Welcome!
Welcome to the first newsletter of NanoMedTwin, a Horizon 2020 project focused on promoting smart specialization at the Technical University of Moldova by developing the field of Novel Nanomaterials for BioMedical Applications through excellence in research and twinning!
The project aims to promote the Smart Specialization Strategy in Moldova through developing the field of nanomaterials for biomedical applications by enhancing the scientific excellence of the National Center for Materials Study and Testing (NCMST) of the Technical University of Moldova via a collaborative strategic partnership program with European leading centres: Hannover Medical School, Germany; University of Bristol, UK; Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden and the Joint Research Center of the European Commission.
Project activities include:
- Promoting links between the Nano and BioMedicine fields;
- Training a new generation of highly-skilled researchers capable of developing these fields and creating a leading national infrastructure at NCMST;
- Developing a strategic research program focusing on nanomaterials for biomedical applications at NCMST including aspects related to technology transfer;
- Extending collaborative networking and creation of capacities for broader participation of NCMST in Horizon 2020 and FP9 Programs.
This newsletter is an overview of the projects’ activities and achievements during its first year, also highlighting some of the pertinent publications of the project consortium.
Best regards,
Prof. Ion Tiginyanu
NanoMedTwin project manager
NEWS and EVENTS
International Conference on Nanotechnologies and Biomedical Engineering (ICNBME-2019)
18-21 September 2019
Republic of Moldova has hosted in September the IVth edition of the International Conference on Nanotechnologies and Biomedical Engineering (ICNBME-2019). The event was organised by the Technical University of Moldova, Academy of Sciences of Moldova, State Medical and Pharmaceutical University „Nicoale Testemițanu” and Bioemedical Engineering Society from Moldova. The event aims to encourage the exchange of knowledge and expertise at the intersection of nanotechnologies and biomedical engineering, as well as new opportunities for the use of nanotechnologies and nanomaterials in medicine.
The conference was preceded by the Autumn School in Nanotechnologies and Biomedical Engineering, both events financially supported by the H2020 NanoMedTwin project.
The conference gathered about 200 participants, among them 70 prominent scientists from 20 countries, like Germany, France, the USA, Japan, Greece, Romania, Russian Federation, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine etc. ICNBME is the only conference organised in the Republic of Moldova, with proceedings indexed by Scopus, thus ensuring global visibility of the research achievements.
The conference has been widely promoted and covered in national mass-media.
The first Autumn School on Nanotechnology and biomedical engineering
14-17 September, 2019
The first Autumn School on Nanotechnology and biomedical engineering was organized by the NanoMedTwin project on September 14-17, 2019. The event brought together about 30 young researchers and students, selected through competition from the State Medical and Pharmaceutical University "N.Testemitanu", Technical University of Moldova, representatives of the business sector and several universities from abroad.
The program of the Autumn School included lectures delivered by professors and researchers from partner organizations, such as: Hannover Medical School (Germany), University of Bristol (UK), Technical University of Moldova, State Medical and Pharmaceutical University "N. Testemitanu", Academy of Sciences of Moldova and also by 2 professors from the Schizuoka University in Japan. The first lecture of the event – Introduction in Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine was delivered by acad. prof. Ion Tighineanu, NanoMedTwin project manager.
The multidisciplinary Autumn School at the intersection of several fields aimed to bring up-to-date information and research achievements to young researchers having relevant qualifications in medicine, bioengineering and nanotechnologies.
Two rounds of H2020 training for the research community
11-13 April, 2019
23-25 September, 2019
The three-day workshop has gathered over 30 researchers from the Technical University of Moldova. The training is delivered by EFPC, who are experts in Framework Program rules and regulations and have conducted numerous workshops in FP topics in all European countries and also in other countries outside Europe.
The event aims to equip Moldovan researchers with a more efficient and practical understanding of FP rules and regulations and to increase success in submitting H2020 (and future FP9) proposals. It will focus on such aspects as the proposal writing, evaluation process, proposal review, budgeting, best practices.
