{"id":407,"date":"2016-01-15T22:33:32","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T21:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mines-stetienne.fr\/en\/?page_id=407"},"modified":"2025-11-24T07:49:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T06:49:26","slug":"news-archive","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mines-stetienne.fr\/en\/research\/centres-and-departments\/department-of-bioelectronics-bel\/news-archive\/","title":{"rendered":"News Archive"},"content":{"rendered":"

2025<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Congratulations to Dr Th\u00e9o Marchand<\/strong> for defending his PhD thesis (Oct 2025)<\/p>\n

Welcome to Johan Stenborg<\/strong>, joining BEL as an intern (Oct 2025)<\/p>\n

Welcome to Sarah Umme Tabassum<\/strong>, joining BEL as a research engineer (Sept 2025)<\/p>\n

Welcome to Fabien Pieretti,<\/strong> joining BEL as an engineering student intern (Jun 2025)<\/p>\n

Welcome to Simon Regal<\/strong>, joining BEL as a postdoctoral fellow (Jun 2025)<\/p>\n

Welcome to Josselin Marchand<\/strong>, joining BEL as an engineering student intern (May 2025)<\/p>\n

Pleasure to host Braincoder Conference<\/a><\/strong> with amazing talks (Feb 2025)<\/p>\n

2024<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Welcome to Lucas Teolis<\/strong>, joining BEL as a PhD student (Dec 2024)<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Dr Nathan Dumas<\/strong> for defending his PhD thesis (Nov 2024)<\/p>\n

Welcome to Asma Benyahia<\/strong>, joining BEL as a PhD student (Oct 2024)<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Dr Am\u00e9lie Albon<\/strong> for defending her PhD thesis (Sep 2024)<\/p>\n

Welcome to Wei-Ting Ting,<\/strong> joining BEL as a postdoctoral fellow (Jun 2024)<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Dr Rita Matta<\/strong>\u00a0for defending her PhD thesis (May 2024)<\/p>\n

Welcome (back) to Aimie Pavia, <\/strong>joining BEL as a postdoctoral fellow (Mar 2024)<\/p>\n

Welcome to Dimitri Ducrocq, <\/strong>joining BEL as a PhD student (Feb 2024)<\/p>\n

Welcome to<\/strong> Manar Gani<\/strong>, joining BEL as an engineering student intern (Jan 2024)<\/p>\n

Welcome to<\/strong> Matias Ceballos<\/strong>, joining BEL as a PhD student (Jan 2024)<\/p>\n

2023<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

Congratulations to Dr. R\u00e9my Cornuejols,<\/strong> for defending his PhD thesis. (Dec 2023) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to<\/strong> Jules Mercier<\/strong>, joining BEL as a PhD student (Nov 2023)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to Dr. Marina Galliani<\/strong> for defending her PhD thesis. (Sep 2023) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to Dr. Hajar Mousavi<\/strong> for defending her PhD thesis. (Jun 2023) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to Vincent Zitzelsberger<\/strong>, joining BEL as a bachelor’s intern (Apr 2023)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to Dr. Davide Reato<\/strong>, joining BEL as a postdoctoral fellow in collaboration with AMU-INT<\/a> (Jan 2023) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2022<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to Dr. Marie Lef\u00e8vre<\/strong> for winning 2nd Prize in the postdoc competition at WCE 2022 in Copenhagen, Denmark (Oct 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to Th\u00e9o Marchand<\/strong>, joining BEL as a PhD student in collaboration with O-Kidia<\/a> (Sep 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to Dr. Marie Lef\u00e8vre<\/strong> for defending her PhD thesis. (Jun 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to Emmie Schoutens<\/strong>, joining BEL as a Master’s student intern (May 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to Amira El Merhie<\/strong>, joining BEL as a postdoctoral fellow (Apr 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to Dr. Romanos Poulkouras<\/strong> for defending his PhD thesis. (Mar 2022) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to Nathan Dumas<\/strong>, joining BEL as a PhD student (Oct 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to<\/strong> Am\u00e9lie Albon<\/strong>, joining BEL as a PhD student (Sep 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to Dr. Gerwin Dijk<\/strong> for defending his PhD thesis. (Jun 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to Dr. Aimie Pavia<\/strong> for defending her PhD thesis. (Jun 2021) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to Dr. Sofia Drakopoulou<\/strong>, joining BEL as a postdoctoral fellow (May 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n

