The SupraLife’s consortium is delighted to announce that we will be organizing a focus session/symposium at the 49th IUPAC World Chemistry Congress and 11th edition of CHAINS (IUPAC|CHAINS 2023), the largest chemistry conference covering all topics across the chemical sciences, to be held in The Hague, The Netherlands, from 20-25 August 2023.

The symposium entitled “Bringing Supramolecular Materials to Life”, to be chaired by Dr. João Borges (University of Aveiro, Portugal), Dr. Roxanne Kieltyka (University of Leiden, The Netherlands) and Dr. Matthew Baker (University of Maastricht, The Netherlands), will be held on Tuesday, August 22 from 15:10-16:40 CEST and will bring together three fantastic keynote speakers in the supramolecular biomaterials’ chemistry field – Prof. Tanja Weil (Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Germany), Prof. Matthew Webber (University of Notre Dame, USA) and Prof. Patricia Dankers (Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands). They will elucidate the design features, synthesis and structural-property-function relationships of dynamic polymeric biomaterials to be used in the biomedical arena, including in drug/therapeutics delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Their potential to be translated into the clinics by pursuing advanced therapies to improve human health will also be covered.

If you are attending the IUPAC|CHAINS 2023, do not miss this unique opportunity to join, engage, and network with us!

The SupraLife’s consortium is delighted to announce that we will be organizing a symposium at the 33rd Annual Conference of the European Society of Biomaterials (ESB 2023), one of the premier biomaterials’ conferences in Europe, to be held in Davos, Switzerland, from 4-8 September 2023. The specific date for the symposium is not yet know but we will let you all know soon. Please keep an eye here, as well as on our social media channels.

The symposium entitled “Life-like molecular systems via dynamic self-assembling biomaterials”, to be chaired by Prof. João F. Mano and Dr. João Borges, both affiliated to the University of Aveiro, Portugal, will have Prof. Mark Tibbitt (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) as keynote speaker and will include four oral communications selected from contributed abstracts. Mark will talk about the engineering of dynamic supramolecular hydrogels for the encapsulation and release of complex biomolecules or for the design of extrudable materials for 3D printing, while also understanding the structural-function-dynamics relationships in this class of dynamic biomaterials. He will also discuss how these biomaterials can be applied for the thermal stabilization of biologics, including protein-based and viral vaccines.

If you are attending the ESB 2023, do not miss this unique opportunity to join, engage, and network with us!

The SupraLife Scientific Retreat 2023 “Bonding across Borders” will be held in the picturesque Douro region, a special landscape for a unique gathering of scientific minds in fostering scientific exchanges and collaborative efforts in an informal and relaxed atmosphere. This retreat will be a unique opportunity for our consortium to strengthen bonds, socialise and build networks, foster cross-disciplinary scientific interactions and deep synergies, boost students/young researchers’ creativity, as well as engage in fruitful scientific discussions in nurturing new paradigm shifts on supramolecular biomaterials for healthcare. In addition, the retreat will provide plenty of opportunities for exploring new and innovative research directions on supramolecular biomaterials leading us into the future. Inspired by the serenity and beautiful Douro region, participants will dive themselves into the project’s progression, developments, and innovations, and chart the course for the project’s future in meeting its goals.

The SupraLife’s consortium is delighted to announce that we will be organizing a symposium at the 12th World Biomaterials Congress (WBC 2024), the largest biomaterials’ conference in the world, to be held in Daegu, South Korea, from 26-31 May 2024.

The symposium entitled “Self-assembling polymeric biomaterials for healthcare”, to be chaired by Prof. João F. Mano (University of Aveiro, Portugal) and Dr. Zaida Álvarez (Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, Spain) will have Dr. João Borges (University of Aveiro, Portugal) as keynote speaker, Prof. Catherine Picart (University of Grenoble, France) and Prof. Martina Stenzel (University of New South Wales, Australia) as invited speakers, and will also include oral communications selected from contributed abstracts.

In this symposium, we will showcase several examples on molecularly designed self-assembled biomaterials, denoting emergent properties and multifunctionalities, for applications in biomedicine, biotechnology, and healthcare. We will highlight recent advances in the self-assembly of biomimetic polysaccharide-, peptide- and protein-based nanostructured multilayered films, dynamic supramolecular hydrogels, and self-assembled glycopolymer nanoparticles for 3D cell culture, drug delivery, tissue engineering or regenerative medicine. Insights into the molecular design, synthesis, and characterization tools for elucidating the cell-biomaterial and drug-polymer interactions, morphology, structure-property-function relationships, and biological properties of a library of supramolecular biomaterial architectures will be presented.

