reduced fossil-fuel 
consumption, the weight element is central. 
Much  of  materials  science  now  revolves 
around discovering or enhancing lighter ma-
terials, with better — or at least equal — 
performance, which explains the tremendous 
success of composite materials such as car-
bon-fibre reinforced polymers. 

However, there is another side to the coin. 
Composites  still  fall  short  of  satisfactory 
second-life options, which is a real concern 
at a time when decision-makers increasingly 
think  in  terms  of  life-cycle  assessments. 
Well  aware  of  this  issue  and  the  urgency 
of  solving  it,  the  Institute  of  Chemistry 
and Technology of Polymers (ICTP) in Italy 
is  investigating  new  waste-management 

processes with partners under the EU-funded 
SUSRAC1 project. 

development — or even continued use — of 
composites in some markets.

Dr Mario Malinconico, who coordinates the 
project, told the research*eu results maga-
zine about the consortium’s achievements so 
far, their importance for the continued growth 
of the market and the remaining challenges 
before the end of the project.

What are the main objectives of the 
project?
Thermoplastic  and  thermoset  compos-
ite  materials  are  used  in  a  wide  range  of 
applications, and about 1 million tonnes of 
composites are manufactured each year In 
Europe. This requires the setting up of spe-
cific strategies for composite-waste disposal, 
in particular for the recycling of this waste. 
Poor  recyclability  can  be  a  barrier  to  the 

The purpose of this research, which is part 
of the EU-funded Joint Technology Initiative 
‘Clean  Sky’,  is  to  develop  recyclable  ther-
moplastic  composite  materials  capable  of 
handling high weight loads. Those would be 
made from ground thermoplastic, thermoset 
aircraft-waste composites, such as ‘carbon-
fibre-reinforced polymers’ (CFRPs), and recy-
cled  expanded  polystyrene  from  loose-fill 
packaging.

How important is it to solve this 
problem?
Addressing sustainability issues related to 
plastic materials is one of the core activities 
at the Institute of Chemistry and Technology 
of Polymers. This is of utmost importance if 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES 
37

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Dr Mario Malinconico

full-scale environment, such as the produc-
tion of a specific element or aircraft part. This 
could be important, because it will allow the 
reuse of materials from dismantled aircraft 
in new aircraft production. In a similar way, in 
the automotive industry nowadays, car parts 
are made using materials originating from 
the dismantling of old cars.

The  SUSRAC  project  is  coordinated  by  the 
Italian  national  research  council  (CNR).  It 
also includes the Spanish research centre, 
Tecnalia, as a partner with a specific role in 
the validation of the fire resistance of the 
final material.

1 

 ‘Sustainable recycling of aircrafts composites’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Cooperation’ 
via the ‘Clean Sky Joint Undertaking’ (CSJU), one of the 
EU’s ‘Joint Technology Initiatives’ (JTI). 
SUSRAC project website:  
http://www.susracproject.com/
Clean Sky JTI website:  
http://www.cleansky.eu/ 

you consider that the worldwide demand for 
carbon fibres (CFs) reached approximately 
35 000 tonnes in 2008 and that this number 
is expected to double by 2014, representing a 
growth rate of over 12 % per year. 

CFRPs are now used in a widening range of 
applications, with the aircraft industry being 
one of the most impressive examples: CFRP 
accounts for 50 % of the weight of the new 
Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, and military air-
craft are following a similar trend. The quick 
growth  of  the  composite  market  raises  the 
question of waste management, and it is only 
logical that recycling has become a high priority. 

At  same  time,  plastic  packaging  mater-
ials  account  for  almost  40 %  of  all  plas-
tic consumption in the world, and loose-fill 
packaging  materials  are  among  the  most 
difficult items to recycle due to their extreme 
lightness  (on  average  one  cubic  metre  of 
expanded polystyrene weighs only 30 kg). 

The idea to combine both materials to make 
a thermoplastic composite for building or fur-
niture applications requires an innovative pro-
cess, which is where SUSRAC comes in. 

What is new or innovative about the 
project and the way it is addressing 
these issues?
Two  compounding  methodologies  were 
explored, namely traditional melt mixing and 
innovative cold mixing. In the latter, a low-
boiling-point industrial solvent was employed 
to dilute and guarantee the homogeneity of 
the thermoplastic matrix at the micro- and 
macroscopic  levels.  It  is  a  purely  physical 
approach, in a closed-loop strategy, which we 
have been studying since 2005. It was first 
applied to glass-fibre-reinforced thermoset-
ting matrices resulting from the dismantling 
of boats. The results so far prove that the 
cold-mixing approach results in a material 
with mechanical properties up to four times 
higher than those obtained with a classical 
melt-mixing approach.

What are some of the difficulties 
you have encountered and how did 
you solve them?
The main difficulty appeared at the very begin-
ning of the process, as we needed to obtain a 
controlled size reduction of thermosetting ma-
terials made of stiff resin and very hard car-
bon fibres while ensuring low energy input and 
safe operation. This has been achieved in co-
operation with an Italian producer of grinders, 
who designed an effective industrial grinder for 
us. Another problem was the handling of the 
industrial solvent necessary for the emulsifica-
tion. This solvent needs to be recycled inter-
nally to get a closed loop, and we are on the 
way to solving this problem. 