Welcome to Rita Matta<\/strong>, joining BEL as a PhD student (Jan 2021)<\/p>\n

2017<\/h2>\n

Congratulations to Dr. Jolien Pas<\/strong> for defending her PhD thesis! (Dec 2017)<\/p>\n

Welcome to Denise O’Connor<\/strong>, joining BEL as a Research Engineer (Nov 2017)<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Dr. Mohammed ElMahmoudy<\/strong> (Oct 2017) for defending his PhD thesis.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Dr. Shahab Rezaei Mazinani<\/strong> for defending his PhD thesis and taking up a postdoctoral position at Coll\u00e8ge de France (Oct 2017)<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Roisin<\/strong> who has started a lectureship in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge<\/a>. (September 2017)<\/p>\n

Congratulations to George<\/strong> who has taken up the Prince Philip Professorship of Technology in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, UK<\/a>. (September 2017)<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Dr. Anna-Maria Pappa<\/strong> for defending her PhD thesis! (Sept 2017)<\/p>\n

Basque government Fellow<\/strong> (February 2017): Ana Sanchez joins BEL as a Basque government postdoctoral fellow.<\/p>\n

Sabbatical visitor<\/strong> (February 2017): Helena Gleskova from Strathclyde University joins BEL for six weeks.<\/p>\n

MRS Fellow <\/strong>(January 2017) : George Malliaras was elected Fellow of the Materials Research Society.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Paschalis <\/strong>(January 2017) : Congratulations to Paschalis Gkoupidenis who accepted a Group Leader position at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2016<\/h2>\n

Congratulations to Roisin <\/strong>(December 2016) : Roisin Owens promoted to Professor.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Esma <\/strong>(December 2016) : Esma Ismailova promoted to Associate Professor.<\/p>\n

Doctor Eloise<\/strong> (December 2016) : Congratulations to Eloise Bihar who successfully defended her PhD thesis.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Roisin <\/strong>(November 2016) : Roisin Owens selected for ERC Consolidator Grant. After an ERC Starting and an ERC Proof-of-Concept, this is 3\/3!<\/p>\n

Doctor Ilke<\/strong> (November 2016) : Congratulations to Ilke Uguz who successfully defended his PhD thesis.<\/p>\n

New role<\/strong> (November 2016) : George Malliaras named member of the Hellenic National Council for Research and Technology.<\/p>\n

New Professor<\/strong> (November 2016) : Congratulations to Jonathan Rivnay who accepted an Assistant Professor position at Northwestern University<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Doctor Julie<\/strong> (November 2016): Congratulations to Julie Oziat who successfully defended her PhD thesis.<\/p>\n

Doctor Thomas<\/strong> (October 2016): Congratulations to Thomas Lonjaret who successfully defended his PhD thesis.<\/p>\n

Whitaker Fellow<\/strong> (October 2016): Alex Rutz joins BEL as a Whitaker foundation postdoctoral fellow.<\/p>\n

Doctor Dimitrios<\/strong> (September 2016): Congratulations to Dimitrios Koutsouras who successfully defended his PhD thesis.<\/p>\n

Doctor Gaetan<\/strong> (September 2016): Congratulations to Gaetan Scheiblin who successfully defended his PhD thesis.<\/p>\n

New Department Head<\/strong> (September 2016) : Roisin Owens takes over as Head of Department.<\/p>\n

New hire<\/strong> (September 2016) : Welcome to Adel Hama, who joins BEL as a permanent member of the staff.<\/p>\n

Sabbatical stay<\/strong> (September 2016) : Professor Alberto Salleo<\/a> from Stanford University joins BEL for a sabbatical stay.<\/p>\n

