Congratulations to Dion (May 2012) : Dion Khodagholy, a graduate student at BEL, wins a European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) graduate student award.

Plenary talk at E-MRS (March 2012) : Professor Malliaras to give a plenary lecture at the European Materials Research Society Meeting. For more information, see here.

Gordon Conference on Organic Electronics (December 2011) : Our Department co-organizes the 2012 Electronic Processes in Organic Materials Gordon Research Conference (3-8 June, at the Il Ciocco Tuscany Resort, in Italy). For more information, see here.

Bioelectronics Symposium @ E-MRS 2012 Spring Meeting, in Strasbourg (November 2011) : Our Department co-organizes a symposium on the biological applications for organic electronic devices, during the E-MRS 2012 Spring meeting (15-17 May, in Strasbourg, France). For more information, see here.

Research highlight (August 2011) : Conducting polymer electrodes make better brain/machine interfaces ! Read all about it here.

BEL hosts summer students through the US National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (May 2011) : In collaboratiuon with the US National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, which conducts one of the largest and most successful Research Experience for Undergraduates Programs in nanotechnology, our Department is hosting two summer students. The students work on the fabrication of conducting polymer devices for interfacing with neurons.

Bioelectronics Seminar @ Plastic Electronics 2011, in Dresden (May 2011) : Our Department co-organizes a one-day seminar at the Plastic Electronics meeting in Dresden, the 10th of October 2011. For more information, see here.

Professor Manfred Lindau of Cornell University on sabbatical at BEL (April 2011) : Manfred Lindau, Professor in the Department of Applied & Engineering Physics at Cornell University, will be on sabbatical at BEL till the end of July. After receiving his doctorate from the Technical University of Berlin in 1983, Lindau was a postdoctoral associate at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen and at the Free University of Berlin, where he became an assistant professor in 1988. From 1992 through 1997 he was an associate member of the Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research and taught biophysics at the University of Heidelberg. He joined the faculty at Cornell in 1997. He is active as a consultant in the areas of biophysics, physiology, and cell biology, and is a member of the Biophysical Society and the Society for Neuroscience.

First French-American Workshop on Electronic Materials at the Interface with Biology announced (April 2011) : Our Department, in a collaboration with Cornell University which is funded by a grant from the French American Cultural Exchange (FACE), and in collaboration with C-nano PACA, will be hosting a workshop in the island of Porquerolles. For more information, click here.

Research highlight (March 2011) : Conducting polymer arrays can be used to detect exocytosis from single cells ! Read all about it here.

Inauguration of our Department (October 2010) : The inauguration of our Department was held on the 30th of September and the 1st of October. The first day was dedicated to thanking all those who have participated in the creation of this Department, and included the ribbon-cutting ceremony. A conference themed ’Electronic Materials at the Interface with Biology’ was held on the following day. Harold Craighead (Cornell University), Peter Fromherz (Max Plank Institute), Magnus Berggren (University of Linkoping), and Christophe Bernard (INSERM) delivered invited lectures. A poster session included contributions from Austria, France, Italy and Ireland. The inauguration was attended by 150 people. Click here for news coverage (in French).

Roisin Owens wins ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant (August 2010) : Róisín Owens, recently recruited from the department of biomedical engineering at Cornell University has been awarded an ERC starting Independent Researcher Grants (ERC Starting Grants). The 1.5M€ grant is for a period of 5 years. The subject of the grant is the development of a new in vitro cell model, involving the integration of organic electrochemical transistors with live cells. This ’in vitro cell model’ will be used for the study and detection of pathogens, and toxins, in the fields of pharmacology, personal health, the environment and more. In addition, the project will aim to greatly reduce the numbers of animals used for testing in this type of research. Europe currently offers insufficient opportunities for young investigators to develop independent careers and make the transition from working under a supervisor to being independent researchers in their own right. This structural problem leads to a dramatic waste of research talent in Europe. It also limits or delays the emergence of the next-generation of research leaders, who bring new ideas and energy, and it encourages highly talented researchers at an early stage of their career to seek advancement elsewhere. The European Research Council (ERC) complements other funding activities in Europe such as those of the national research funding agencies, and is a flagship component of the ’Ideas Programme’ of the European Union’s Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7). ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grants (ERC Starting Grants) aim to support up-and-coming research leaders who are about to establish or consolidate a proper research team and to start conducting independent research in Europe. The scheme targets promising researchers who have the proven potential of becoming independent research leaders. It will support the creation of excellent new research teams and will strengthen others that have been recently created. Since the scheme began, around 300 grants have been awarded each year with a success rate of less than 10%. (En français : Róisín Owens, récemment recruté du département d’ingénierie biomédical à Cornell University aux USA, a été sélectionnée pour une bourse CER (ERC Starting grant). La bourse consiste de 1.5M€ pour une période de 5 ans. Le sujet du projet et le développement d’une nouvelle modèle in vitro, en utilisant des transistors à la base d’organique électronique, intégrées avec des cellules vivantes. Cette "in vitro cell model" servira pour l’étude des pathogènes, ou toxines, dans les domaines de pharmacologie, santé, environnement....et pourra entre outre réduire le nombre d’animaux utilisés pour ce type de recherche. Le Conseil européen de la recherche (CER)a été crée en 2007 par l’Union européenne. C’est la première organisation européenne à soutenir des projets de recherche fondamentale sur le seul critère de l’excellence scientifique d’un chercheur et de la force innovante de son idée, quels que soient sa nationalité, son âge ou son domaine de recherche. Le CER gère le programme "Idées", une des quatre composantes du VIIème programme-cadre de recherche européen. Ainsi chaque année, le Conseil Européen de la Recherche octroie d’importantes bourses de recherche à de scientifiques en début de carrière ("ERC Starting grants"). L’objectif est de permettre aux chercheurs qui montent leur première équipe de recherche, entre 2 et 8 ans après leur défense de thèse, de développer une carrière indépendante. Depuis le début du programme environ 300 bourses ont étés accordées chaque année avec un taux de réussite de moins de 10%.)

BEL team wins ANR grant to develop next generation implantable probes (July 2010) : The purpose of this project (called MUSIC) is to develop a new generation of chronically implantable biocompatible probes displaying multi-sensing recording sites. MUSIC will make use of the most recent technology to address these issues : It will use organic electrochemical transistors which have recently been demonstrated as highly sensitive ion-to-electron converters. As such, they can measure ionic currents through ion channels with high fidelity, enabling a new mode of probing brain function. Moreover, these devices can be functionalized by appropriate biorecognition elements to yield biosensors for a variety of analytes, including metabolites such as glucose. MUSIC brings together three partners who are at the forefront of their respective fields : The team at Ecole des Mines de Saint Etienne, with expertise in organic electronics and microfabrication, the epilepsy group of INSERM UMR 751, which will validate the probes and use them for leading research in epilepsy, and Microvitae Technologies, with expertise in design and fabrication of wireless electrophysiological data acquisition systems and commercialization of biomedical technologies.

BEL team wins grant from FACE to partner with Cornell University (April 2010) : The aim of this "Partner University Fund" project is to create a research and education partnership between the Nanobiotechnology Center (NBTC) at Cornell University and the Centre Microélectronique de Provence (CMP) of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint Etienne (ENSM-SE) in the area of bioelectronics. The research component of the proposed partnership will target the use of electrically-active 2D and 3D scaffolds for cell growth. The educational component of the proposed partnership will consist of an annual workshop on bioelectronics that will be hosted at the CMP every summer and will be co-developed and co-taught by CMP and NBTC faculty members.