Innovation and bioelectronics: Italian and Swedish research meet in Stockholm
Co-organized by the Scientific Office of the Italian Embassy and the University of Stockholm, the Bioelectronics and Sustainability symposium was held in Stockholm on 26 and 27 October 2023. This bilateral meeting was coordinated by Augusto Marcelli, scientific attaché in Stockholm, and Erica Zeglio, Assistant Professor and WISE Fellow at the Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry at Stockholm University, and was hosted in its new headquarters at the Albano Campus.
The event represented the first bilateral platform to exchange ideas and discuss the prospects and challenges of the next generation of sustainable bioelectronics – an area that integrates chemistry, biology, and electronics and which aims to promote resource conservation while minimizing waste production in different applications.
Aware that sustainability will play an increasingly important role in the future, the initiative addressed emerging issues in the field of bioelectronics. Central focus was the recent advances and opportunities at the intersection of innovation and sustainability, fundamental to technology, industry, and the policies of the European Union.
Sustainability today means increasingly competitiveness! Sweden is deeply committed to sustainable development and many Swedish industries successfully incorporate recycled materials and circular approaches into their business models. Italy is also at the forefront of sustainability – in particular within design: beauty is the key to many sustainable Made in Italy products.
The event featured the participation of several students of the universities within the Stockholm area and 25 invited speakers from Italy and Sweden. Represented Italian Institutions were the Italian Institute of Technology in Milan and Ferrara, the Universities of Bari, Bologna, Ferrara and Reggio Emilia, and Milano Bicocca. Represented Swedish Institutions were the Universities of Chalmers, Linköping, Stockholm, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Karolinska Institute and institutions of RISE, SUCCeSS, AIMES, WISE Materials, and the Swedish Research Council.
The program closed with a round table discussion led by Prof. Anna Herland and attended by, in addition to the Scientific Attaché, Prof. Luisa Torsi, vice president of the CNR, Prof. Gianluca Farinola, president of the Italian Chemistry Society, Dr. Lucas Pettersson, responsible for international collaborations of the Swedish Research Council, Prof. Simone Fabiano of Linköping University and Wallenberg Academy Fellow, and Prof. Peter Andersson Ersman, responsible for research and development activities in bioelectronics at the RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. The discussion addressed various topics, including possible initiatives aimed at encouraging greater collaboration in this sector between researchers from the two Countries. Emphasis was placed on the role of the institutions involved to encourage research, the exchange of young researchers, and to involve SMEs and startups, the latter being particularly active in Sweden.
The discussion touched also on the role of scientific associations such as Chemical Societies in influencing the political agenda, defining new standards and identifying the market prospects of bioelectronics in different applications.
More about the event and the program
Last updated: October 31, 2023
Source: MMK