Curie Fellow<\/strong> (September 2016): Donata Iandolo joins BEL as a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow.<\/p>\n

New hire<\/strong> (June 2016) : Welcome to Rodney O’Connor, who will join BEL in October to start a new research direction in oncoelectronics.<\/p>\n

New Professor<\/strong> (June 2016) : Congratulations to Dion Khodagholy who accepted an Assistant Professor position at Columbia University<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New Professor<\/strong> (May 2016) : Congratulations to Sahika Inal who accepted an Assistant Professor position at KAUST<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/h2>\n

2015<\/h2>\n

Boston MRS<\/strong> (November 2015) : George Malliaras co-chairs the 2015 Fall MRS meeting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Welcome to Prof. John deMello<\/strong> (October 2015) : Professor John deMello<\/a> of Imperial College London, a leader in the field of organic electronics, joins BEL for his sabbatical.<\/p>\n

News update <\/strong>(October 2015) : Direct patterning of organic conductors on knitted textiles for long-term electrocardiography<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Training on Bioelectronics <\/strong>(September 2015) : Our Department will offer a week-long, hands-on training program on bioelectronics, Oct. 19-23. Details will be posted on the OrgBio<\/a> website.<\/p>\n

Welcome to Prof. David Martin<\/strong> (August 2015) : Professor David Martin<\/a> of the University of Delaware, a leader in the field of organic bioelectronics, joins BEL for his sabbatical.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Sahika Inal <\/strong>(July 2015) : Sahika Inal won the best poster award in the 12th International Symposium on pi-Electron Systems in Seattle, WA.<\/p>\n

Committee assignment <\/strong>(June 2015) : George Malliaras to join the Executive Committee of the European Materials Research Society for the period 2016-2019.<\/p>\n

High performance transistors for bioelectronics<\/strong> (May 2015) : Read about our latest work in Science Advances<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Editorial assignment<\/strong> (April 2015) : George Malliaras is named Associate Editor of Science Advances<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Jake Friedlein<\/strong> (March 2015) : Jake Friedlein won the best oral presentation award from Nature Materials during the winter school on Organic Bioelectronics in Kirchberg, Austria.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Roisin Owens<\/strong> (February 2015) : Roisin Owens wins ERC Proof-of-Concept<\/a> Grant.<\/p>\n

PhD graduation<\/strong> (January 2015) : Congratulations to Xenofon Strakosas who sucessfully defended his PhD thesis on “Integration of proteins to organic electrochemical transistors for sensing applications”.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/h2>\n

2014<\/h2>\n

Organic bioelectronic devices used in the clinic <\/strong>(December 2014) : Dion Khodagholy (PhD at BEL, now a Simons Fellow at NYU) developed an array of PEDOT:PSS electrodes and used to to record single neuron activity from the surface of a human brain<\/a>. <\/a><\/p>\n

Congratulations to Roisin Owens <\/strong>(December 2014) : Roisin Owens, Associate Professor at BEL, passed her Habilitation<\/a> on the 15th of December.<\/p>\n

Good news!<\/strong> (November 2014) : Our workshop on 3D cell cultures covered by the American Society for Cell Biology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Uniquely Australian challenge for visiting researcher <\/strong>(November 2014) : Read about Sahika Inal\u2019s brush with a Huntsman spider during her visit to ACES headquarters at the University of Wollongong.<\/p>\n

Newsworthy<\/strong> (November 2014) : Roisin Owens featured in Women in Nano<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Jonathan Rivnay<\/strong> (October 2014) : Jonathan won the 2014 MRS Postdoctoral Award<\/a>, “for the development of state-of-the-art organic electronic devices for interfacing with biology, through the elucidation of structure versus electrical properties relationships”. Announcement from the MRS coming soon.<\/p>\n

High transconductance accumulation mode electrochemical transistors<\/strong> (October 2014) : Our paper on hydrophilic semiconductors for accumulation mode electrochemical transistors published in Advanced Materials.<\/p>\n

