POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031069:  Total Budget: €239.760,83. Duration: 15 June 2018 – 14 June 2021.
Portugal, and in particular the north region, is a leading producer of wine in the EU, with one of the highest numbers of DOP and IGPs in Europe, including world-known Port and Douro wines. Among common wine adulteration, the use of different grape varieties from the ones authorized by the PDO, or the use of more than one variety in wines labelled as monovarietal, are one of the issues of higher concern for producers and authorities.
DNA based analysis have become a very useful instrument on food and environmental analysis. DNA analysis is of high interest as well for varietal discrimination of grapes, wines, musts, and grape juice, due to the high specificity allowed by the use of DNA sequences, and the possibility of amplifying such DNA markers by PCR and other amplification strategies, and therefore obtaining higher sensitivity. Despite its advantages for grape variety identification, DNA analysis has not been extensively used by control laboratories, due to some drawbacks for their practical implementation. Several developments in the last years are being directed towards the improvement of DNA based analysis in order to simplify, miniaturize and reduce both the time and price of analysis with increased performance, to develop devices and methodology to be effectively used by control laboratories. Among such improvements, several sensors have been developed with promising characteristics, among them, field-effect transistors (FETs) allow to achieve high sensitivity, specificity and rapid measurement without the need of labelling, making them excellent candidates for wine/grape authenticity analysis. Likewise, there has been a strong interest in developing portable point-of-care devices that can be used in resource-limited settings, such as remote regions, farms or cultivars. Several approaches towards micro total analysis system (μTAS, or lab-on-a-chip) have been developed, which provides a significant improvement in performance. However, to our knowledge and despite of their clear advantages, no commercial μTAS are currently available and validated for DNA analysis in wine or food commodities.
Main Goal: The main objective of the project is the development, test and in-house validation of a miniaturized DNA sensing device for varietal discrimination of grapes, wines, musts, and grape juice in order to ensure the authenticity of wine from Port and Douro DOP. With this objective the participating teams will combine their expertise for the development of a miniaturized analytical device composed of 3 modules namely: a DNA extraction and purification module, an isothermal DNA amplification module, and a DNA Biosensors based on field-effect transistors (FETs) made using single layer graphene (SLG) for varietal discrimination. The integrated device will be in-house validated with different complex matrixes including grapes, wines, musts, and grape juice.
Partners: University of Minho

029417:  Total Budget: €239.886,50. Duration: 01 June 2018 – 31 May 2021.
The modifications of the fluorescence lifetime by the presence of fluorescence quenchers can be used to increase the axial resolution of fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). The axial spatial range of the quencher material depends on its refractive index (RI), so materials with different RI can be explored in order to improve and modify the imaging axial range and axial resolution of FLIM. The main goal of the project is to optimize the FLIM technique for different resolutions and distance ranges to study different biological processes. Applications range from DNA detection to the time lapse super resolution imaging of live cells to track specific molecular biological processes in real time.
Main Goal: Optimization of a Fluorescence Lifetime Microscopy Imaging (FLIM) technique for axial super-resolution using various functional substrates and its application for biosensing and bioimaging.
Partners: University of Minho

POCI-01-0247-FEDER-033566:  Total Budget: €1.633.967,09. Duration: 01 August 2018 – 27 January 2020.
The market awareness to graphene and related materials has been growing steeply, as a result of promising results obtained in an experimental context. However, the application of these materials at an industrial scale has not yet been attained yet due to a number of constraints of the available production technologies, which can be generally resumed as an inability to simultaneously produce graphene in quantity, quality, and price, according to the needs of the industrial sector. Acknowledging this gap between the existing technologies and the industry needs, Graphenest has designed and developed an innovative technology, supported by a graphite exfoliation method in liquid phase using ultrasonic cavitation. Duly tested/validated at a laboratory scale, through the development of a prototype, Graphenest’s technology now needs further demonstration at a pre-industrial scale (and full industrial, at a later stage).
The GNESIS project emerges in this context, aiming at (i) assuring the scale-up of Graphenest’s technology into a pre-industrial scale and (ii) demonstrating the application of the graphene-based materials obtained from the referred technology in three different application areas, namely: anti-corrosion paints; polymers with electromagnetic shielding; and tactile screen electrodes. The GNESIS project will be promoted by a full consortium consisting of two companies with strong R&D skills – i.e., Graphenest (project leader) and Displax – as well as three entities from the Portuguese Research and Innovation System – i.e., the International Laboratory of Iberian Nanotechnology, University of Aveiro and University of Minho. In addition, the project will be attended by three national associated business partners – i.e., Bosch, CIN and Galp Energia – and an international one – the Chinese company Zhejiang Light-Tough Composite Materials.
Partners: GRAPHENEST S.A (Leader), DISPLAX S.A., Universidade de Aveiro, Universidade do Minho