What are the concrete results from 
the research so far?
One of the most concrete results is the fact 
that we can claim to have obtained, at a pre-
industrial scale, highly-filled thermoplastic 
composites made from end-of-use materials. 
Those come with properties that make them 
comparable  to  composites  made  of  virgin 
materials. Moreover, the resulting composites 
are thermoplastic, with the advantage that 
they can be recycled all over again at the end 
of their second life. 

When do you expect the project 
results to benefit the sector?
At the moment, SUSRAC is in the third semes-
ter of a two-year project, and we have already 
started  an  industrialisation  phase  with  an 
Italian company specialised in the design of 
industrial production plants. At the end of this 
industrialisation phase, planned for the mid-
dle of 2014, we will have a clear view of the 
investment costs, and we will be able to pro-
pose the results to interested companies. We 
hope to be ready by the middle of 2015.

What are the next steps of the 
project, or next topics for your 
research?
The next step is the realisation of demon-
strators of a big-enough size for testing in a 

Better aviation testing for structural safety

Advances in software and simulation technology are empowering aeronautics manufacturers to lower the costs of testing for 
structural safety.

An  ongoing  drive  to  increase 
safety in the aeronautics indus-
try has the potential to save lives 
and maintain Europe’s position 
as a pioneer in the industry. In 
principle, aeronautical compon-
ents are designed based on the 
damage tolerance concept, which 

requires very accurate knowledge 
on fracture resistance and crack 
growth rate, among other crucial 
indications.

O n e   n e w   h i g h - t e c h 
a p p r o a c h   i n   t h i s   d i r e c t i o n 
embraces  the  introduction  of 

simulation-supported  ‘prob-
ability of detection’ (POD) and 
‘non-destructive testing’ (NDT) 
simulation. In this context, the 
EU-funded  project  PICASSO 1 
built  powerful  new  NDT  soft-
ware to detect structural flaws 
in components more efficiently.

In  particular,  the  project  team 
worked  on  advanced  ways  to 
determine the curve that calcu-
lates the probability of detect-
ing defects (probability vs. defect 
size).  This  generally  requires 
complicated and costly POD 
procedures,  an  issue  that 

>

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES 
 
 
38

three-dimensional  (3D)  tools 
and ‘computer-assisted design’ 
(CAD)  technology  to  create 
the  NDT  software,  integrat-
ing  a  modelling  strategy  for 
uncertainties  and  validating 
t h e i r   o b s e r v a t i o n s   t h r o u g h 
simulation runs. Results of the 
project  so  far  have  been  the 
successful validation of simu-
lation-supported  POD,  includ-
ing  implementation  strategy 
and involved methodology. 

This  advanced  technology  is 
expected  to  contribute  to  the 
European  standard  in  test-
ing damage tolerance and ad-
vancing safety. The end results 
will  be  increased  safety  for 
passengers  and  crew,  as  well 
as  a  stronger  and  more  com-
petitive industry.

The project was coordinated by 
SNECMA in France.

1  

 ‘Improved reliability inspection of 
aeronautic structure through simulation 
supported POD ‘.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Transport’.
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11455_en.html
Project website:
http://www.picasso-ndt.eu/

PICASSO  has  overcome  using 
novel  NDT  simulation  tools,  to 
yield less costly and more reli-
able POD determinations.

To achieve its aims, the project 
team characterised the defects 
and  described  the  compon-
ents  in  question.  It  employed 

Exploring and exploiting engineered oxide interfaces

An  EU-funded  project  has  successfully  integrated  an  oxide  super-lattice  into  a  prototype 
electronic device. Using the new-found capabilities of the interfaces between complex oxides 
could revolutionise the electronics sector.

Thin  layers  of  oxide  mater-
ials can display an astonishing 
variety  of  electronic  and  ionic 
phenomena.  However,  despite 
considerable  advances  in  the 
field,  there  are  many  experi-
mental  and  theoretical  chal-
lenges  to  address  before  the 
potential  applications  can  be 
realised.

With  this  in  mind,  the  OXIDES1 
project,  funded  by  the  EU,  set 
out  to  target  the  engineering 
of ‘exotic phenomena’ at oxide 
interfaces. 

The  main  aim  of  the  project 
was  to  develop  techniques  to 
model the most relevant types 
of oxide interfaces. In addition, 

the objective was to use these 
tools to design a new generation 
of  layered  nanomaterials  with 
unique properties.

In  line  with  these  aims,  the 
O X I D E S   t e a m   d e v e l o p e d 
n e w   t h e o r e t i c a l   a n d   s i m u-
lation  techniques,  and  contrib-
uted  to  the  identification  and 

characterisation  of  structured 
layers of highly promising oxides. 
The researchers also investigated 
the  possibilities  of  including 
these layered materials in prac-
tical devices.

By the end of the project, OXIDES 
had developed one such proto-
type  device,  which  opens  the 
door to specific electronic appli-
cations not usually accessible via 
the normal silicon-based technol-
ogy. The patent for this invention 
is  being  applied  for  and  action 
plans for future work are being 
drawn  up  to  capitalise  on  the 
achievement.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by  the  University  of  Liège  in 
Belgium.

