Breath Research Interactions and Development via Guidance and Exchanges

29/06/2026

🤝 Numbers that tell a story of collaboration.

Behind the scientific results of Breath Research Interactions and Development via Guidance and Exchanges lies an extraordinary human effort:

👥 41 staff visits & secondments — perfectly balancing outward missions of FORTH researchers to hashtag & hashtag IVV with inward visits of world-class scientists to Heraklion, Crete.
🎓 121 total course-hours of structured training delivered — vastly exceeding all initial targets.
📚 Topics ranged from materials synthesis and advanced characterisation to breath research fundamentals and data management via Electronic Lab Notebook platforms.

The result? VOC detection and analysis is now a permanent, standalone research activity at FORTH — a legacy that outlasts the project itself.

29/06/2026

🎤 19 seminars. Up to 70 researchers per session.

A key pillar of BRIDGE's dissemination strategy was a high-profile seminar and colloquium series, open to the full scientific communities of IESL-FORTH, the University of Crete, the Hellenic Mediterranean University, and our international partners.

Topics spanned the full breadth of BRIDGE's interdisciplinary scope:
💡 Halide perovskite nanocrystals & optical properties — Prof. Liberato Manna (IIT)
💨 Breath biomarkers & VOC diagnostics — Dr Jonathan Beauchamp (Fraunhofer IVV)
🧲 Magnetic nanoplatforms for cancer therapy — Dr Teresa Pellegrino (IIT)
⚡ Colloidal quantum dots for NIR optoelectronics — Dr Francesco Di Stasio (IIT)
🔋 Industrially relevant electrocatalysis — Dr Michele Ferri (IIT)

Knowledge doesn't stay in the lab!

29/06/2026

🎓 121 hours. 12 courses. A generation of trained researchers.

Human capital development was at the heart of Breath Research Interactions and Development via Guidance and Exchanges A rigorous, structured training curriculum was delivered across two world-class research hubs:

🇩🇪 At Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft IVV (Freising, Germany):
Advanced Gas Chromatography, GC-MS optimisation, multidimensional GCxGC, TD-GCxGC-TOF MS, PTR-MS, and Sensory Science & Breath Concepts.

🇬🇷 At Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH) (Heraklion, Greece):
Electronic structure of solids, nanocrystal characterisation (AFM/XRD/XPS), nanoparticle toxicity, optoelectronics, nanomaterials informatics & robotic synthesis, nanomechanics, scientific communication, and scanning electron microscopy — delivered by senior IIT researchers.

This is what twinning looks like in practice. 🔬

26/06/2026

🚀 From the lab bench to the market: BRIDGE project joins the WiderAdvance Facility.

As the BRIDGE project reached its final phase, the consortium identified two Key Exploitable Results (KERs) at TRL 4:

🌡️ Optimized room-temperature ozone sensors
🌿 Sustainable, lead-free Cs₂AgBiBr₆ double perovskite platforms

Both hold strong potential in breath diagnostics and environmental monitoring two sectors with growing societal and commercial demand.

To accelerate the academic-to-industry transition, FORTH has been enrolled in the EU-funded WiderAdvance Facility, where our team is receiving expert coaching in:

✅ Exploitation readiness
✅ IP protection & standardisation
✅ Investor readiness
This is how we turn research excellence into real-world impact.

Read more: https://lnkd.in/dimW7pWg

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

25/06/2026

🎉 We are proud to announce the successful completion of the BRIDGE project (Oct 2022 – Mar 2026)!

Over 42 months, our consortium achieved all 12 project objectives, submitted all 17 deliverables, and met every single milestone — including a successfully approved 6-month extension.

BRIDGE has bridged a critical gap in:
🔬 All-inorganic metal halide perovskite synthesis
📊 Advanced nanomaterial characterization
💨 VOC detection & breath research analysis
This journey would not have been possible without our outstanding advanced partners, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) and Fraunhofer IVV, and everyone who contributed to this remarkable scientific endeavour.

