“BioMediCry” and the innovative cross-faculty competence center Meta-Fab infrastructure project are the funding recipients. Alberta Bonanni, JKU Vice-Rector for Research and International Affairs, remarked: “In order to conduct outstanding research, we need both bold ideas and passionate scientists who are able to think outside-of-the-box in their field of research, as well as solid funding. This is why I am particularly excited that the FFG has approved three-year funding of €2.5 million for each of the two JKU projects.”

The Meta-Fab Research Project
The Meta-Fab infrastructure project will initiate the development and production of metamaterials and meta-surfaces by providing a unique combination of devices which can be used, for example, in optical filters, medical devices, energy-efficient light sources, solar power management, and quantum technology.

Metamaterials are an innovative new class of materials as their properties are not determined by base materials but rather by structuring and combining existing materials in a special way, resulting in materials that can perform in ways that conventional materials are unable to. As they can be structured on a size scale smaller than the wavelength of light, this makes Meta-surfaces in particular very promising as they can be used to manipulate light distribution almost at will. The flexibility of free-form optics is coupled with an extremely small and easily integrated form factor - that of a flat surface. By selectively introducing materials that possess scalable properties, such as a phase transition in the material, scientists can also create scalable optics. One thing that all of these approaches to manufacturing metamaterials have in common is that they require a structure well below the light wavelength.

As part of the Meta-Fab project, the JKU will establish a facility for use by both researchers and industry professionals to produce and conduct research on these types of meta-surfaces and metamaterials and ultimately kick-start production in Upper Austria.

By combining different complementary manufacturing processes (electron beam lithography using a large writing field, optical STED nanolithography) and an option to characterize them by means of an imaging ellipsometer, researchers at the JKU's Open Innovation Center (OIC) clean room have created a globally unique pool of high-end equipment. Researchers will be able to both manufacture the latest innovative meta-surface designs and experimentally test them at this facility, resulting in a closed and rapid research cycle. As part of the project, industrial companies and start-up companies located in Upper Austria can use the procured equipment to drive their own research forward and produce small batches. Meta-surfaces, for example, can be produced relatively easily by using nano-molding processes, however, manufacturing the required stamps is complex, calling for the machines acquired as part of the project.

Meta-Fab’s unique composition is not only distinctive (creating an infrastructure that will attract a particularly broad group of users), many groups of researchers and interested industrial companies will also be able to access the emerging technology (metamaterials and meta-surfaces). Meta-Fab can contribute significantly to the advancement of efficient and sustainable industry, production, systems, and technologies for mankind.

The Meta-Fab consortium includes a number of renowned researchers at the JKU Faculty of Engineering & Natural Sciences: Andreas W. Schell (project leader), Alberta Bonanni, Thomas A. Klar, Armando Rastelli, Johannes Heitz, Moritz Brehm, Kurt Hingerl, Manuela Schiek, Martin Kaltenbrunner, Rajdeep Adhikari, Gunther Springholz, Markus Scharber, Bernhard Jacoby, Wolfgang Hilber, and Thomas Fromherz.

BioMediCry - A Reference Center for Austria and Europe
The “Biomimicry Center for Biomedical Engineering and Characterization (BioMediCry) Linz” was approved as part of the 2023 FFG R&D Infrastructure Funding. The JKU's Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (TNF) and the JKU Faculty of Medicine (MED) will establish a shared, innovative competence center and core facility aimed at advancing biomedical R&D and - as the first of its kind – the center will play an influential role in Austria.

The consortium behind BioMediCry consists of eight internationally renowned researchers at the JKU: David Bernhard, Andreas Horner, Sabine Hild, Eleni Priglinger, Ingrid Graz, Ian Teasdale, Arndt Rohwedder and Tobias Gotterbarm. These experts span a wide spectrum of disciplines ranging from medicine, biophysics, polymer chemistry, and materials sciences, to 3D surface structuring, and cell and tissue biology. Their common objective includes acquiring a deeper understanding of tissue properties and disorders in an effort to develop innovative technological developments and new therapeutic approaches.