1  

 ‘Engineering exotic phenomena at oxide 
interfaces‘.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under 
the research theme ‘Nanosciences, 
nanotechnologies, materials and new 
production technologies’ (NMP)
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11041_en.html
Project website:
http://www.oxides.ulg.ac.be/

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES 
 
 
 
Creating value and reducing waste by exploiting animal  
by-products

39

The animal by-products industry is a vital link in the global food production chain, creating 
new products and reducing waste. However, new, safe biotech tools and processes are needed 
to meet growing markets and ambitious environmental goals. This is why a European project 
has developed a new way of converting previously unmarketable poultry remains into products 
ranging from animal feed to biodiesel. 

The EU-funded PROSPARE1 project 
set out to develop a technological 
platform  for  the  multi-purpose 
processing of ‘animal by-products’ 
(AB-P), particularly poultry. Using a 
novel biocatalytic approach, unmar-
ketable poultry remains can now 
be  converted  into  value-added 
proteins — peptide hydrolysates — 
that can be used in marketable end 
products. 

The project started out by examin-
ing how value-added peptide mix-
tures could be obtained from raw 
materials. It then sought to make 
this process available to industry 
for larger-scale processing. The ul-
timate objective was to make these 
peptide mixtures exploitable to the 

food, feed and biochemicals (cos-
metic and microbiology) sectors. 

The  technology  platform  has 
focused on bringing forward sev-
eral key benefits. The first is utili-
sation — making AB-P potentially 
interesting to a range of indus-
tries through the development of 
a novel conversion process based 
on a biocatalytic approach. This 
in  turn  should  create  value,  by 
converting  these  residues  into 
peptide  hydrolysates  for  food 
additives and feed, for example. 
The accompanying fat and tallow 
(rendered animal fat) can also be 
exploited  for  renewable  energy 
and  the  production  of  organic 
chemicals. 

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Another focus of the project has 
been functionality. New ingredi-
ents  must  meet  consumer  ex-
pectations if they are to succeed 
in the market place. Therefore, the 
project  looked  at  achieving  the 
necessary sensory characteristics 
required for nutritional ingredients 
— taste, aroma and digestibility 
— in order to improve their com-
mercial potential. The functional 
properties of newly produced food 
additives have been investigated 
by using standard and new assay 
methods. 

Importantly, the project also pri-
oritised safety. A range of com-
plementary low-cost techniques 
for monitoring microbial contam-
ination and novel tracing tools for 
mycotoxin  detection  have  been 
developed, to ensure that devel-
oped food additives comply with 
regulations. 

The PROSPARE project represents 
a radical breakthrough because 
it  demonstrates  how  previ-
ously unmarketable AB-P can be 
exploited through efficient bio-
conversion methods and biocata-
lysts (enzyme and/or enzymatic 

compositions). It is also novel in 
that it is highly interdisciplinary, 
applying biotechnological, chem-
ical, biophysical, immunological 
and  toxicological  expertise.  In 
addition, it has involved industrial 
partners  who  have  trialled  the 
proposed technologies for evalu-
ation. The first pilot production 
plants  (in  Russia  and  Belgium) 
achieved the required standard of 
full productivity and sustainability. 

It is expected that this techno-
logical breakthrough will help to 
reduce unnecessary waste. While 
exploiting  such  products  safely 
has  consistently  been  a  major 
challenge,  the  new  processing 
technologies developed through 
PROSPARE should meet broad EU 
food-safety requirements while 
being economically sustainable.

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

1  

 ‘Progress in saving proteins and recovering 
energy’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Food, agriculture and 
fisheries, and biotechnology’ (KBBE).
http://cordis.europa.eu/news > search 
> 35880
Project website:
http://www.prospare.eu/

Wood bark and peat — getting value from waste

Huge amounts of widely available bark and peat are underutilised in the European Union and 
Russia. A three-year European project has investigated how to use these as raw materials in 
environment remediation, as well as in agriculture and the pharmaceutical, health-care and 
chemical sectors.

Peat and bark are widely avail-
able waste by-products that are 
a potentially profitable and envir-
onmentally friendly resource.

F O R E S T S P E C S 1,   f u n d e d   b y 
the  EU’s  Seventh  Framework 
Programme (FP7), is working to 

optimise the economic value of 
these  two  materials  by  devel-
oping cost-effective extraction 
techniques  and  applications 
in various industrial sectors. A 
project  partner  has  developed 
efficient  microwave-assisted 
extraction  processes  for  bark 

and  peat.  The  new  technol-
ogy  uses  fewer  solvents  and 
is  faster  than  conventional 
techniques.

FORESTSPECS research to date 
has shown that bark extracts like 
betulin derivatives and suberin 

Studies have also identified nat-
ural  compounds  in  bark 

a n d   p e a t   t h a t   p r o t e c t  >

show  promise  as  bioactive 
agents in pharmaceuticals, coat-
ings, surfactants, lubricants, pest 
control,  adhesives  (polymers), 
fungicides and cosmetics. Also, 
project members have found that 
humic acids obtained from peat 
could be used as adhesives and 
chelating agents in water purifi-
cation and mining.

