SEAFOODTOMORROW aims to validate and optimize commercial solutions for improving the socioeconomic and environmental sustainability of the seafood production and processing industry, while contributing to product quality and safety. Activities will focus on the sustainable production and processing of nutritious and safe seafood products through the demonstration and first application in the market of eco-innovative, sustainable solutions of marine and aquaculture-derived food products and nutrients. The proposal will take into account impacts across different regions and population segments, as well as the specificities of different types of seafood. Activities will include among others: utilization of agro and seafood byproducts to develop sustainable feeds for aquaculture enabling the production of tailor made products fortified with specific essential nutrients for consumers, assess the feasibility of salt replacers in seafood, validate digestible, attractive, functional and nutritionally adapted seafood for senior people and youths, validate strategies to prevent/remove contaminants from seafood, and optimize sensors and biosensors for the assessment of safety, among others. The consortium expects strengthening the wider utilization of eco-innovative solutions, as a result of greater user acceptance, higher visibility of these innovative solutions and creation of scalable markets, and increasing the availability of healthier seafood to improve consumers' diet and health. The consortium is built on interdisciplinary research teams of 19 RTDs involved, renowned by its top-quality applied technological development and with strong and cohesive links gathered in previous funded activities (e.g. FP7 ECsafeSEAFOOD), thus anticipating successful outcomes. In addition, 4 IAGs and 13 SMEs with diverse and complementary interests in the solutions under validation and optimization will also integrate the consortium.

The goal of the project is to expand the research and innovation potential of InBIO – Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, through the creation of an ERA Chair in Environmental Metagenomics. The project aims to strengthen the research potential of human resources, lab facilities and next-generation genome sequencing equipment funded by a FP7 CAPACITIES project, supporting an emerging research line in environmental metagenomics for applications in biodiversity conservation, invasive species control, ecosystem services assessment, and environmental (bio)monitoring. The project will contribute to the regional and national smart specialization strategies, by developing tools and approaches to foster environmentally sustainable development, and strengthening innovation and knowledge transfer activities in close collaboration with local and global industrial partners, as well as with governmental agencies. In addition, the project will contribute to the advanced training of highly-qualified human resources, and to the communication, dissemination and exploitation of InBIO’s research and innovation. To achieve its objectives, EnvMetaGen will develop the following main activities: (i) Upgrade the research capacity and capability by expanding the human potential and fostering a critical mass of researchers with inter-disciplinary expertise in environmental metagenomics; (ii) Improve InBIO’s innovation potential and impact at the regional, national and European levels, by promoting the integration of cost-effective metagenomics approaches at the forefront of biodiversity, ecological and environmental research; and (iii) Raise the international and national network of collaborations and partnerships of InBIO and its industrial and governmental affiliates. These activities will contribute to better integrate InBIO with the European Research Area (ERA), thus increasing their level of participation in the Horizon 2020 program.

What drives the evolution of female ornamentation? Explaining the evolution of signals found in nature has been a persistent challenge for biologists, but studies have focused mostly on male ornaments, neglecting the question of why and how these traits evolve in females. Oceanic islands around the world provide a “natural laboratory” setting to test evolutionary processes due to their simplified ecosystems, and high levels of endemic species with variation in some specific traits. In particular, island species experience changes in sociality, competition, and predation, all of which are known to influence ornamental traits. I propose to combine comparative analyses, based on museum data, and detailed experimental investigation in the field, using 3-D printed models, to examine how female (and male) ornaments have evolved in island birds worldwide, while accounting for ancestral mainland attributes. Specifically, I will investigate a) the social and ecological factors associated with changes in female and male ornamentation following island colonisation, and b) test experimentally how female and male ornamentation elicit predator and competitor responses on both island and mainland settings. The proposed project will thus have three key outcomes. First, it will determine how the transitions towards increased or decreased ornamentation in both sexes are influenced by changes in social, life-history and environmental factors. This will address the current disparity in our knowledge of elaborate signals in females vs. males and provide a comprehensive understanding of the processes that promote the diversity of sexual phenotypes. Second, the project will advance our understanding of the factors shaping the patterns of phenotypic change in island species. Finally, it will provide the first experimentally test of two central tenets of island ecology, such as lower predation and social competition pressure on islands compared to mainland.

MAGNAMED designs, fabricates, and assesses novel magnetic nanostructures (MNS) with unique spin configurations for innovative diagnostics and therapy techniques. An early stage detection and an effective treatment are keystones to reduce cancer mortality. Current clinical procedures fail to detect small concentration of tumoral biomarkers. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNP), like beads, have attracted much attention for their capability to improve cancer detection limits and treatment technologies. However, there are several limitations to the use of MNP. As an emerging alternative, MNS are being explored. Unlike MNP, MNS (e.g. nanodisks) present a planar shape with novel properties for diagnosis: high magnetic moment and large size, which can significantly improve the sensor sensitivity, and for therapy: due to their planar shape, alternate magnetic fields provoke a magneto-mechanical action on the cell membrane that triggers cell death. The efficiency of MNS in these two medical applications has not been investigated yet for MNS at the nanometer scale. The challenge of this project is to produce MNS with nanometer dimensions suitable for medical applications. Several lithography techniques will be used to fabricate MNS in vortex and antiferromagnetic spin configurations covering a broad size range (40 to 4000 nm). After functionalization, MNS will be exploited in: (i) Diagnostics, using giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors for the detection of tumoral biomarkers (dermcidin and carcinoembryonic antigen), and (ii) Therapy, effectiveness of tumoral cell annihilation by the magneto-mechanical action of MNS will be evaluated in vitro assays of melanoma and colorectal cancer cells. MAGNAMED is a cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary project involving Physics, Chemistry and Medicine. Findings will have a medium-term impact on the European strategy for early stage detection of cancer and a long-term impact on the development of novel and groundbreaking therapeutics techniques.