R\u00f3is\u00edn Owens appointed principal editor at MRS Communications <\/strong>(October 2014) : The editorial board of MRS Communications\u00a0 announced <\/a>the appointmenr of R\u00f3is\u00edn Owens, Associate Professor of Bioelectronics at the the Ecole Nationale Sup\u00e9rieure des Mines de Saint-\u00c9tienne, as principal editor working in biomaterials.<\/p>\n

PhD graduation<\/strong> (September 2014) : Congratulations to Manuelle Bongo who sucessfully defended his PhD thesis on “Integration of an in vitro blood brain barrier model with organic electrochemical transistors”.<\/p>\n

Prof. Susan Daniel on sabbatical at BEL <\/strong>(September 2014) : Susan Daniel<\/a> is an Associate Professor with tenure of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University. She obtained her Ph.D. (2005) from Lehigh University in chemical engineering and did her postdoctoral work in chemistry at Texas A&M University. She began her independent laboratory at Cornell in 2007. Susan\u2019s expertise is in interfacial chemistry and biological membranes applied to developing novel biosensing and biomimetic membrane assays to investigate pathogen infection. Her groups studies phenomena at both biological interfaces and chemically patterned surfaces that interact with soft matter \u2013 liquids; polymers; and biological materials, like cells, viruses, proteins, and lipids. Her group has pioneered development of single particle tracking assays to study pathogen-host interactions, and the development of virus-like proteoliposomes and supported planar bilayers that facilitate those studies. Susan is the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2011 and the Denice Denton Emerging Leader Award in 2012. She is also the faculty advisor for the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering graduate women\u2019s group (CBE Women), which serves to provide professional development and leadership opportunities to graduate students to complement their graduate education.<\/p>\n

BEL coordinates European project on Organic Bioelectronics<\/strong> (September 2014) : Our Department is the coordinator of the CURIE ITN network on Organic Bioelectronics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Integrating electronics with cells to detect bacteria<\/strong> (September 2014) : Our paper on salmonella detection using organic transistors integrated with barrier tissue is highlighted in Materials Views<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Advances in 3D Cell Cultures<\/strong> (June 2014) : Our Department, together with the Institute for Research on Cancer and Aging (IRCAN) in Nicehosted a meeting on \u201cAdvances in 3D Cell Cultures: from Biology to Technology\u201d, sponsored by the American Society for Cell Biology. The meeting centered on the biological aspects of 3D cell cultures from different approaches: the cell biology of the these cultures, new methods used for growing cells in a matrix, a state-of-the-art approach in scaffold <\/u>materials, and the novel techniques to detect cellular signaling. Invited speakers included Roisin Owens (Department of Bioelectronics, CMP-EMSE, France), Philippe Chavrier (Membrane and cytoskeleton dynamics group, Curie Institute, France), Jorge Almodovar (Department of Chemical Engineering, UPR, USA), Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Luton (Arf proteins, cell morphology and membrane transport group, IPMC, France), Thomas Boudou (Department of Bioengineering, GIT, France), Wolfgang Moritz (InSphero\u00ae, Switzerland), and Elise Demange and Agathe Devaux (Celenys\u00ae, France).<\/p>\n

2013<\/h2>\n

Congratulations to Dion<\/strong> (December 2013)\u00a0: Our alumnus, Dion Khodagholy, who defended his PhD at BEL last year and is currently at NYU, is to be named a Junior Fellow of the Simons Society.<\/p>\n

PhD graduation<\/strong> (December 2013)\u00a0: Congratulations to Pierre Leleux who sucessfully defended his PhD thesis on “Conducting polymer devices for electrophysiological recordings”.<\/p>\n

PhD graduation<\/strong> (December 2013)\u00a0: Congratulations to Thomas Doublet who sucessfully defended his PhD thesis on “Neuroscience applications of organic electronic devices”.<\/p>\n

PhD graduation<\/strong> (October 2013)\u00a0: Congratulations to Scherrine Tria who sucessfully defended his PhD thesis on “Integration of living cells with organic transistors for the rapid detection of toxins and enteric pathogens”.<\/p>\n