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES 
 
 
40

remediation  of  soils  contami-
nated  with  organic  and  heavy-
metal pollutants. They could also 
improve soil fertility by increas-
ing water retention capacity and 
slowing down decomposition.

FORESTSPECS  activities  have 
shown  that  investing  in  waste 
products like bark, and by-products 
like peat, can be a viable alterna-
tive  for  existing  technologies  in 
greener, more cost-effective ways. 
These products could have appli-
cations in the agriculture, health-
care,  pharmaceutical,  chemical, 
mining and construction sectors.

The  project  was  coordinated 
by the University of Helsinki in 
Finland.

1  

 ‘Wood-bark and peat-based bioactive 
compounds, speciality chemicals, and 
remediation materials: from innovations to 
applications‘.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Food, agriculture and 
fisheries, and biotechnology’ (KBBE).
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11165_en.html
Project website: http://forestspecs.eu/

plants by modifying pest behav-
iour.  This  has  the  potential  to 
provide  plant  protection  with-
out pesticide residue issues or 
resistance  build-up  in  pests. 

Products from bark can also be 
used as compost.

Bioactive agents from bark and 
peat could also be used for the 

New device for search-and-rescue operations

Time is critical in search-and-rescue operations. To minimise the period required for finding trapped victims, the SGL FOR USAR 
project team designed and tested a novel locator capable of detecting minute concentrations of human scent.

Urban search and rescue involves 
the location, extrication and initial 
medical  stabilisation  of  victims 
trapped in confined spaces due to 
natural disasters, structural col-
lapse and transportation accidents. 
Quite often, victims of the collapse 
remain  unconscious  —  which 
makes locating bodies far more dif-
ficult. To address this issue, the SGL 
FOR USAR1 project team designed a 
second-generation locator for urban 
search-and-rescue operations.

Building an ultrasensitive device 
requires a lot of expertise. The 
consortium consists of 10 aca-
demic and research groups — as 
well as nine small and medium-
sized enterprises (SMEs) and two 
rescue teams.

The  project  team  designed  a 
device  and  tested  its  capacity 
to recognise human scent. The 
research  involved  20  healthy 
v o l u n t e e r s   t o   i d e n t i f y   t h e 

specific  signature  of  human 
odour  spontaneously  emitted 
from  their  bodies.  The  device 
contained  both  a  visual  cam-
era and a highly sensitive mass 
spectrometer  to  locate  human 
bodies,  both  dead  and  alive. 
It  also  contains  a  ‘global  pos-
itioning  system’  (GPS)  to  map 
the  location,  an  audio  proces-
sor and a carbon dioxide (CO2) 
gas  sensor  to  trace  victims  of 
entrapment.

Project engineers and research-
ers  combined  sophisticated 
equipment  with  telemedicine, 
m o n i t o r i n g   v i t a l   s i g n s   a n d 
medical  parameters  of  the 
potential  victim.  They  also 
designed  a  motorised  antenna 
for satellite communication.

The success of this project could 
save  many  lives  in  situations 
of  urban  entrapment,  such  as 
after  earthquakes  and  mining 
accidents.  It  will  also  expedite 
search-and-rescue  operations 
and significantly increase their 
efficiency.

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

1  

 ‘Second generation locator for urban 
search and rescue operations‘.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Security’.
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/5977_en.html
Project website: http://www.sgl-eu.org/ 

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41

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Keeping an eye on Europe’s 
biodiversity… from space

The Natura 2000 programme helps to protect and preserve Europe’s threatened biodiversity, but monitoring progress is challenging 
given the diversity of sites and data. An EU-funded project has developed a system for aggregating and analysing satellite-based 
Earth Observation (EO) data.

Biodiversity is under threat from numerous fac-
tors, yet it is essential to the proper functioning 
of ecosystems and the well-being of humanity, 
and it is beautiful in its own right. The EU’s Natura 
2000 programme — described as the ‘centre-
piece of EU nature and biodiversity policy’ — was 
a response to the loss of biodiversity in Europe. 
The initiative created a network of protected and 
designated sites across Europe, both on land and 
in water.

To gauge the performance of Natura 2000, 
standardised  monitoring  of  all  the  sites  is 
required, with detailed reporting by Member 
States every six years. However, given the sheer 
diversity of sites, this is a major challenge.

The EU’s Global Monitoring for Environment 
and Security (GMES) system addresses this 
challenge  through  satellite-based  EO.  The 

MS.MONINA1 project has developed EO-based 
services  that  can  collect  relevant  informa-
tion cost effectively at different scales across 
the  Natura  2000  network  and  beyond.  The 
EU-funded project helps stakeholders to meet 
the  Natura  2000  reporting,  monitoring  and 
management  needs  at  three  geographical 
scales: for individual sites, for each Member 
State, and for the EU as a whole.

In light of the diversity of data sources and for-
mats, as well as user requirements, the project 
rolled out a sophisticated serial digital interface 
known as Nature-SDIplus. In order to optimise the 
impact of the platform, MS.MONINA will continue 
to develop, refine and promote the service.

