Category: News

The European Commission’s Innovation Radar has highlighted three pioneering innovations developed within the REMEDY project, positioning the initiative at the forefront of next-generation sustainable building technologies.

The REMEDY project (Archibiome tattoo for resistant, responsive, and resilient cities) has been recognised by the European Commission’s Innovation Radar, an initiative that identifies and promotes high-potential innovations emerging from EU-funded research and innovation projects. Innovation Radar plays an important role in showcasing Europe’s most promising research results by identifying breakthrough technologies, connecting innovators with stakeholders, and helping accelerate the transition of scientific discoveries into market-ready solutions with societal impact.

Led by the University of Primorska under the coordination of Dr Anna Sandak, the REMEDY project is developing a transformative approach to architecture by introducing the concept of probiotic architecture: buildings enhanced with engineered living materials that interact positively with their environment. REMEDY proposes the development of an archibiome tattoo – a new generation of living, high-resolution microbial inks that enable bespoke decoration and functionalisation of both new and existing building surfaces. Unlike conventional building materials, REMEDY’s engineered living systems are designed to provide active and adaptive functions, including improved environmental performance, microbial balance, carbon sequestration, oxygen production, and bioremediation.

The three innovations recognised by Innovation Radar are:
1. Engineered living material systems for bio-active and adaptive building surfaces.
2. Engineered microbial systems for air purification, CO₂ capture, and antimicrobial building applications.
3. Printable bio-coating platform for applying functional microbial layers to building surfaces.

The REMEDY consortium brings together expertise from leading academic and industrial partners. University of Primorska is the project coordinator, other partners are University of Ljubljana, Graz University of Technology, Tiger Coatings, Qres Technologies,and Xylotrade B.V.
Through this interdisciplinary collaboration, REMEDY aims to redefine the relationship between microorganisms and the built environment. By challenging the traditional perception of microbes as harmful agents, the project seeks to establish a new paradigm where microorganisms become active partners in creating healthier, more sustainable, and adaptive spaces.

“REMEDY represents a next step towards a future of regenerative architecture, where buildings are no longer passive structures, but living systems capable of interacting with and improving their surroundings,” said Dr Anna Sandak, REMEDY Project Coordinator from the University of Primorska.

The recognition by Innovation Radar highlights the scientific ambition and innovation potential of REMEDY, supporting its vision of initiating a microbial revolution in architecture and advancing Europe’s leadership in sustainable, bio-based technologies.

Four members of the REMEDY consortium are participating in this year’s ELSA Summer School on Engineered Living Materials in Scotland.

Dr. Jakub Grzybek and Dr. Wojciech Pajerski from the University of Primorska, together with Christoph Lumetzberger and Pascal Schmuck from Tiger Coatings, are discussing about ethical, legal and societal dimensions of Engineered Living Materials (ELMs).

The Summer school is organised within the EIC Pathfinder ELMs Portfolio, held in Glasgow and at SCENE, the University of Glasgow’s retreat on the shores of Loch Lomond. The programme brings together researchers and industry representatives to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and responsible innovation.

The event provides an opportunity to exchange knowledge, strengthen collaboration between academia and industry, and support the responsible development of Engineered Living Materials.

The BOOST project participated in the EIC Summit 2026, a key meeting point for the European Innovation Council community and a valuable opportunity to engage with Europe’s deep tech innovation ecosystem.

During the event, BOOST strengthened its visibility among EIC Awardees, beneficiaries and relevant stakeholders, while creating space for direct exchanges with projects supported through EIC Booster Grants. These conversations helped gather insights on how BOOST is contributing to innovation impact, supporting research commercialisation, and enabling both innovation activities and portfolio activities across the Horizon Europe landscape.

The Summit also reinforced BOOST’s mission: to help EIC-supported research move closer to market, increase its impact and strengthen connections across the EIC community through targeted cascade funding support.

Stay tuned: BOOST recordings from the EIC Summit 2026 will soon be available on the BOOST YouTube channel.

The REMEDY is one of the partners in EIC’s Engineered Living Materials portfolio’s “ELMs LCA Starter Kit” (ELM-LCAKit) project, which was selected for funding by the European Innovation Council within the BOOST initiative.

This project, emerging from the ELM Portfolio’s Environment & Sustainability Working Group, will help develop a shared early-stage Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework tailored to the unique challenges of Engineered Living Materials.

ELM-LCAKit is led by the PRISM-LT project in collaboration with Fungateria, NextSkins, and REMEDY EIC. Together they will develop early-stage LCA guidelines for ELMs, a common methodological framework, practical resources and templates to support sustainability assessment, and recommendations to strengthen comparability and future standardisation across the field.