The BioMediCry competence center is building a state-of-the-art research facility that will include several advanced technologies:

3D bioprinting facilitates generating functional organs and tissues by using biomaterials, a patient's own cells, and bioactive molecules. 3D bioprinting minimizes a dependency on donor tissues and transcends limitations, including availability and ethical concerns. Person-specific in vitro disease models can be created, facilitating the study of diseases, illnesses, disorders, and drug effects on an individual level. The 3D bioprinter at the BioMediCry center is the only one of its kind in Austria and one of a few located in neighboring countries. Operating in a sterile environment and fitted with four independent printing heads, the printer can simultaneously print cell types and materials and create realistic, complex 3D structures. 3D bioprinting includes developing customized hydrogel-based matrix materials that have properties specifically adapted to biomedical requirements. In terms of printing processes, the process requires comprehensively characterizing physicochemical hydrogels as well as a deep understanding of their rheological and mechanical properties. In combination with microscopy, X-ray, and neutron scattering methods, rheometry is becoming a key characterization method to correlate the macromolecular structure of macromolecular materials to their mechanical properties. By combining rheoetry with vibrational spectroscopic methods, such as infrared and Raman spectroscopy, researchers can also examine chemical changes. The center will be the first to be equipped with a rheo-Raman system combining rheological measurements with Raman spectroscopy, enabling a direct correlation between a sample's mechanical properties and its chemical structure. As well as unlocking new dimensions in developing biomaterials (such as customized synthesis for new inks used in biomimetic 3D printing), the unique capabilities will create new diagnostic options by directly correlating mechanical changes in complex fluids (such as those found in joints or the brain) with biochemical processes.

Raman spectroscopy has become an indispensable analytical tool in the field of medical research and diagnostics, used to localize and analyze tumor tissue, pharmaceuticals, drugs and microplastics. Information on organic materials in an aqueous environment (their chemical composition and molecular structure) can be obtained without using special staining methods. The new center will apply this method in combination with conventional fluorescence microscopy methods to explore new avenues in pharmacological research. The unique combination of total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy - Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence - Raman (TIRF-TIRR) - paves the way to conduct highly sensitive analyses of surface processes in cells. This means researchers can analyze cellular transport processes video speed and maximum spatial resolution, providing valuable insight into, for example, metastasis growth.

The new Coherent Raman Scattering (CRS) microscope, the first of its kind in Austria, will provide accurate 2D and 3D biomaterial analyses. As this time-saving technology can analyze natural 3D structures without prior staining, researchers can better develop reliable 3D models and, in many cases, replace animal testing. The microscope opens up additional analysis methods such as multiphoton/multicolor microscopy, providing in-depth images of biological tissue and simultaneously capturing multiple fluorescent dyes. This is particularly important when analyzing complex three-dimensional biological structures. Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) also unlocks new opportunities in biosensing, tracking protein interactions and studying cell interactions. FLIM can measure dye fluorescence lifetimes and provide important information on cellular molecular environments, such as pH values, ion concentrations or the proximity to other molecules. The combination with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) opens the door to quantitatively determine the concentration of labeled molecules within the sample and investigate the molecules' diffusion/mobility. Studies of living cells provide insight into the dynamic molecular processes necessary to understand protein-protein and protein-lipid interaction. These technologies integrated into a single device provides unparalleled capabilities in multimodality optical imaging using biochemical, biophysical and molecular contrast to study biological samples at video rate.

These diverse technologies and the range of devices available at the BioMediCry Center will set new standards in biomedical research, contributing significantly to developing innovative diagnostic approaches and medical treatments.

The BioMediCry Center will serve as a reference center in Austria and Europe. Industry involvement, particularly in the fields of pharmacology and health technologies, will also boost the region economically, reinforcing the Center's role on a national and regional scale.