The project is coordinated by the Paris Lodron 
University of Salzburg in Austria.

MS.MONINA  started  by  matching  thematic 
and user requirements to available expertise; 
i.e. it recorded Europe’s mapping capabilities. 
This categorisation helps the MS.MONINA site 
to offer thematic services and products, such 
as maps and indicators of landscape config-
uration, vegetation, habitats and conservation 
efforts. To refine the developed tools further, 
MS.MONINA has a dedicated user-engagement 
programme.

1 

 ‘Multi-scale service for monitoring Natura 2000 habitats 
of European community interest’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme ‘Cooperation’ 
under the research theme ‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/rcn/11395_en.html
Project website: http://www.ms-monina.eu/

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013SPACE 
 
 
42

Advanced systems for spacecraft protection

Spacecraft  are  subject  to  extreme  temperatures  on  atmospheric  re-entry  due  to  friction 
with  air  molecules.  EU-funded  scientists  are  employing  novel  multifunctional  materials  for 
improved heat shielding in such extreme conditions.

Specially designed heat shields 
or ‘thermal-protection systems’ 
(TPSs) prevent spacecraft from 
burning up during re-entry, thus 
saving lives. Given the growing 
number of unmanned satellites 
in  space,  TPS  also  preserves 
expensive equipment and years 
of research. In addition, this has 
a positive impact on public opin-
ion  regarding  expenditure  on 
such programmes.

Scientists  are  breaking  ground 
with a novel reusable TPS based 

on multifunctional hybrid ceramic 
materials that provide excellent 
insulation and oxidation resist-
ance. EU funding of the project 
SMARTEES1 is enabling the devel-
opment of a multilayer concept 
incorporating ‘high-temperature 
ceramics’ (HTCs) and ‘ultrahigh-
temperature ceramics’ (UHTCs) 
with tailored properties.

The external layer will have oxi-
dative  resistance  at  re-entry, 
and the middle layer high ther-
mal  conductivity  to  distribute 

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heat homogeneously. The third 
and innermost layer is designed 
for thermal insulation. The mul-
tilayer  materials  are  joined 
either to conventional structural 
‘ceramic  matrix  composites’ 
(CMCs) or to novel porous sand-
wich structures. These are then 
attached to metallic frames.

Following definition of the TPS 
design,  the  project  proceeded 
with materials development and 
manufacturing for the multilayer 
ceramics,  foams  and  sandwich 
structures.  Methods  that  com-
ply with TPS specifications were 
selected  for  joining  the  three 
levels. Scientists have produced 
several  bonded  joints  using  a 
subset of bonding processes for 
characterisation.

Partners are developing models 
of the individual components as 
well  as  the  entire  TPS  using  a 
digital reconstruction from X-ray 
‘computed  tomography’  (CT). 
Preliminary thermal and thermo-
mechanical  simulations  have 
been performed using the model 
of  the  entire  TPS.  In  addition, 

the re-entry chamber for ground 
testing  has  been  updated  and 
the first foams have now under-
gone thermal testing.

The SMARTEES TPS will improve 
Europe’s  access  to  space  crit-
ical technologies with expected 
benefit  of  safe  return  of  the 
‘next-generation launcher’ (NGL) 
and  the  International  Space 
Station  (ISS).  Reusing  valuable 
space technology and instrumen-
tation is not only cost saving for 
the aerospace industry but also 
enhances public support of space 
investment.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
Tecnalia Research & Innovation 
in Spain.

1 

 ‘Multifunctional components for 
aggressive environments in space 
applications’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11393_en.html
Project website
http://www.smartees-project.eu/

Spotting species from space satellites

A European initiative has come to the aid of protected areas in no less than three continents. Employing satellite and in situ 
data,  the  BIO_SOS  project  is  developing  an  ecological  monitoring  system  to  measure  biodiversity  and  its  changes  within 
protected sites.

Just over 20 years ago, the EU 
drew  up  legislation  to  protect 
the  continent’s  most  seriously 
threatened  ecosystems.  The 
resulting Habitats Directive was 
translated into the basis of the 
Natura  2000  network  of  pro-
tected areas.

The  EU-funded  BIO_SOS1  pro-
ject is monitoring Natura sites in 
southern Europe, Brazil, India, the 
Netherlands and Wales to sup-
port  management  decisions  in 

sample areas. The project aims 
to develop an ecological model-
ling system to identify impacts 
that  human-induced  pressures 
may have on biodiversity.

An  ecological  modelling  sys-
tem requires real-time reliable 
data  input  from  ecosystems 
under surveillance for accuracy. 
The  information  sources  used 
are  satellite-based  measure-
ments  and  data  collected  on 
site. Output from this system will 

also provide reliable biodiversity 
indicators.

In the first year of the project, 
the ‘Earth Observation (EO) data 
for habitat monitoring’ (EODHAM) 
system  was  tested  and  taken 
through  its  paces  for  all  three 
system stages. These are provi-
sion of EO input images, output 
of  land  cover  (LC)  maps  from 
the  images  and,  lastly,  habitat 
and  habitat  change  maps.  The 
third  deliverable  also  provides 

biodiversity  indices  and  their 
t r e n d s   t h r o u g h   e c o l o g i c a l 
modelling.

