​​​​Toomas Rang​

New or reoccurring bacterial threats are a major challenge of this century, and a delayed response due to the lack of field-testing options risks human lives and causing an epidemic. Classical microbiology techniques are relatively slow, while cytometric methods allow the measurement of cell count, morphology etc. in an easy, reliable, and fast way. State of the art flow cytometers are high-throughput benchtop instruments that are neither portable nor cheap enough for field testing, causing logistic delays in bacterial testing in remote areas and conflict zones or where infrastructure is limited. The goal of this R&D activity is to create the proof of concept of and develop the methodology for low-cost, fully portable flow cytometers based on droplet microfluidics, which will not only allow field analysis of bacteria, but will have a single-cell resolution. Furthermore, through cognitive electronics, the system will be easy to use and fully automated from sample input to result output.

"EXCITE brings together the topranked ICT research groups Estonia to work jointly on a focussed, yet broad and extendable, research programme. It will capitalize on the existing expertise to create synergies on the rich but fragmented landscape of the Estonian ICT research. The consortium will advance foundational theories of model verification and data analysis. On this groundwork, it will develop methods and tools for sound practices of designing and analyzing reliable and secure ICT systems processing large data volumes, as demanded by applications to domains of high socioeconomic relevance (cyberphysical and robotic systems, ehealth and biomedical systems). We will start with 10 cooperation themes with clearly defined objectives, methodology and expected results. These themes will be refined and redefined after 3 years. EXCITE will support research sustainability and provide a development opportunity for young researchers by financing 20-30 PhD students and postdocs.