Do not miss this opportunity to submit an abstract, network and engage with us at the WBC 2024!

On December 13th at 2 pm (Amphitheatre 23.1.7), we will organize an informative session aiming to present SupraLife - a recently Horizon Europe EU funded Twinning project (Coordination and Support Action) that will start in January 2023.

SupraLife is a project coordinated by the COMPASS Research Group at the Department of Chemistry (DQ)/CICECO at the University of Aveiro (UAVR, Portugal) and brings together the Eindhoven University of Technology (The Netherlands), the University of Bordeaux (France) and its affiliated entities (Bordeaux INP and CNRS) as partner organizations.

This project aims to strengthen the scientific excellence, innovation capacity and research management skills of DQ/CICECO’s students, researchers and staff at UAVR in the supramolecular biomaterials' chemistry field aiming to rationally design and develop advanced supramolecular multicomponent biomaterials for healthcare.

In the framework of this project, we will be organizing a series of scientific events, training activities and networking actions aiming to raise the profile of students, researchers and staff in this research field by fostering the exchange of complementary knowledge and expertise. 

Besides the scientific component, we will be organizing a series of soft skills training workshops that aim to advance the professional development and widen the career perspectives of students and researchers, irrespectively on their background and research domain.

We will also present and discuss general aspects of the Twinning call that could be useful for future applications.

Event images:

The SUPRALIFE First School will be the very first event organized by the COMPASS Research Group at the University of Aveiro (UAVR; Coordinator) and will be held in the pleasant and beautiful city of Aveiro, Portugal, from 19-24 March 2023.

It will be split in two parts:

a scientific program from 19-21 March which aims at teaching fundamental-to-advanced concepts to students and researchers on functional supramolecular polymeric biomaterials for biomedicine.

a soft skills training from 22-24 March which aims to advance the professional development and widen the career perspectives of students and researchers to outperform in their professional duties and career paths. The training sessions will include the following topics: science communication, grant writing, scientific writing and publishing, and career development.

Do not miss this unique opportunity for interacting closely with the invited speakers and networking with peers in an informal and relaxed environment.

We look forward to meeting you in Aveiro!

On January 13th, we kicked off the SupraLife Horizon Europe EU funded Twinning project with an online meeting.

During the meeting, which counted on the presence and participation of all consortium partners and Project Officer (PO) from the European Commission, each partner presented its institution and research group work, and the University of Aveiro’s team presented the project, its motivation, goals, Consortium Agreement and budget, work packages’ structure, objectives, tasks, and their deliverables and milestones. Moreover, all partners engaged in an open discussion about the networking, training, and research activities in the framework of the project, with a particular focus on the first-year events and activities. The meeting also counted on a presentation by the PO which covered the Horizon Europe widening participation and strengthening the European research area funding programmes, project lifecycle, role distribution among the partners, deliverables and reporting, financial aspects and amendments, open access and data management plan, and communication and dissemination strategy.

The meeting was a fantastic opportunity to meet and exchange with all consortium partners on the project goals and activities in working together towards accelerating the pace on the development of supramolecular multifunctional biomaterials for healthcare.

Participants: João F. Mano, João Borges, Ana Lourenço and Luísa Sal from the University of Aveiro (UAVR, Portugal), E.W. “Bert” Meijer from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e, The Netherlands), and Sébastien Lecommandoux from the University of Bordeaux/Polytechnic Institute of Bordeaux/French National Centre for Scientific Research (UBx/Bordeaux INP/CNRS, France).

On March 23rd, we organized the first in-person progress meeting of the research support office and management teams of the SupraLife’s EU project.

The meeting counted on the presence and active participation of all consortium beneficiaries (University of Aveiro – UAVR, Eindhoven University of Technology – TU/e, and University of Bordeaux/Polytechnic Institute of Bordeaux/French National Centre for Scientific Research – UBx/IPB/CNRS) that got to know each other prior to engaging on the activities aiming to strengthen the research management and administrative skills of the staff at the UAVR.

Luísa Sal, Coordinator of the UAVR’s Research and Support Office (GAI) welcome all participants and presented a brief description of the work package and its tasks, deliverables and milestones, highlighting the need to strength the research management and administration skills, know-how, organizational procedures, and resources of UAVR’s GAI. Dr. João Borges introduced the timeline of the training activities and networking events in the framework of the SupraLife EU project. Then, an open discussion and exchange of ideas about the upcoming meetings and training and networking activities took place aiming for the successful implementation of the project.

