Projects

Particle accelerators are a key asset of the European Research Area. Their use spans from the large installations devoted to fundamental science to a wealth of facilities providing X-ray or neutron beams to a wide range of scientific disciplines. Beyond scientific laboratories, their use in medicine and industry is rapidly growing. Notwithstanding their high level of maturity, particle accelerators are now facing critical challenges related to the size and performance of the facilities envisaged for the next step of particle physics research, to the increasing demands to accelerators for applied science, and to the specific needs of societal applications. In this crucial moment for accelerator evolution, I.FAST aims at enhancing innovation in and from accelerator-based Research Infrastructures (RI) by developing innovative breakthrough technologies common to multiple accelerator platforms, and by defining strategic roadmaps for future developments. I.FAST will focus the technological R&D on long-term sustainability of accelerator-based research, with the goal of developing more performant and affordable technologies, and of reducing power consumption and impact of accelerator facilities, thus paving the way to a sustainable next-generation of accelerators. By involving industry as a co-innovation partner via the 17 industrial companies in the Consortium, 12 of which SME’s, I.FASTwill generate and maintain an innovation ecosystem around the accelerator-based RIs that will sustain the long-term evolution of accelerator technologies in Europe. To achieve its goals, I.FAST will explore new alternative accelerator concepts and promote advanced prototyping of key technologies. These include, among others, techniques to increase brightness and reduce dimensions of synchrotron light sources, advanced superconducting technologies to produce higher fields with lower consumption, and strategies and technologies to improve energy efficiency.

"The objective of the project is to answer the needs of the bioeconomy sector in well-trained graduates, able to develop innovative and sustainable bio-based products and bioprocesses, and ensure their integration into alternative value chains and different bioeconomy sectors. Bioceb consists of a dedicated 2years (4-semester) MSc joint programme, with a core in-depth training in biotechnology encompassing biological resource diversity and optimal use, bioprocess design and upscaling, and biobased products engineering for targeted markets, with complementary focus on soft skills including project management. In order to promote the development of sustainable and circular bioeconomy systems, the programme goes beyond the biomass processing technical issues, by providing knowledge of green chemistry principles, tools for socio-economic and environmental assessment, experience of facing real-life bioeconomy challenges through projects and examples of flexible biorefinery systems adapted to local contexts. Five academic institutions, the Partners, collaborate intensively to offer joint study modules in addition to their existing curricula. Moreover, a group of strategic associated partners is settled with members from Eu- and Non-EU Universities, research Institutions and socio-economic partners, to contribute to the curricula in internship and masterthesis writing and achievement of learning outcomes. "

Teledermoscopy has shown high diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity 90.48% and specificity 92.57%) for early detection of skin cancer in Estonia. However, not all its potential for early detection has been utilized, contributing to high melanoma mortality rates. Objective: This project aims to assess the impact of an integrated approach to patient pathways initiated by teledermoscopy on melanoma management effectiveness, focusing on faster diagnosis confirmation and treatment. Methodology: The study will evaluate the smoothness and effectiveness of the patient pathway initiated by teledermoscopy, integrating improvements based on existing requirements and study findings. The primary outcome measure will be the speed of histologically confirmed diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Result-Hypothesis: It's hypothesized that the integrated pathway will lead to better melanoma patient outcomes compared to previous studies, ensuring timely diagnosis confirmation and treatment."

Estonia's significant mineral resource, peat, is currently mainly extracted and exported as growth substrates for European agriculture. We offer technological solutions to produce high-value materials from by-products/residue of peat production. We are exploring two different experimental chemical valorization directions for peat. Firstly, the production of carbon nanomaterials (carbon nanoparticles, carbon quantum dots CQD), which have a wide range of applications from biomedicine to optics and electronic components. Examples: bioimaging applications, portable sensors, solar panel components etc. The application of CQDs is rapidly developing and new start-up ideas appear often. Secondly, the production of chemically modified biopolymers as high-performance alternatives to petroleum-derived products such as construction panels, packaging containers or conventional adsorbent materials. The resulting products contribute to long-term carbon sequestration, helping to balance the carbon footprint of the peat industry.

Georgia produces about 70 thousand tonnes of mandarins annually, 50% of which gets exported. Local fruit juice industry utilizes most of the mandarins left in the country to produce mandarin juice. However, the leftover mandarin pomace causes serious environmental issues as the piled up pomace waste leaches acidic decomposting products as well as essential oils into the environment. Mandarin pomace is a rich source of fine chemicals and the project will develop environmentally friendly technologies to extrat those chemicals from the waste.

The aim of this project is to apply an innovative approach to the study of the antioxidant / antibacterial properties of plant extracts used in folk medicine using structure-based fractionation, characterization by multi-instrumental methods and evaluation of activity against Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli and B. burgdorferi).

This study aims to explore the chemical composition and variability of Estonian bee pollen across different seasons and potentially different regions. The focus is on analyzing the content of various bioactive compounds, such as antioxidants, amino acids, and volatile compounds, to evaluate the nutritional value and potential of pollen as a functional food.

The PSYR-IR project zooms in on occupational safety and health, with a particular focus on mental health and worker well-being. It is our aim to identify the broad challenges and issues at play, as well as their underlying drivers, across all EU Member States and all economic sectors. This will be done by implementing an overarching conceptual framework on OSH and linking it with the existing empirical evidence and the policy/regulatory context (e.g. legislation, collective bargaining, etc.) on mental health in EU workplaces. Next to this overall analysis, identifying specific groups at-risk on the EU labour market, we also focus on the mental health of two predetermined target groups: frontline workers (in the female-dominated public health sector) and on-location production workers (low-skilled blue collar workers in the male-dominated private sector). Furthermore, the project will consider the interplay between psychosocial risks and mental health and well-being across economic sectors in the EU27, with separate case studies at the level of the participating EU Member States. Besides identifying challenges and drivers, the project wants to understand what actors can play a role in addressing them, at different levels (EU level, national level, sectoral level, company level) and what policies, practices, tools, actions and initiatives can be or are being adopted. Specific attention will go to the role of the social partners and of social dialogue (collective bargaining), and to worker participation in OSH matters. The project will also identify good examples to inspire policy- and decision-makers at different levels. Methodologically, the project will combine desk research, quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis and dissemination techniques. To do so, we bring together partners with expertise on OSH, industrial relations, or both, from countries in different European regions representing different institutional and industrial relations regimes.

Feeding the continuously growing population is taking its toll on environmental resources. Expanding agricultural lands is not viable anymore as biological diversity and our own living environment suffer. The alternative is to transfer food production – proteins included – into microorganisms cultivated in bioreactors. This allows resource efficient food protein production that follows the principles of circular economy. Furthermore, both plant and animal-based proteins can be produced in microbes. The structures of these proteins can be optimised using cutting-edge molecular biology tools to improve their nutritional value and other properties like stickiness or foaming that are important in food preparation. As a result of this project, a food protein with improved properties is designed and produced in a bioreactor on an experimental scale. The acquired know-how is an important tool for the food industry to develop novel nature-friendly products.

Using surface plasmon resonance and calorimetry, the binding of hypertriglyceridemia drug candidates to lipoprotein lipase was tested.

In the course of this project, the concept and prototype of a device for measuring the shadow line of real 3D objects was created and tested both in a test and real environment. The system is used to prepare the most suitable transport packaging for the safe packaging of the objects in question. At present, the production process contains too much manual labor and the level of automation needs improvement. The created system allows to reduce the volume of manual work and also to increase the quality of work (avoid errors and increase accuracy).