As Engineered Living Materials move from visionary concepts towards real-world applications, sustainability must be considered from the very beginning.

This initiative will help the ELM community make informed design choices and build a stronger evidence base for future environmental impact assessments.

InnoRenew CoE, UP IAM researcher attended the 1st South-East Transnational Congress of Microbial Sciences (SETCoMS 2026), held 10–13 June 2026 in Belgrade, Serbia.

The congress brought together researchers, clinicians and industry representatives from across the region and beyond to discuss recent advances in microbiology, health and environmental sciences.

Dr. Ihab Malat, InnoRenew CoE, UP IAM researcher, presented at the congress his recently published research article entitled ‘’Surface Colonization of Aureobasidium pullulans: A Multimodal Microscopy Study Toward Living Coating Development’’.

The study contributes to the development of innovative bio-based living coatings and investigates the surface colonization behaviour of Aureobasidium pullulans, a versatile fungal species with significant potential for sustainable building applications. Using a multimodal microscopy approach, the research provides valuable insights into fungal growth patterns and biofilm formation on material surfaces, supporting the design and optimisation of living coating systems.

The presented work contributes to the objectives of the ERC-funded ARCHI-SKIN and EIC-funded REMEDY projects, which aim to develop innovative bio-based technologies and sustainable solutions for the built environment through the integration of living systems and advanced material design.

The SETCoMS 2026 congress programme focused on recent developments in microbial sciences and provided an excellent platform for disseminating research findings, exchanging knowledge and establishing new scientific collaborations.

Dr. Anna Sandak, REMEDY project coordinator, attended the EIC Summit 2026, held 3–4 June 2026 in Brussels, Belgium.

She represented the project and contributed to discussions on engineered living materials, engaging with members of the EIC Board on the future directions of this field.

The EIC Summit 2026 featured workshops, panel discussions and high-level sessions on key areas of deep-tech innovation and policy, bringing together leading representatives from science, industry and policy to explore the future of the innovation ecosystem.

The event provided an important platform for interdisciplinary exchange, networking, and dialogue on the role of breakthrough research in addressing societal and industrial challenges, while strengthening connections between research and innovation policy.

Dr. Jakub Grzybek and Dr. Anna Sandak, REMEDY researchers, attended the workshop “Regulatory Readiness for Emerging Biotechnology Solutions through the Lens of Engineered Living Materials (ELMs)”, held on 30 April 2026 in Brussels, Belgium.

The event brought together representatives from policy circles, EU institutions, engineered living materials (ELM) portfolio projects, as well as experts from industry and academia, fostering dialogue on the regulatory challenges and opportunities related to emerging biotechnologies.

Among the participants were also other REMEDY project parters, Dr. Dieter Holzinger, from Tiger Coating, and Dr. Michael Sailer, from Xyhlo.

At the workshop two posters from the REMEDY project were presented, one addressing public perception of Engineered Living Materials (ELMs), titled “Regulatory Readiness of Living Inks in the EU Construction Sector”, and another focusing on the regulatory landscape for ELMs in construction, titled “Public Attitudes toward Engineered Living Materials and Their Implications for Regulatory Frameworks”.

The workshop was organized by European Innovation Council (EUeic).

Dr. Ihab Malat, Dr. Anja Černoša and Dr. Anna Sandak recently published a new scientific article entitled “Surface colonization of Aureobasidium pullulans: a multimodal microscopy study toward living coating development” in Scientific Reports journal.

In the article they investigate surface colonization dynamics of Aureobasidium pullulans using a multimodal microscopy approach. They evaluated fungal growth on plastic and pine wood substrates through digital imaging, fluorescence observation and quantitative fluorescence measurements.

The study provides new insights into substrate-dependent colonization behavior and supports further research on the development of fungal-based living coatings for protective and functional applications.

Read the article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-48101-5

REMEDY project partners gathered and attended the General Assembly and the second progress meeting, held on 23 March 2026, at the Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana.

The meeting began with the General Assembly, where partners reviewed the status of the six-month reporting period and provided a summary of the project’s first year. Discussions focused on the intellectual property management strategy, selected booster activities, including go to market support, networking and coaching for public speaking, as well as engagement with regulatory bodies.

The second part was dedicated to the project’s second progress meeting. Dr. Anna Sandak and Dr. Sonja Jantar presented the project management aspects, followed by a technical overview. Then project partners presented progress within individual work packages. This was followed by a presentation on innovation potential and exploitation by the project coordinator and a presentation on dissemination and communication activities by Dr. Lea Primožič.

The meeting provided an opportunity for an in-depth review of the project’s progress and alignment on the next steps for its successful implementation.