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Innovation Workshop at BAM
After our 3-year plenary meeting, we organized a 1-day Innovation Workshop “Laser Processing of Bionic Surfaces” which took place on August 5th, 2022 at BAM in Berlin, Germany. This workshop provided a platform to establish future interdisciplinary international collaborations between partners promoting bionic strategies and laser applications in the fields of materials research, physics, chemistry, biology and life-science. BioCombs4Nanofibers project partners as well as selected external speakers presented and interactively discussed their work. Current European funding opportunities were highlighted. All participants got the chance to introduce their interests and possibilities of collaboration in a round-table discussion. A group photo of the workshop is shown below.
2-year Plenary Meeting
Magurele/Bucharest, September 27/28th, 2021
The BioCombs4Nanofibers 2-year plenary meeting took place in the seminar room of the National Physics Library in Magurele near Bucharest (RO) organized by INFLPR.
The photographs below show a group of on-site participants of the meeting taken in front of the library.
Congratulations to Anja Richter (BAM)!
Anja Richter, opens an external URL in a new window has been awarded one of the three poster awards of the symposium H „Laser material processing: from fundamental interactions to innovative applications“ of the E-MRS Spring Meeting 2021 for her poster presentation entitled „Bacterial adhesion on ultrashort laser processed surfaces“ (June 1st 2021).
Testing Face Mask Effectiveness Using New Methods Developed at the JKU
Penetrometers are devices used to test just how effective different types of face masks are. These devices can be expensive as well as difficult to obtain.
Researchers of the BioCombs4Nanofibers-team at the JKU have succeeded in developing a more simple, less expensive method that is more openly accessible.
Together with ELMARCO and the Kepler University Hospital a paper describing the method has been published as a preprint article and submitted to a prestigious journal. The paper is currently under review.
Poster Presentation at Future Tech Week 2020
A virtual poster entitled "Bacterial adhesion on femtosecond laser-induced periodic surfaces" was presented in September 2020 at the Future Tech Week 2020, an initiative of the European Innovation Council Pathfinder.
Access the poster at
Special Issue of Nanomaterials
Johannes Heitz (Institute of Applied Physics, JKU) was invited by MDPI as guest editor of a special issue of Nanomaterials entitled "Nanopatterning of Bionic Materials".
Contributions are welcome.
Coronavirus Global Response
To fight #Coronavirus, opens an external URL in a new window the world urgently needs effective and safe diagnostics, treatments and vaccines. The EU is organising a #Global Response, opens an external URL in a new window pledging effort to finance life-saving solutions. #BioCombs4Nanofibers, opens an external URL in a new window joins the marathon to spread the word:
Short video published
ACS chose our latest publication for its headline science channel on youtube!
Latest publication was highlighted in c&en
The journal Chemical and Engineering News highlighted the latest publication of the BioCombs4Nanofibers-Team in ACS Applied Nano Materials: "Biomimetic Combs as Antiadhesive Tools to Manipulate Nanofibers"!
Happy Hatchday!
Team JKU is welcoming an addition to the team by wishing a Happy Hatchday to 11 baby feather-legged spiders! After about a month in a cozy silky pillow carefully weaved by their mother, spiderlings are now ready to begin their own adventure. These little fellas are still so young but already are sophisticated nanofiber machines! When they grow up, they will be our miniature companions in unraveling the secrets of nanofiber handling, but for now, the only job for our baby spiders is to grow strong and healthy.
Baby spiders don't need mother's care and she lives separately now. However, spiderlings don't rush to leave the nest just yet. For a while they will live together until they are big enough to capture prey and feed. Even though their food will be still exceeding their own body in size, these little hunters will have no problem wrapping a delicious fruit fly with the power of their nanofiber silk.
The photo captures some of the spiderlings hanging around the now-empty egg sack, and for size comparison, a fruit fly that their mother decided not to eat a while earlier.
Member of BioCombs4Nanofibers Consortium awarded
Dr. Anna-Christin Joel from the BioCombs4Nanofibers team of RWTH Aachen was appointed as member of the Junges Kolleg of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts, Germany.
Only 30 outstanding young scholars or scientists across all disciplines are appointed to be member of this college. The award ceremony took place on 14th January 2020 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Dr. Joel received the prize acknowledging her research covering different zoological topics from functional morphology, ecology, evolution and protein chemistry to bionics and medical technology – all featuring as common element the nanofiber silk of cribellate spiders. This research is currently being embedded in the BioCombs4Nanofibers project.
More information about this honor at the webpage of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts:
Her Curriculum Vitae:
https://spider.rwth-aachen.de/cv_joel/, opens an external URL in a new window
Her profile on ResearchGate:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna_Christin_Joel, opens an external URL in a new window
Kick-off Meeting
Linz, October 4th, 2019
The kick-off took place in the new-built Somnium of the JKU which is a visitors' platform combined with a seminar room at the 13th level of the highest building at the campus of the JKU.
The photograph below shows the group of participants of the meeting taken at this site.