Participants: João Borges, Luísa Sal and Ana M. Lourenço (UAVR, Portugal); Gabriela Dima (TU/e, The Netherlands); Amélie Delmon and Floriane Worm (UBx, France).

The First School of the SupraLife Project entitled “Functional Supramolecular Polymeric Biomaterials“ took place at the Auditorium Renato Araújo, within the Central and Rectorate Building at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, from 19-24 March 2023.

This event included a very strong scientific program which counted on the active participation of world-renowned scientists from 8 different European countries which met in Aveiro and delivered plenary lectures covering the topics of functional supramolecular polymers, bioinspired polymers, biomimetic strategies, molecular modelling and molecular dynamics simulations, bioinstructive platforms/matrices, dynamic self-assembled biomaterials, supramolecular hydrogels, adaptive life-like molecular systems, and their use in drug/therapeutics delivery, diagnostics, tissue engineering or regenerative medicine. The scientific program also included 3 poster sessions mostly devoted to students and early-career researchers which allowed them to present and discuss their work with peers, as well as interact closely and exchange ideas with the plenary speakers in an informal environment.

It was a privilege to host, learn from and engage with such distinguished scientists at the frontiers of supramolecular and biomaterials chemistry, who inspired the young scientists and researchers to pursue frontier research in the supramolecular biomaterials’ chemistry field.

Moreover, the First School also hosted a soft transferable skills training program, which aimed to advance the professional development and widen the career perspectives of students and early-career researchers, irrespectively on their academic background and research domain. The training program consisted of 4 distinct workshops on the topics of grant writing, career development, science communication, and scientific writing and publishing and 12 invited speakers, experts and highly skilled professionals on the topics, who provided the students and researchers with the skills to thrive in their professional duties and career paths.

This was the very first event of the SUPRALIFE EU funded Twinning project, which started on January 1st, 2023 and is coordinated by the University of Aveiro (UAVR, Portugal) with the Eindhoven University of Technology (The Netherlands), and the University of Bordeaux, Polytechnic Institute of Bordeaux (Bordeaux INP, France) and French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS, France) as partners.

On March 21st, we organized the first in-person scientific progress meeting of the SupraLife’s consortium.

The meeting counted on the active participation of several participants affiliated to all consortium beneficiaries (University of Aveiro – UAVR, Portugal; Eindhoven University of Technology – TU/e, the Netherlands; University of Bordeaux/Polytechnic Institute of Bordeaux/French National Centre for Scientific Research – UBx/IPB/CNRS, France) that briefly introduced to one another prior to exchanging on the training and networking activities and events planned for 2023 and 2024. Dr. João Borges (UAVR, Portugal) introduced the timeline of the training and networking activities and all participants exchanged on the content, dates and location of the upcoming events, as well as on the speakers to be invited for the second school (2024). The participants also had a fruitful discussion on the different tasks, deliverables and milestones, role of each beneficiary, and research projects to be pursued in the framework of the exploratory research project. Furthermore, the beneficiaries exchanged and unanimously agreed on the scientists to be invited to be a part of the External Scientific Advisory Board.

Participants: João F. Mano, João Borges, Ana M. Lourenço and Vera Sousa (UAVR, Portugal); E.W. “Bert” Meijer, Patricia Dankers and Ghislaine Vantomme (TU/e, The Netherlands); Sébastien Lecommandoux, Elisabeth Garanger and Angela Mutschler (UBx/IPB/CNRS, France).

The SupraLife’s consortium will be organizing two symposia and sharing our work at IUPAC|CHAINS 2023 (20-25 August 2023, The Hague, The Netherlands) and ESB 2023 (4-8 September 2023, Davos, Switzerland), two of the most prestigious conferences in the chemistry and biomaterials’ fields, respectively.

Get to know about the topics of our symposia and invited speakers under “Activities – Training Calendar”.

We look forward to meeting you, exchanging ideas and networking at these conferences!

The SUPRALIFE Second School will be organized by the COMPASS Research Group at the University of Aveiro (UAVR; Coordinator) and will be held in the pleasant and beautiful city of Aveiro, Portugal, from 10-15 March 2024.

It will be split in two parts:

- A scientific program from 10-12 March  which aims at teaching fundamental-to-advanced concepts to students and researchers with backgrounds in chemistry, biochemistry, (bio)materials science, biomedical engineering, bioengineering, biotechnology and biology on the molecular design, synthesis, development and advanced characterization of bioinspired supramolecular self-assemblies for biomedical applications and healthcare.

