Sepsis or septicemia is a serious and potentially fatal response to an infection that can worsen very quickly. A 2020 WHO report estimates that sepsis causes 30 million deaths a year worldwide. It is estimated that the risk of dying from complications of infections increases by 7.6% for every hour of delay in treatment. It is estimated that early diagnosis of sepsis could save the lives of 200,000 people annually.

The kick-off meeting of the BIOntier project (BreakIng FrOntiers in sustainable and circular biocomposites with high performance for multi-sector applications) was held in mid-October in Heraklion (Crete, Greece). The project, funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe programme, is made up of a consortium of 25 entities from 12 countries. BCMaterials is one of several Basque partners in the project, along with Tecnalia and Graphenea.

We would like to welcome Stephania Rodríguez Muiña as a new predoctoral researcher at BCMaterials. This young scientist joins our center to work on the Micro and Nanodevices research line, within the framework of the Marie Curie Doctoral Network ECLectic. This European project aims at the early diagnosis of sepsis using electrochemolinoscence.

Here at BCMaterials we would like to give our warmest welcome to Son Singh and Shehla Gul, post-doctoral and pre-doctoral researchers who joined our center recently.

BCMaterials participated in late June at the GIANCE Horizon Europe project’s workshop within the Graphene Conference 2024 Industrial Forum, held in Madrid. Our center is a member of the consortium of this important project, aiming to create the next generation of affordable, eco-friendly, lightweight, and recyclable materials based on graphene and related substances (GRM)

We welcome Dr. Davide Spirito, who recently joined BCMaterials as a Ramón y Cajal fellow. Dr. Spirito got his PhD in Condensed Matter Physics from Roma Tre university in 2012. Since then, his multidisciplinary background comprises topics in the field of semiconductors, spectroscopy, nanomaterials, nanofabrication, energy harvesting and the development of optoelectronic devices.

Two new pre-doctoral researchers join BCMaterials: Vanessa Galván de Cos and Álvaro Cortés Flores.

We want to welcome Dimitra Das, who recently joined BCMaterials as a post-doctoral researcher. Dr. Das earned her PhD in Materials Science and Nanotechnology from Jadavpur University, India, in 2024. Her doctoral research concentrated on the development of carbon and nitrogen-based polymeric nanomaterials, which she applied to catalyze the degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater.

BCMaterials significantly reinforces its advanced functional materials and surfaces research line with the incorporation of a new Ikerbasque Research Associate, Dr. Reyes Calvo. At the same time as Calvo, postdoctoral researcher Lisa Almonte and predoctoral researchers Eudomar Henríquez and Juan David Cortés have joined BCMaterials.

Our center is happy to receive Dr. Maibelin Rosales as a post-doctoral researcher with a Marie Curie scholarship. After achieving her PhD in Materials Science from the University of Chile, Rosales has developed an important research career at the Advanced Mining Technology Center (AMTC) of the University of Chile. There she specialized in the design of nanomaterials activated with sunlight for the water remediation and also for the generation of green hydrogen from the decomposition of water molecules.