BIO_SOS scientists expect to be 
able to supply geo-information 
with  a  particular  focus  on  bio-
diversity  indicators  regarding 
agricultural and urban expansion, 
including road construction. Also 
of  great  concern  to  the  integ-
rity  of  threatened  ecosystems 
are invasive species, and habitat 
connectivity and fragmentation.

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013SPACE 
 
43

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Project data will help to define 
buffer zones around designated 
sites to prevent habitat fragmen-
tation  in  the  surrounding  area. 
Buffer zones must exist to min-
imise  the  impacts  of  adjacent 
land use.

Indicators will facilitate dynamic 
monitoring  of  the  different 

planning processes. Moreover, if 
any  conservation  policies  have 
been  applied,  monitoring  can 
determine  if  these  have  been 
implemented.

BIO_SOS  project  will  be  multi-
resolutional and multi-scale for 
the production of landscape con-
servation  maps  from  a  highly 

diverse  range  of  ecosystems. 
Overall, the EODHAM system will 
enable its managers to appreci-
ate the complexity of pressures 
in multiple ecological and human 
environments.

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

1 

 ‘Biodiversity multi-source monitoring 
system: from space to species’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11394_en.html
Project website: http://www.biosos.wur.nl 

Softer and safer landings enabler for future spacecraft

Propulsion  systems  in  spacecraft  are  critical  for  take-off  and  landing.  EU-funded  scientists  are  developing  precisely 
controllable propulsion systems for soft and accurate landings on future targets such as Mars and Jupiter’s moons.

Spacecraft  are  launched  and 
maintain flight by burning fuel 
to  produce  a  forward  push 
in  response  to  the  release  of 
exhaust  gases  from  behind. 
Better control of the propulsion 
process is paramount to orbital 
insertion and soft landings on 
planetary bodies of interest.

S c i e n t i s t s   i n i t i a t e d   t h e 
EU-funded  project  SPARTAN 1 
to  enable  precise  control  of 
rocket  thrust.  Such  control 
will  facilitate  future  planned 
space  missions  to  the  Moon, 
Mars and even Jupiter’s moon 
Europa,  where  robotic  mis -
sions  and  eventually  manned 
ones must land under difficult 
conditions.

The  hybrid  propulsion  system 
under  study  consists  of  the 
engine,  fuel  and  fuel  housing 
as well as the oxidiser injection 
system adapted to enable pre-
cise throttle by controlling the 
combustion  process.  System 

testing  requires  development 
of a flying test bed for validat-
ing landing capabilities.

T o   d a t e ,   s c i e n t i s t s   h a v e 
designed  and  tested  a  meas-
urement  device  required  to 
determine the fuel regression 
rate  —  essentially  the  speed 
at  which  the  fuel  is  burned, 
integrally  related  to  the  spe-
cific  impulse  or  thrust.  The 
regression law differs for each 
oxidiser/fuel pair.

In  addition,  numerical  codes 
are  supporting  the  optimisa-
t i o n   o f   e n g i n e   a n d   e n g i n e 
i n j e c t i o n   d e s i g n .   A   p r e l i m -
inary landing test was carried 
out  to  optimise  the  test  plan 
for  validating  the  throttle-
able engine. Further, a detailed 
d e s i g n   o f   t h e   f l ow   c o n t r o l 
valve  to  regulate  propellant 
flow is now being converted to 
a  breadboard  model  for  test-
i n g .   Fi n a l l y,   s c i e n t i s t s 

h a v e   d e f i n e d   d e t a i l e d  >

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research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013SPACE 
 
 
 
44

requirements  for  the  specific 
mission profile. Selected ‘guid-
ance,  navigation  and  control’ 
(GNC)  components  were  sub-
jected to preliminary tests.

SPARTAN  expects  to  deliver 
space-propulsion  technology 
capable  of  enabling  soft  and 
precise landing and to provide 

for  the  demonstration  of  a 
European soft landing by per-
forming  a  drop  test  using  an 
autonomously  guided  Lander 
module. Results should stimu-
late future research leading to 
improved capability for access 
to planetary surfaces and give 
Europe  a  competitive  edge  in 
the space race.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
Thales Alenia Space in Italy.

1 

 ‘Space exploration research for 
throatable advanced engine’.

Funded under the FP7 specific 
programme ‘Cooperation’ under the 
research theme ‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/10492_en.html
Project website:
http://www.spartanproject.eu/

Satellite surveillance for illegal logging

It is estimated that every year the world loses an area of forested land the size of Portugal, often through illegal logging. An 
EU-funded satellite observation project aims to develop a space-based, early-warning system for hot-spot monitoring.

Deforestation causes environ-
mental,  societal  and  climatic 
problems.  Although  interna-
tional  recognition  has  led  to 
sustained  efforts  to  address 
and  reverse  the  practice  and 
its effects, deforestation con-
tinues on a global scale, often 
illegally.