PhD graduation<\/strong> (October 2013)\u00a0: Congratulations to Eleni Stavrinidou who sucessfully defended his PhD thesis on “Understanding and Engineering Ion Transport in Conducting Polymers”.<\/p>\n

Research highlight<\/strong> (October 2013) : Our work on organic amplifiers was published in Advanced Materials. Read all about it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Welcome to Prof. Nicholas Melosh<\/strong> (September 2013)\u00a0: BEL welcomes Prof. Nicholas Melosh<\/a> from Stanford University, who will be on sabbatical with us till February 2014. Professor Melosh received his B.S. in chemistry from Harvey Mudd College in 1996. He did his graduate work on block-copolymer silica composites with Brad Chmelka and Galen Stucky at the University of California at Santa Barbara, receiving a Ph.D in materials science and engineering in 2001. His postdoctoral training was on molecular electronics and nanoscale patterning with Jim Heath at the University of California, Los Angeles and the California Institute of Technology from 2001-2003. He joined Stanford University as an assistant professor of materials science and engineering in September 2003. Melosh’s research interests include molecular electronics and plasmonics, diamondoids, dynamic self-assembly of biomolecules and lipid bilayers as nano-bio interfaces. He is a recipient of the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, the Frederick E. Terman Fellowship and the MDV Innovators Award.<\/p>\n

Summer School<\/strong> (September 2013) : BEL will host an International Summer School on \u201cOrganic Electronics at the Interface with Biology\u201c, funded by the EU Marie CURIE ITN network OLIMPIA. The school will be held at the Centre Micro\u00e9lectronique de Provence, in Gardanne, 17-19 September 2013, and is open to a limited number of graduate students outside the OLIMPIA network. The program includes tutorials by experts in the field and a poster session in which graduate students can present their work. Please email Liza Klots<\/a> for additional information.<\/p>\n

Special issue on carbon bioelectronics<\/strong> (August 2013) : George Malliaras a co-editor on a special issue of Journal of Materials Chemistry B<\/a> on cabron bioelectronics.<\/p>\n

BEL in the news <\/strong>(July 2013) : Roisin Owens quoted in the New Scientist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Research highlight<\/strong> (July 2013) : Our work on high transconductance transistors was published in Nature Communications. Read all about it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Special issue on organic bioelectronics<\/strong> (June 2013) : Roisin Owens a co-editor on a special issue of BBA – General Subjects<\/a> on organic bioelectronics. Free access all of July!<\/p>\n

3rd French-American workshop on bioelectronics<\/strong> (June 2013) : With the general support from the Partner University Fund, BEL held the 3rd annual meeting with Cornell in the island of Porquerolles.<\/p>\n

Of great interest<\/strong> (May 2013) : Our article on implantable transistors is in the top 5% of all articles ranked by attention<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Plenary lecture at fpi11<\/strong> (May 2013) : George Malliaras to deliver a plenary lecture during the 11th International Symposium on pi-Electron Systems<\/a> in Arcachon, France.<\/p>\n

Welcome to international students <\/strong>(May 2013) : In collaboration with the US National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Netrwork<\/a>, BEL will host Kaleigh Margita, Camryn Johnson and Brianna Thielen for a 2 month internship on bioelectronic device microfabrication.<\/p>\n

BEL in the news <\/strong>(April 2013) : Our work on neural interfaces featured in The Wall Street Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Award winning presentation <\/strong>(April 2013) : Congratulations to Leslie Jimison who won the MRS Symposium QQ presentation award for her work on the use of organic transistors integrated with living cells.<\/p>\n

Research highlight<\/strong> (March 2013) : Organic transistors record brain activity with record-high signal-to-noise ratio ! Read all about it here<\/a>. For a layman’s description of what this means, download the file “listening to the brain with a transistor” at the bottom of the page. Click here<\/a> to watch a video on France 3 (in French).<\/p>\n

Plenary lecture at ITC2013<\/strong> (March 2013) : George Malliaras to deliver a plenary lecture during the 9th International Thin Film Transistor Conference<\/a> in Tokyo, Japan.<\/p>\n

