SurfBio - Innovation hub for surface and colloid biology science

Centered at the Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia, five top research & innovation partners across Europe are creating an innovation hub to study microbe-colloid–surface interactions using high-tech methodologies and equipment. The SURFBIO Innovation Hub aims to provide biotechnology researchers, academic institutions, industry and policy makers with training services and assessments to optimize novel materials for a variety of applications and will offer new, industry-oriented, research services opened to industry and institutions, covering all the needs in only one Hub, and collecting the activities together. This will lead to the founding of a SURFBIO professional society to act as a network center with the goal of fostering advanced microbial materials applications throughout Europe.
Understanding the interactions of colloids (microorganisms, nanoparticles and biomolecules) with surfaces and between themselves is a key factor that can lead to improvements of advanced materials. As such the emerging field of Colloid Biology is positioned on the intersection between material science and molecular microbiology, dealing with artificial multispecies bio-aggregates, bio- films and bio-nano-constructs of bacteria and nanoparticles, to create novel advanced materials. The colloid-biological interactions can be studied and analyzed by applying different tools and techniques. Impacts of the networking activities will be:

• high-impact research results on surface and colloid biology
• improved knowledge transfer
• increased patenting
• increased peer-reviewed publications on the topic
• expanded range of testable samples
• contract research for industry
• boosted interest on surface and colloid biology
• standardization of methodologies
• new possibilities in analytical testing

So far, two public handbooks, two webinars and two MOOCs have been prepared and are available freely via the SURFBIO website (https://surfbio.eu/) providing information and training on the colloid biological preparation and analysis of novel advanced materials for industrial application.