The second round of H2020 trainings was organised on September 23-25, 2019 aimed to enable the national stakeholders from the Republic of Moldova to write successful project proposals for the EU Horizon 2020 program, equipping them with practical knowledge related to various aspects, such as opportunities, procedures and regulation of the EU Horizon 2020 program, the financial aspects, projects preparation and evaluation.
Focused on a range of practical exercises and encouraging participants feedback, the event gathered about 30 participants, including representatives of the Technical University of Moldova, Institute of Chemistry, the Police Academy "Stefan cel Mare".
Advanced Training Course on Nanotechnologies and Biomedical Engineering
October 2019 - April 2020
The Advanced Training Course on Nanotechnologies and Biomedical Engineering, organised in the framework of the NanoMedTwin project, welcomed its students for the first lecture. It was presented by NanoMedTwin project manager, prof. Ion Tighineanu and focused on introduction to nanotechnology, nanoelectronics and nanomedicine.
The lecture brought together about 30 young researchers, graduate and Master students, selected through competition from the State Medical and Pharmaceutical University "N.Testemitanu", Technical University of Moldova and several representatives of the business sector. The lecture delivered by prof. Tighineanu sparked interesting discussions and was followed by a visit to the National Center for Materials Study and Testing (NCMST) at the Technical University of Moldova, where the students had the opportunity to get acquainted with the most notable research achievements of the NCMST team.
The multidisciplinary Advanced Training of 188 hours, at the intersection of several fields, aims to bring up-to-date information and research achievements to young researchers having relevant qualifications in medicine, bioengineering and nanotechnologies. It includes 6 modules:
- Introduction to nanotechnology, nanomaterials, and nanomedicine
- Micro- and Nano- electromechanical systems, microfluidic lab-on-a-chip and their integration in product design
- Anatomy and physiology
- Biomaterials biocompatibility
- Nanotechnologies and nanomaterials at the nano-biointerface
- Bioinstrumentation
As part of the module Biomaterials, Biocompatibility and Bioengineering delivered by prof. Viorel Nacu, the students attended interactive lecture at the Laboratory of Tissue Engineering and Cell Cultures from the State Medical and Pharmaceutical University of Moldova.
STUDENTS and EXPERTS VISITS
From October 2019 till February 2020, PhD student Andrei Tiron had an internship at the Bristol University. As a visiting student he was involved in the Bristol Center for Functional Nanomaterials (BCFN) Thematic Exploratory Training Assignment (THETA) project.
As part of the THETA training, Andrei received Safety Training and Risk Assesment, followed by training on different instruments (Raman Scattering, PL, SEM, EDX, CL, DTL, D2TL, sputtering, e-beam evaporator, Ellipsometer). Another component of the project focused on courses in academic writing, project management and industrial training, as well as lectures on Computational Nanoscience, Nanoscience, Bionanomaterials, Solid-state Nanoscale Surfaces and Materials, Nanotoxicology and Nano-Optics.
At the University of Bristol Andrei was supervised by dr. Andrei Sarua, senior lecturer at School of Physics and NanoMedTwin project leader from University of Bristol and dr. Annela Seddon, director of the BCFN.
During the last week of October 2019, dr. Tudor Braniste from the National Center for Material Study and Testing visited the University of Bristol in UK, where he met dr. Andrei Sarua, NanoMedTwin project leader from University of Bristol.
At Bristol University, with support of PhD student Andrei Tiron and Dr. Sarua, he investigated the photoluminescence properties of Aero-ZnS, a new ultraporous nanomaterial. Visiting the Bristol Center for Functional Nanomaterials, dr. Braniste learned about the self-assembly of biological materials and their investigation using X-ray and neutron scattering form Dr. Annela Seddon, who is a leading researcher in the field and the director of the BCFN.
Following the discussions with Dr. Duncan Casey, Industrial Fellow at BCFN, dr. Braniste was familiarised with best practices on technology transfer training available at University of Bristol.
Royal Institute of Technology
Expert staff visits have been performed at the Photonics Group at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden by dr. hab. Veaceslav Ursachi and dr. Tudor Braniste, researchers from NCMST at TUM, during 16-19 December 2019, according to the NanoMedTwin H2020 project work plan. During these visits the researchers from NCMST were familiarized with the available research equipment, research methods applied in the field of material science, nanotechnology and nanobiosensors and the recently obtained results at the Photonics Group at KTH.