Research highlight<\/strong> (February 2013) : Easy-to-fabricate conducting polymer microelectrode arrays for in vitro<\/em> electrophysiology ! Read all about it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Annual meeting of the MUSIC consortium<\/strong> (February 2013)\u00a0: The consortium of the ANR project MUSIC met to plan the development of the next generation multi-sensing neural probes.<\/p>\n

\"MUSIC<\/p>\n

Welcome to Prof. C. Dan Frisbie<\/strong> (February 2013)\u00a0: BEL welcomes Prof. C. Dan Frisbie<\/a> from the University of Minnesota, visiting for a week.<\/p>\n

Welcome to Prof. Chris Ober<\/strong> (January 2013)\u00a0: BEL welcomes Prof. Chris Ober<\/a> from Cornell University, visiting for a week.<\/p>\n

2012<\/h2>\n

Welcome to the Berggren group<\/strong> (October 2012)\u00a0: BEL welcomes the group of Magnus Berggren from Linkoping University, visiting for a 2 day workshop on organic bioelectronics.<\/p>\n

\"Linkoping<\/p>\n

PhD graduation<\/strong> (September 2012)\u00a0: Congratulations to Dion Khodagholy who sucessfully defended his PhD thesis on “Conducting polymer devices for bioelectronics”.<\/p>\n

New permanent position for BEL<\/strong> (September 2012)\u00a0: Esma Ismailova is hired at BEL as a Research Engineer.<\/p>\n

Research highlight<\/strong> (September 2012)\u00a0: Organic electrochemical transistors monitor barrier tissue integrity\u00a0! Read all about it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Professor Giuseppe Scarpa of Technical University of Munich on sabbatical at BEL<\/strong> (August 2012)\u00a0: Giuseppe Scarpa<\/a>, project leader in the Institute for Nanoelectronics of the Technical University of Munich will be on sabbatical at BEL till the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Research highlight<\/strong> (September 2012) : Organic electrochemical transistors monitor barrier tissue integrity ! Read all about it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Professor Giuseppe Scarpa of Technical University of Munich on sabbatical at BEL<\/strong> (August 2012) : Giuseppe Scarpa<\/a>, project leader in the Institute for Nanoelectronics of the Technical University of Munich will be on sabbatical at BEL till the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Plenary talk at NANOTEXNOLOGY 2012<\/strong> (June 2012)\u00a0: Professor Malliaras to give a plenary lecture at the 2012 NANOTEXNOLOGY meeting. For more information, see here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Dion<\/strong> (May 2012)\u00a0: Dion Khodagholy, a graduate student at BEL, wins a European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) graduate student award.<\/p>\n

\"Dion<\/p>\n

Research highlight<\/strong> (May 2012)\u00a0: Conducting polymer device controls protein conformation\u00a0! Read all about it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Plenary talk at E-MRS<\/strong> (March 2012)\u00a0: Professor Malliaras to give a plenary lecture at the European Materials Research Society Meeting. For more information, see here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2011<\/h2>\n

Gordon Conference on Organic Electronics<\/strong> (December 2011)\u00a0: Our Department co-organizes the 2012 Electronic Processes in Organic Materials Gordon Research Conference (3-8 June, at the Il Ciocco Tuscany Resort, in Italy). For more information, see here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bioelectronics Symposium @ E-MRS 2012 Spring Meeting, in Strasbourg<\/strong> (November 2011)\u00a0: Our Department co-organizes a symposium on the biological applications for organic electronic devices, during the E-MRS 2012 Spring meeting (15-17 May, in Strasbourg, France). For more information, see here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Research highlight<\/strong> (August 2011)\u00a0: Conducting polymer electrodes make better brain\/machine interfaces\u00a0! Read all about it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

BEL hosts summer students through the US National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network<\/strong> (May 2011)\u00a0: In collaboratiuon with the US National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network<\/a>, which conducts one of the largest and most successful Research Experience for Undergraduates Programs in nanotechnology, our Department is hosting two summer students. The students work on the fabrication of conducting polymer devices for interfacing with neurons.<\/p>\n