The  EU-funded  REDD-FLAME 1 
project aims to design, proto-
type  and  demonstrate  a  sys-
t e m   c a p a b l e   o f   m o n i t o r i n g 
tropical  and  sub-tropical  for-
ests.  It  is  using  high-resolu-
tion radar and optical imagery 

acquired by Earth Observation 
satellites.  Early  detection  of 
logging activities through ‘syn-
thetic  aperture  radar’  (SAR) 
and  optical  remote-sensing 
data will provide the means to 
quickly identify the first signs 
of  deforestation  from  space. 
This  information  will  then  be 
disseminated  rapidly  to  the 
appropriate authorities.

cross-section  of  tropical  and 
s u b - t r o p i c a l   e n v i r o n m e n t s 
while tailoring it to each part-
ner nation’s specific monitoring 
requirements. Project partners 
will  develop  a  tool  to  control 
resource  use  and  sustainable 
development  and  build  cap-
acity  in  the  host  countries  to 
manage  forest  resources  and 
carbon balances.

R E D D - F L A M E   i s   c u r r e n t l y 
working  with  partner  organ-
isations  in  Brazil,  Indonesia 
a n d   M o z a m b i q u e .   I t   h a s 
been  testing  its  system  on  a 

Currently,  technical  develop-
ment is focusing on new meth-
odological  insights  and  the 
latest  sources  of  high-reso-
lution imagery, as well as the 

research  and  development  of 
new algorithms. The objective 
is  to  detect  changes  in  for-
est state and to generate new 
products.

P r o j e c t   m e m b e r s   i n t e n d   t o 
present  the  results  and  expe-
r i e n c e s   f r o m   e a c h   o f   t h e 
countries  involved  at  work-
shops.  At  the  end  of  the  pro-
ject,  these  will  be  organised 
in  each  country  to  showcase 
the  system  and  make  recom-
mendations for its operational 
implementation.

The  aim  of  these  workshops 
is  to  inform  policy-makers, 
provide  input  to  monitoring 
programmes,  facilitate  law-
enforcement efforts or provide 
local  communities  with  evi-
dence to protect against illegal 
encroachment on forests.

The project was coordinated by 
Remote  Sensing  Applications 
Consultants  Ltd  in  the  United 
Kingdom.

1 

 ‘REDD fast logging assessment & 
monitoring environment’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11360_en.html
Project website:  
http://redd-flame.info/ 

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45

A new data-driven cryosphere monitoring tool

Accurate and up-to-date knowledge of the snow and ice conditions in Europe is important for environmental and socio-economic 
activities. An EU-funded project aims to provide a real-time ice-and-snow monitoring service to ecologists, meteorologists and 
industry players.

The area of the Earth covered 
by snow and land ice, ‘the cry-
osphere’,  varies  considerably 
over  time,  depending  on  the 
season  and  local  conditions. 
These are important considera-
tions  in  weather  forecasting, 
commercial and private water 
use, and natural hazard predic-
tion. Satellite monitoring is the 
only  effective  way  to  ensure 
that accurate and timely data 
reach those who need it.

The  CRYOLAND 1  project  was 
established  to  provide  a  ser-
vice to monitor snow and land 
ice.  The  idea  is  to  use  data 

from  the  Global  Monitoring 
for  Environment  and  Security 
(GMES)  system,  now  called 
‘Copernicus’,  to  create  an  im-
portant set of services relating 
to snow and ice monitoring for 
a wide user community.

To  achieve  this,  CRYOLAND 
first  assessed  the  needs  of 
potential  users.  The  results 
of  these  surveys  are  shaping 
the  development  of  the  sys-
tem’s  software  and  interface, 
and  a  prototype  is  already 
being  tested.  The  system  has 
produced  various  maps  and 
other indices, and these will be 

evaluated  to  establish  guide-
lines  for  the  future  operation 
of  CRYOLAND.  Much  of  the 
work  involves  assessing  and 
improving  the  system  to  pro-
vide  standardised  and  high-
quality  data  to  a  wide  range 
of users. The project will also 
provide  technical  training  for 
its potential users.

C R Y O L A N D   i s   t h u s   a n   i m -
portant part of the EU strategy 
for climate and environmental 
management. Once the system 
is  operational,  it  will  provide 
valuable  information  for  use 
in  water  resources,  including 

hydropower,  natural  hazards 
such as avalanches and flood-
ing,  agricultural  management 
and tourism.

The  project  is  coordinated  by 
ENVEO in Austria.

1 

 ‘GMES service snow and land ice’.

Funded under the FP7 specific programme 
‘Cooperation’ under the research theme 
‘Space’. 
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/
rcn/11418_en.html
Project website:  
http://www.cryoland.eu/

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46

International workshop on the socio-economics of ageing 

The third ‘International workshop on the socio-economics of ageing’ will be held on 25 October 2013 in Lisbon, Portugal.  

Ageing societies are a central issue in the social sciences, and the analysis of the challenges and opportunities that are offered to policy-makers is 
crucial to guarantee an adequate level of welfare in the future. This workshop will consider both the economic dimension and the social dynamics 
of ageing societies. It will discuss topics such as economic growth, life-cycle consumption, labour-market behaviour, well-being or happiness, social 
exclusion, care arrangements, intergenerational transfers and research. 