Dr. hab. Ursachi and dr. Braniste presented information about the scientific research carried out at the NCMST at TUM. Dr. hab. Veaceslav Ursachi delivered a presentation with the topic of “HYBRID FLEXIBLE NANOCOMPOSITE MATERIALS and ZnMgO FILMS FOR SENSOR APPLICATIONS” at the seminar of the Photonics Group at KTH, and dr. Tudor Braniste delivered a presentation with the topic of “GaN BASED 3D ARCHITECTURES FOR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATION”.
During a 4-month period (01.10.2019 - 31.01.2020) PhD student Vlad Ciobanu from National Center for Materials Study and Testing visited Joint Research Center in Ispra, Italy. During the stay at JRC Vlad received an important interdisciplinary training, where he investigated the interaction of different type of nanoparticles with biological systems.
During this period, he acquired experience with different techniques for nanomaterials characterization, like nanomaterials sizing using state-of-the-art instrumentations, such as Dynamic Light Scattering, Disk Centrifuge Sedimentation, Asymmetric Field Flow Fractionation with different detectors, electron microscopy, techniques which are very useful for defining nanomaterials, as well as nanomaterials – biological system complexes.
During his visit, Vlad Ciobanu was supervised by dr. Pascal Colpo, NanoMedTwin project team leader from JRC.
PUBLICATIONS
This deliverable produced by NanoMedTwin consortium aims to map the activities of National Center for Materials Study and Testing (NCMST) and the Technical University of Moldova to leading universities, research institutes and other organisations at European and international levels. It aims to identify profiles and points of contact of NCMST and other Moldovan Institutions/ departments and commercial organisations working in Nanotechnology fields, in EU member states and associated countries.
Braniste, T., Cobzac, V., Ababii, P., Plesco, I., Raevschi, S., Didencu, A., Maniuc, M., Nacu, V., Ababii, I., Tiginyanu, I. (2020), Mesenchymal stem cells proliferation and remote manipulation upon exposure to magnetic semiconductor nanoparticles. Biotechnology Reports. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.btre.2020.e00435.
Wolff, N., Jordt, P., Braniste, T., Popa, V., Monaico, E., Ursaki, V., Petraru, A., Adelung, R., Murphy, B.M., Kienle, L., Tiginyanu, I. (2019), Modulation of Electrical Conductivity and Lattice Distortions in Bulk HVPE-Grown GaN. ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. doi: 10.1149/2.0041908jss
Dragoman, M., Braniste, T., Iordanescu, S., Aldrigo, M., Raevschi, S., Shree, S., Adelung, R. and Tiginyanu, I. (2019), Electromagnetic interference shielding in X band with aero-GaN. Nanotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-
Dragoman, M. , Ciobanu, V. , Shree, S. , Dragoman, D. , Braniste, T. , Raevschi, S. , Dinescu, A. , Sarua, A. , Mishra, Y. K., Pugno, N. , Adelung, R. and Tiginyanu, I. (2019), Sensing up to 40 atm Using Pressure‐Sensitive Aero‐GaN. Phys. Status Solidi RRL. doi: 10.1002/pssr.201900012
Braniste,T., Zhukov, S., Dragoman, M., Alyabyeva, L., Ciobanu, V., Aldrigo, M., Dragoman, D., Iordanescu, S., Shree, S., Raevschi, S., Adelung, R., Gorshunov, B., Tiginyanu, I. (2019), Terahertz shielding properties of aero-GaN. Semiconductor Science and Technology. doi: 10.1088/1361-6641/ab4e58
Wolff, N., Ciobanu, V., Enachi, M., Kamp, M., Braniste, T., Duppel, V., Shree, S., Raevschi, S., Medina‐Sánchez, M., Adelung, R., Schmidt, O. G., Kienle, L., Tiginyanu, I.(2019), Advanced Hybrid GaN/ZnO Nanoarchitectured Microtubes for Fluorescent Micromotors Driven by UV Light. Small. doi: 10.1002/smll.201905141