After a very competitive and thorough selection process, and thanks to the expert help of the S3E Evaluators, we are very excited to announce the research teams and technology transfer offices (TTOs) that have been selected to join the second edition of S3E Start!

During the second Open Call for S3E Start— which launched on 18 September 2023 and closed on 15 January 2024 — we received a total of 65 applications from research teams and TTOs from all across Southern Europe. From those, 14 research teams and 11 TTOs have been selected to conform the new cohort of S3E Start, welcoming a total of 80 researchers in this year’s edition. Keep on reading to find out who they are!

Meet the 14 research teams selected for S3E Start 2024

BioScreen 🇷🇴

Blood2Power 🇵🇹

  • Research Team: Andreia Trindade Pereira, Daniela Sousa, Herbert Middleton, Inês Gonçalves and Salomé Luís
  • Institution: i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde
  • Technology: A pioneering power-generating system that harnesses electrical energy from the movement of body fluids, like blood, to power medical devices.

BreastScreening-AI 🇵🇹

  • Research Team: André Fadiga, Carlos Santiago and Francisco Maria Calisto
  • Institutions: Instituto Superior Técnico Lisboa, Universidade de Coimbra and Universidade da Maia
  • Technology: An advanced AI-driven diagnostic tool that integrates mammography, ultrasound and MRI data to enhance breast cancer detection accuracy, reducing diagnostic times and minimizing false positives and negatives.

C-Anal View 🇮🇹

  • Research Team: Ilaria Toniolo, Francesca Rizzi and Lino Polese
  • TTO: Francesca Rizzi
  • Institution: Università di Padova
  • Technology: A fenestrated anoscope and colonoscopy-compatible tool that improves tissue sampling, detects anal neoplastic lesions, and minimizes procedural risks. Its primary function is to enable precise visualization of the anal canal and rectum.

Comprehensive Pathogen Surveillance Ecosystem (CPSE) 🇹🇷

  • Research Team: Cihan İspanoğlu, Ege Dedeoğlu, Gültekin Ünal and Hamza Yusuf Altun
  • Institution: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine – Ankara University
  • Technology: A comprehensive service suite for pathogen monitoring, delivering detailed reports via a customized database. It securely centralizes monitoring data, offers customizable diagnostics and optimizes action efficiency.

DOPANTS 🇬🇷

  • Research Team: Anna Mastrogiorgi, Eleftheria Perivola, Marios Fragkioglou, Minas M. Stylianakis and Vasileios Tzatzadakis
  • Institution: Hellenic Mediterranean University
  • Technology: DOPANTS uses polymer nanocomposites to enhance safety and sustainability in medical consumables, offering infection resistance, customization via 3D printing, durability and reduction of environmental impact.

ECOPLAN 🇱🇹

  • Research Team: Aurelijus Rinkevičius, Marius Kriukovas, Greta Čerškutė, Saulė Mačiukaitė-Žvienienė and Vytenis Mockus
  • Institution: Vilnius University
  • Technology: An AI-powered platform for construction material selection and recommendation. It analyzes projects from Building Information Models (BIM), suggests optimal materials, increasing selection accuracy by 60% and saving 20% project time.

GENESIS 🇵🇹

  • Research Team: Alexandra Pinto, Diogo Silva, Helder Nunes and Lucas Marcon
  • Institutions: Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Universal H2 and INEGI
  • Technology: A plug-and-play off-grid production system providing clean fuel for boat owners and sodium borates for chemical industries. It offers hydrogen and power production, IP-protected borate, and promotes circular economy.

miRALS 129 🇮🇹

  • Research Team: Linda Ottoboni, Mafalda Rizzuti and Stefania Corti
  • TTO: Alessandro Cervi and Margherita Chierici
  • Institutions: Fondazione IRCCS Ca’Granda Policlinico Maggiore Hospital and Università di Milano
  • Technology: miRSEN is an active pharmaceutical ingredient that inhibits microRNA-129, an upregulated miRNA found in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, slowing down the progression of the disease.

NEMATEAM 🇵🇹

  • Research Team: Cláudia Letras, Madalena Mendonça, Margarida Espada and Pedro Barbosa
  • Institution: Universidade de Évora
  • Technology: NemAway is a fast and efficient bionematicide, targeting a broad spectrum of plant-parasitic nematodes. It is environmentally friendly and can be easily applied to crops through contact or soil fumigation.

OncoMagnetoSweep 🇵🇹

  • Research Team: Diana Fonseca, Luísa Fialho and Marta Laranjeira
  • TTO: Natacha Rosa
  • Institution: i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde
  • Technology: A magnetic extracorporeal device removing cancer cells from blood, enhancing treatment by reducing side effects, treatment time, and sessions, with a global cost reduction.

OncoMets 🇵🇹

  • Research Team: Ana Sofia Ribeiro, Bruno Freitas, Inês Conde, Joana Paredes and Rita Carvalho
  • TTO: Bárbara Macedo
  • Institutions: LEPABE-FEUP and i3S – Instituto de Investigação e inovação em Saúde
  • Technology: A blood-based In vitro diagnostics (IVD) tool providing real-time monitoring for breast cancer. It offers accurate, non-invasive detection of recurrent cancer earlier than traditional methods, enabling timely interventions and improving patient outcomes while reducing healthcare costs.

THYMI 🇵🇹

  • Research Team: Rute Pinto and Pedro Ferreirinha
  • Institution: i3S – Instituto de Investigação e inovação em Saúde
  • Technology: THYMI offers for the first time the possibility to produce in laboratory patient-specific T cells that can be ready use to supplement patient immunity with no risk of transplanted cell rejection or side-effects.

UPWIND 🇵🇹

  • Research Team: Luís Tiago Paiva, Fernando Fontes, Gabriel Fernandes, Manuel Fernandes, Rui Costa and Sérgio Vinha
  • Institutions: Universidade do Porto and Instituto de Sistemas e Robótica (Universidade de Coimbra)
  • Technology: ZEPHYRUS is a transportable airborne device that converts wind energy into electricity, ensuring access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable power in remote locations lacking access to the electricity grid.

S3E START is a program designed to help research teams and tech transfer officers to explore the commercial viability of their deep tech projects. Through an 18-week online training & mentorship program, the selected research teams will learn first-hand about the processes required to develop a business case for science-based products or services.

The 18-week immersive experience involves weekly online tutorials to guide the research teams in the development of a strong business case for their technology, and a series of webinars on diverse topics to help them build up relevant skills in intellectual property, technology commercialisation, how to pitch for funding, etc. Each team will be paired with a dedicated mentor who will guide them through the market validation for their deep tech research project, thus receiving 1-1 support for the development of their business case.

The whole South3E consortium is very proud to welcome these 14 research teams into the S3E Start program. Stay tuned for more updates on their journey with S3E!

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