FCT – SFRH/BD/128579/2017:  Duration: 01 September 2017 – 31 August 2021
“Immuno-field-effect transistor platforms based on 2D materials for early detection of biomarkers of ischemic stroke”, PhD project of Patrícia Daniela Cabral da Silva.
This thesis proposes to use clean-room micro and nanotechnology to fabricate label-free immuno-assays, based on graphene and other 2D material (hBN, MoS₂) field-effect transistors, whose channel is functionalized for a set of biomarkers related with the hemorrhagic transformation in ischemic stroke. The project is based on the development, fabrication and testing of a multiplex microfluidic platform, which will be able to signal a panel of biomarkers at an early stage of the disease, thus contributing to spare the lives of many patients.

NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023:  Total Budget: €3.284.706,21. Duration: 01 April 2016 – 31 March 2019 (36 months).
The main of objective of FROnTHERA is to boost the progress of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine fields with main focus on cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. To accomplish this, the merge of 3D tissue engineered in vitro models of diseases, microfluidics, nanotechnologies, molecular biology and embedded biosensors will be pursued in order to obtain new tools and technologies to be used as alternative to animal experimentation, as well as, personalized therapies for Human health. Ultimately, the strengthening of these interdisciplinary domains will allow the improvement of theranostics of RIS3 diseases. This project is an initiative of three top leading research units, located in the PT 11 region, and gathers experts in tissue engineering in vitro models, neurosciences and emergent technologies based on responsive biosensors, whose main goal is to dvance in research for developing tools and technologies to be used as alternative to animal experimentation and in personalised therapies for human health.
Partners: 3B’s

NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000019:  Total Budget: €2.547.789,00. Duration: 01 April 2016 – 31 March 2018 (24 months).
The major goals set for the integrated project cover an increase of our human resources in strategic areas by hiring 15 new researchers for the 2 research lines, a strengthening of our core activities in various project areas (sensing, system integration etc.) as well as the opening of new scientific topics (thermal energy harvesting, label free optical/graphene biosensors, etc.), and re-enforcing partnerships and collaborations with major national/regional industrial actors (electronics, health, food and environment, materials ).
Line 1-Nanotechnology based autonomous sensing systems – (energy harvesting and storage, sensors, new materials and concepts, systems integration towards IOT)
Line 2-Nanotechnology enabled solutions for water, food, and health challenges – (Water monitoring and treatment, food quality and safety, food processing and subproduct valorization, nano in diagnostics, nano in therapeutics)
The program will provide nanotechnology-based solutions for 2 areas: autonomous sensing systems (targeting Internet-of-Things integration) and monitoring and treatment platforms for applications related to water, food, and health. Each challenge is the focus of a research line, while the program integrates both lines at several levels via shared and reciprocal goals, new technology platforms and (nano)materials, and characterization methods.

PTDC/FIS-NAN/3668/2014: Total Budget: 146.508,00 €. Duration: 36 months.
This project aims at building a large area photodetector with 2D materials in a Van der Waals vertically stacked heterostructure. These devices are interesting because they are extremely thin (only a few atoms thick), flexible and with much better electronic properties than more conventional materials used, for example, in wearable devices. A photodetector of this type is composed by stacking a boron nitride buffer-layer, a graphene sheet, a multilayer transition metal dichalcogenide, a second graphene sheet, and a boron nitride encapsulating layer. Partners: LANASC group, UMinho

PTDC/CTM-ENE/2349/2014: Total Budget: 168.836,00 €. Duration: 24 months
This proposal aims to develop silicon based photocathodes coated with a chemically-inert thin protection layer and coupled with inexpensive, earth-abundant transition metal phosphide (TMP) nano-catalysts. The project focuses in developing photocathodes with a high open circuit potential that can potentially realize un-assisted solar water splitting, using tandem hydrogenated amorphous Si thin film solar cells coupled with TMP nano-catalysts as photocathodes.