The program will consist of plenary lectures (see images below) and will also include oral and poster presentations selected from contributed abstracts submitted by participants.

- A soft transferable skills' training program from 13-15 March which aims to advance the professional development and widen the career perspectives of students and researchers, irrespectively of their background and area of specialization, to outperform in their professional duties and career paths. The topics of the training sessions will be announced soon.

Do not miss this unique opportunity for interacting closely with the invited speakers and networking with peers in an informal and relaxed environment.

We look forward to meeting you in Aveiro!

The SupraLife scientific retreat 2023 “Bonding across Borders” will be held in the picturesque Douro region, a special landscape for a unique gathering of scientific minds in fostering scientific exchanges and collaborative efforts in an informal and relaxed atmosphere. This retreat will be a unique opportunity for our consortium to strengthen bonds, socialise and build networks, foster cross-disciplinary scientific interactions and deep synergies, boost students/young researchers’ creativity, as well as engage in fruitful scientific discussions in nurturing new paradigm shifts on supramolecular biomaterials for healthcare. In addition, the retreat will provide plenty of opportunities for exploring new and innovative research directions on supramolecular biomaterials leading us into the future. Inspired by the serenity and beautiful Douro region, participants will dive themselves into the project’s progression, developments, and innovations, and chart the course for the project’s future in meeting its goals.

The first Scientific Retreat of the SupraLife project took place on the banks of the Douro region between 29th September and 2nd October, 2023. Entitled “Bonding across Borders”, the retreat reunited students and researchers from the COMPASS Research Group at the University of Aveiro (UA), as well as from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e, the Netherlands), the University of Bordeaux (UBx, France) and its affiliated entities Polytechnic Institute of Bordeaux (Bordeaux INP) and French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

The retreat encompassed individual scientific talks, by each consortium partner, and a poster session, gathering students and researchers with different backgrounds and expertise and affiliated with different institutions at each poster, aiming to stimulate scientific exchanges, creativity, and “thinking outside-the-box”, aligned with the project goals.

The retreat was a unique opportunity for the consortium to strengthen bonds, network, share experiences, foster cross-disciplinary scientific interactions, and deep synergies, as well as engage in stimulating scientific discussions in nurturing innovative collaborative research projects and new paradigm shifts on advanced supramolecular biomaterials for healthcare in an informal and relaxed atmosphere. It was also an opportunity for our partners from TU/e, UBx, Bordeaux INP, and CNRS to learn about the Portuguese culture and traditional costumes while being bioinspired by the stunning Douro scenario.

Please submit your abstract for oral and poster communication until DECEMBER 15th, 2023 at 23:59 UTC.

Abstracts received after this deadline will not be considered. Notification of abstract acceptance or rejection and presentation format will be communicated by e-mail to the presenting authors until DECEMBER 31st, 2023.

Click in "MORE INFO" below, to submit your abstract!

In this article, Pinto et al. highlight that cell surface engineering can be explored for generating multicellular living assemblies with user-defined designs and biological programmability. This review provides a comprehensive overview of currently available toolboxes, as well as presents a critical discussion on the most recent advances and exploitable paths to open potential applications of surface functionalized cells in biotechnology and healthcare.

In this article, Gomes et al. disclose protein-based microparticles with defined surface topography created by forming new intra- and inter-protein disulfide bonds. These bioactive microstructures promote the formation of cell-guided microaggregates and have applications in bottom-up approaches.

In this article, Sousa et al. report that the preparation of free-standing (FS) membranes encompassing N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-3-trimethylammonium chitosan choride (HTCC) and alginate (ALG) multilayers, which trigger a sustained release of FITC-BSA when incorporated as an intrinsic building block of the FS membranes.

In this article, Sousa et al. emphasize dynamic HA-functionalized G-quadruplex based supramolecular hydrogels as sacrificial biomaterials to bioengineer perfusable 3D constructs for enabling the diffusion of oxygen and nutrients essential for cell survival.

In this article, Lopes et al. highlight that the supramolecular presentation of bioinstructive peptides on multilayered nanofilms enable the formation of self-assembled nanofibers with high laminin derived IKVAV epitope density, enhacing neuronal cell adhesion, viability, morphology and neurite outgrowth.

In this article, Ouro et al. describe a straightforward method to develop a neutrally charged, biomimetic, injectable, and cytocompatible dual-crosslinked hydrogel based on a double functionalized chitosan with methacryloyl and tricine motifs (CHTMA-Tricine), fully processed at physiological pH, and with three-dimensional printing potential.