The 3rd Annual Meeting of the EIC Engineered Living Materials (ELM) Portfolio was held 1-2 October 2025, at the University of Primorska, InnoRenew CoE in Izola. The event brought together all projects within the ELM Portfolio, along with their collaborating researchers and industry partners, as well as external experts from across Europe.
The meeting started with opening remarks from Dr. Anna Sandak, REMEDY project coordinator, and Dr. Orsolya Symmons, European Innovation Council (EIC) Programme Manager in Health and Biotechnology.
Dr. Anna Sandak said: “I am honored to welcome you all here at InnoRenew CoE and to have the opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas about our projects dealing with engineered living materials.”
The EIC ELMs Portfolio is connecting projects funded under the Engineered Living Materials Pathfinder Challenge by the EIC, which began in November 2022. Through this initiative, the EIC aims to strategically position Europe at the forefront of the emerging Engineered Living Materials field.
Over the two days, coordinators and researchers presented progress updates on 10 ELMs portfolio projects – SUMO, BioRobot-MiniHeart, PRISM-LT, Bio-HhOST, Bioaction, ISOS, NextSkins, LoopOfFun, Fungateria, and REMEDY. Supported by 31.75 million euros from the European Commission, they are working on advanced solutions for diverse applications. This session was chaired by Dr. Barbara Gerratana, project officer for the ELMs Portfolio at the EIC.
The working group sessions covered topics of environment & sustainability, technology, path to market, communication, and regulation, providing space for progress reporting and open brainstorming with participants. There was also an important opportunity for early-career researchers, PhD students and postdocs to share their work in the flash talks and poster session. Moreover, the Ethical, legal and social aspects (ELSA) School was announced which will take place in July 2026 in Glasgow. All ELM Portfolio projects also recorded testimonials that will enrich the ELM Portfolio’s communication and promotion activities, helping to showcase the portfolio’s impact and reach a broader audience.
The annual meeting focused on important challenges in the translation of ELMs, such as regulatory and commercialization aspects of emerging technologies, societal and users acceptance and evolving ELMs within an ethical framework with the ELSA school and the training on effective communication, which was led by Rebeca Williams, a public speaking, storytelling, and presentation expert. Further it highlighted the unprecedented path to market, learning from early pioneers how to handle business challenges and gain support from investors for such special products.
The meeting concluded with updates from the EC Technology Council for Advanced Materials, a training session on MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, including testimonials from current fellows Dr. Karen Butina Ogorelec and Dr. Wojciech Pajerski, and an announcement of the 4th EIC ELMs Annual Meeting, which will be held 30th September – 1st October 2026.
The two-day event offered a rich program of scientific presentations, training, discussions, and networking opportunities, strengthening collaboration within the ELMs community.