Bioelectronics Seminar @ Plastic Electronics 2011, in Dresden<\/strong> (May 2011)\u00a0: Our Department co-organizes a one-day seminar at the Plastic Electronics meeting in Dresden, the 10th of October 2011. For more information, see here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Professor Manfred Lindau of Cornell University on sabbatical at BEL<\/strong> (April 2011)\u00a0: Manfred Lindau<\/a>, Professor in the Department of Applied & Engineering Physics at Cornell University, will be on sabbatical at BEL till the end of July. After receiving his doctorate from the Technical University of Berlin in 1983, Lindau was a postdoctoral associate at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in G\u00f6ttingen and at the Free University of Berlin, where he became an assistant professor in 1988. From 1992 through 1997 he was an associate member of the Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research and taught biophysics at the University of Heidelberg. He joined the faculty at Cornell in 1997. He is active as a consultant in the areas of biophysics, physiology, and cell biology, and is a member of the Biophysical Society and the Society for Neuroscience.<\/p>\n

First French-American Workshop on Electronic Materials at the Interface with Biology announced<\/strong> (April 2011)\u00a0: Our Department, in a collaboration with Cornell University which is funded by a grant from the French American Cultural Exchange (FACE), and in collaboration with C-nano PACA, will be hosting a workshop in the island of Porquerolles. For more information, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Research highlight<\/strong> (March 2011)\u00a0: Conducting polymer arrays can be used to detect exocytosis from single cells\u00a0! Read all about it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2010<\/h2>\n

Inauguration of our Department<\/strong> (October 2010)\u00a0: The inauguration of our Department was held on the 30th of September and the 1st of October. The first day was dedicated to thanking all those who have participated in the creation of this Department, and included the ribbon-cutting ceremony. A conference themed \u2019Electronic Materials at the Interface with Biology\u2019 was held on the following day. Harold Craighead (Cornell University), Peter Fromherz (Max Plank Institute), Magnus Berggren (University of Linkoping), and Christophe Bernard (INSERM) delivered invited lectures. A poster session included contributions from Austria, France, Italy and Ireland. The inauguration was attended by 150 people. Click here<\/a> for news coverage (in French).<\/p>\n