For further information, please visit:  
http://pascal.iseg.utl.pt/~socius/IWSEA2013/?Call_for_Papers

Regenerative medicine: from biology to therapy 

An event entitled ‘Regenerative medicine: from biology to therapy’ will be held from 30 October to 1 November 2013 in Cambridge,  
United Kingdom. 

Few topics in contemporary medicine have attracted more attention than stem cells and their potential for enabling the discovery of new regen-
erative therapies. The conference will look at the biology that underpins the success or failure of regeneration, and will clarify the relationship 
between stem-cell biology and regenerative biology so that both can be fully exploited to treat disease. 

For further information, please visit:  
http://registration.hinxton.wellcome.ac.uk/display_info.asp?id=369 

Green electronics 2013

A  workshop  entitled  ‘Green  electronics  2013’  on  resource  efficiency  in  the  electric  and  electronics  industry  will  be  held  from  
4 to 6 November 2013 in Budapest, Hungary. 

This workshop builds on the ZEROWIN1 project, an initiative which organises an exchange of by-products, energy, water, materials and waste 
between 30 industrial partners from 11 countries, with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30 %, raising recycling levels to 
70 % and reducing fresh-water consumption by 75 %. 

Participants will be informed about the current state of the art and future trends in resource efficiency, as well as learn about ecological legislation 
directly from the European Commission. Leading companies will present their visions on resource efficiency in the 21st century. 

1 ‘Towards zero waste in industrial networks’.

For further information, please visit:  
http://www.care-electronics.net/greenelectronics/ 

OPENCHINAICT final conference on strengthening cooperation in ICT research between
‘Europe and China’

The  ‘OPENCHINAICT  final  conference  on  strengthening  cooperation  in  ICT  research  between  Europe  and  China’  will  be  held  on  
5 November 2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania. 

The EU-funded OPENCHINAICT1 project aims to facilitate cooperation in ICT-related research between Europe and China. Marking the project's final 
exhibition, the conference will focus on EU-China ICT cooperation opportunities and build upon the results of the OPENCHINAICT project. Sessions 
include the current status of EU-China collaboration, perspectives for cooperation on ICT research under Horizon 2020, and project cooperation 
priorities. 

1 ‘Opening European-Chinese cooperation on ICT research’.

For further information, please visit:  
http://openchina-ict.eu/project-events/final-conference/ 

research*eu results magazine — N° 26 — October 2013EVENTS47

EVENTS

International conference of agricultural engineering

The 71st ‘International conference of agricultural engineering’ will be held from 8 to 9 November 2013 in Hannover, Germany. 

One of the main challenges facing agriculture is the need to double world food production by 2050. European policy-makers have recently made 
reform proposals with an emphasis on sustainable farming practices, innovation, research and the spread of knowledge — as well as a fairer sup-
port system for European farmers to help them meet the challenges of tomorrow. 

Within this context, the conference will focus on ‘Components and systems for better solutions’, and the importance of suppliers in machine devel-
opment and manufacturing processes. The aim is to increase productivity and efficiency in a sustainable manner. 

For further information, please visit:  
http://www.vdi.de/landtechnik-ageng

e-nova 2013

A conference entitled ‘e-nova 2013’ will be held from 14 to 15 November 2013 in Pinkafeld, Austria. 

The revised version of the European Union's Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD 2010/31/EU) has paved the way for sustainable con-
structions in an effort to develop ‘greener’ architecture. Clear goals were set, which are to be met by 2020. On the other hand, these requirements 
have yet to be implemented in conformity with the optimised life-cycle costs and ecological sustainability. It is essential to consider buildings in 
this challenging environment as part of a single system. Buildings must be well balanced in their social, economic and ecologic aspects and inte-
grated in the technical, social and economic environment. 

The conference will focus on green technologies, fuel efficiency, safety and comfort and recent design concepts. 

For further information, please visit:  
http://www.fh-burgenland.at/forschung/e-nova-2013-english//

ICT for language learning

The sixth edition of the ‘ICT for language learning’ conference will be held from 14 to 15 November 2013 in Florence, Italy. 

As technological advances grow ever-more sophisticated and their complexity increases, researchers are developing modernised ICT applications 
to assist in language-learning and -teaching techniques. 

This conference aims to share good practice and intensify transnational cooperation in the application of technology to language learning and 
training. It will also provide an opportunity for the presentation of previous and current language-learning projects funded by the European 
Commission and other organisations. Topics of discussion include ICT-based language-teaching approaches, second-language acquisition, lan-
guage learning to support international mobility and e-learning solutions. 

For further information, please visit:  
http://conference.pixel-online.net/ICT4LL2013/index.php

MedTech and diagnostics innovations summit

The ‘MedTech and diagnostics innovations summit’ will be held on 21 November 2013 in Düsseldorf, Germany. 

The medical-device industry is one of the most innovative sectors in health care. Many Europeans are now able to live healthier and more inde-
pendent lives as a result of medical technology. 

This summit will bring together companies focused on mergers and acquisitions, alliances and innovation in the medical-technology industry. In 
parallel with sessions on investment and collaborative opportunities, other areas of discussion include regulation and reimbursement in addition to 
devices and diagnostics. 

For further information, please visit:  
http://www.sachsforum.com/mdif13/index.html 

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