Roisin Owens wins ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant<\/strong> (August 2010)\u00a0: R\u00f3is\u00edn Owens, recently recruited from the department of biomedical engineering at Cornell University has been awarded an ERC starting Independent Researcher Grants (ERC Starting Grants). The 1.5M\u20ac grant is for a period of 5 years. The subject of the grant is the development of a new in vitro cell model, involving the integration of organic electrochemical transistors with live cells. This \u2019in vitro cell model\u2019 will be used for the study and detection of pathogens, and toxins, in the fields of pharmacology, personal health, the environment and more. In addition, the project will aim to greatly reduce the numbers of animals used for testing in this type of research. Europe currently offers insufficient opportunities for young investigators to develop independent careers and make the transition from working under a supervisor to being independent researchers in their own right. This structural problem leads to a dramatic waste of research talent in Europe. It also limits or delays the emergence of the next-generation of research leaders, who bring new ideas and energy, and it encourages highly talented researchers at an early stage of their career to seek advancement elsewhere. The European Research Council (ERC) complements other funding activities in Europe such as those of the national research funding agencies, and is a flagship component of the \u2019Ideas Programme\u2019 of the European Union\u2019s Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7). ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grants (ERC Starting Grants) aim to support up-and-coming research leaders who are about to establish or consolidate a proper research team and to start conducting independent research in Europe. The scheme targets promising researchers who have the proven potential of becoming independent research leaders. It will support the creation of excellent new research teams and will strengthen others that have been recently created. Since the scheme began, around 300 grants have been awarded each year with a success rate of less than 10%. (En fran\u00e7ais\u00a0:<\/strong> R\u00f3is\u00edn Owens, r\u00e9cemment recrut\u00e9 du d\u00e9partement d\u2019ing\u00e9nierie biom\u00e9dical \u00e0 Cornell University aux USA, a \u00e9t\u00e9 s\u00e9lectionn\u00e9e pour une bourse CER (ERC Starting grant). La bourse consiste de 1.5M\u20ac pour une p\u00e9riode de 5 ans. Le sujet du projet et le d\u00e9veloppement d\u2019une nouvelle mod\u00e8le in vitro, en utilisant des transistors \u00e0 la base d\u2019organique \u00e9lectronique, int\u00e9gr\u00e9es avec des cellules vivantes. Cette “in vitro cell model” servira pour l\u2019\u00e9tude des pathog\u00e8nes, ou toxines, dans les domaines de pharmacologie, sant\u00e9, environnement….et pourra entre outre r\u00e9duire le nombre d\u2019animaux utilis\u00e9s pour ce type de recherche. Le Conseil europ\u00e9en de la recherche (CER)a \u00e9t\u00e9 cr\u00e9e en 2007 par l\u2019Union europ\u00e9enne. C\u2019est la premi\u00e8re organisation europ\u00e9enne \u00e0 soutenir des projets de recherche fondamentale sur le seul crit\u00e8re de l\u2019excellence scientifique d\u2019un chercheur et de la force innovante de son id\u00e9e, quels que soient sa nationalit\u00e9, son \u00e2ge ou son domaine de recherche. Le CER g\u00e8re le programme “Id\u00e9es”, une des quatre composantes du VII\u00e8me programme-cadre de recherche europ\u00e9en. Ainsi chaque ann\u00e9e, le Conseil Europ\u00e9en de la Recherche octroie d\u2019importantes bourses de recherche \u00e0 de scientifiques en d\u00e9but de carri\u00e8re (“ERC Starting grants”). L\u2019objectif est de permettre aux chercheurs qui montent leur premi\u00e8re \u00e9quipe de recherche, entre 2 et 8 ans apr\u00e8s leur d\u00e9fense de th\u00e8se, de d\u00e9velopper une carri\u00e8re ind\u00e9pendante. Depuis le d\u00e9but du programme environ 300 bourses ont \u00e9t\u00e9s accord\u00e9es chaque ann\u00e9e avec un taux de r\u00e9ussite de moins de 10%.)<\/p>\n

BEL team wins ANR grant to develop next generation implantable probes<\/strong> (July 2010)\u00a0: The purpose of this project (called MUSIC) is to develop a new generation of chronically implantable biocompatible probes displaying multi-sensing recording sites. MUSIC will make use of the most recent technology to address these issues\u00a0: It will use organic electrochemical transistors which have recently been demonstrated as highly sensitive ion-to-electron converters. As such, they can measure ionic currents through ion channels with high fidelity, enabling a new mode of probing brain function. Moreover, these devices can be functionalized by appropriate biorecognition elements to yield biosensors for a variety of analytes, including metabolites such as glucose. MUSIC brings together three partners who are at the forefront of their respective fields\u00a0: The team at Ecole des Mines de Saint-\u00c9tienne, with expertise in organic electronics and microfabrication, the epilepsy group of INSERM UMR 751, which will validate the probes and use them for leading research in epilepsy, and Microvitae Technologies, with expertise in design and fabrication of wireless electrophysiological data acquisition systems and commercialization of biomedical technologies.<\/p>\n

BEL team wins grant from FACE to partner with Cornell University<\/strong> (April 2010)\u00a0: The aim of this “Partner University Fund” project is to create a research and education partnership between the Nanobiotechnology Center (NBTC) at Cornell University and the Centre Micro\u00e9lectronique de Provence (CMP) of the Ecole Nationale Sup\u00e9rieure des Mines de Saint-\u00c9tienne (ENSM-SE) in the area of bioelectronics. The research component of the proposed partnership will target the use of electrically-active 2D and 3D scaffolds for cell growth. The educational component of the proposed partnership will consist of an annual workshop on bioelectronics that will be hosted at the CMP every summer and will be co-developed and co-taught by CMP and NBTC faculty members.<\/p>\n