The network we built doesn't end here — our teams are already working on follow-on funding and new collaborative initiatives to take the science of BRIDGE even further.
Thank you all! 🙏

17/02/2026

🔬 Open Courses on Electron Microscopy at The Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser - FORTH!

Η ομάδα Stratakis Lab - Ultrafast Laser Micro and Nano Processing Group (ULMNP) του ΙΗΔΛ-ΙΤΕ σας προσκαλεί σε μια σειρά ανοικτών μαθημάτων στο πλαίσιο του ευρωπαϊκού έργου EU BRIDGE!

🎓 Θέμα: "Introduction to scanning electron microscopy on nanomaterials"
🎙️ Ομιλήτρια: Dr. Rosaria Brescia, Συντονίστρια της Μονάδας Ηλεκτρονικής Μικροσκοπίας στο Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT).

Το σεμινάριο έχει διάρκεια 6 ωρών και θα ολοκληρωθεί σε 3 ημέρες, καλύπτοντας από τις βασικές αρχές του SEM μέχρι προχωρημένες τεχνικές όπως η ανάλυση EDS και το STEM-in-SEM.

📅 Πρόγραμμα & Τοποθεσίες:

Τρίτη 24/2 (11:00 – 13:00): Αίθουσα «Κώστας Φωτάκης», Κτίριο «Ελευθέριος Οικονόμου».

Πέμπτη 26/2 (11:00 – 13:00): Αίθουσα «Στέλιος Ορφανουδάκης», Κτίριο «Ελευθέριος Οικονόμου».

Παρασκευή 27/2 (11:00 – 13:00): Αίθουσα «Άρτεμις Σαϊτάκης», STEP-C, Κτίριο Α.

The ULMNP group of IESL-FORTH is excited to present the final open courses of the EU BRIDGE project!

🔬 Topic: "Introduction to scanning electron microscopy on nanomaterials"
🎙️ Speaker: Dr. Rosaria Brescia (PhD), Coordinator of the Electron Microscopy Facility at IIT.

This course aims to provide essential concepts in SEM, operation modes, and analytical techniques (EDS, CL), focusing on applications in materials science.
📅 Schedule:

Feb 24: "Kostas Fotakis" Room.
Feb 26: "Stelios Orphanoudakis" Room.
Feb 27: "Artemis Saitakis" Room, STEP-C.
📍 All sessions are held from 11:00 to 13:00

23/07/2025

Our latest research, just published in "Advanced Sensor Research"! 📄✨

Air quality sensors are vital, our team at IESL-The Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser - FORTH, has developed a green one!

We designed an eco-friendly sensor using lead-free perovskite crystals (Cs2​AgBiBr6​) that can effectively "sniff out" harmful ozone gas. The best part? It works at room temperature, needs very little power, and is incredibly stable and selective. This makes it a promising candidate for next-generation devices for monitoring air quality and ensuring industrial safety.

We would like to thank our valuable collaborators, the TCM laboratory at IESL and the QTM group at UoC.

Find out all the details in our open-access paper! We'd love to hear your thoughts.

https://doi.org/10.1002/adsr.202500018

Stratakis Lab - Ultrafast Laser Micro and Nano Processing Group

19/05/2025

Discover the potential of in ! Dr Nansy Kostopoulou shared insights from our research at The Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser - FORTH and Stratakis Lab - Ultrafast Laser Micro and Nano Processing Group during the ATHENA talks. See the presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=900E-sgBYPI

Dr. Kostopoulou will explore how perovskite materials are engineered for high-performance gas sensors, focusing on tuning their sensitivity, long-term stabil...

16/01/2025

Dr Nansy Kostopoulou co-PI of the BRIDGE project and member of Stratakis Lab - Ultrafast Laser Micro and Nano Processing Group- The Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser - FORTH, shares her insights from visiting the ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA (IIT) in Genoa, Italy, and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising, Germany. In this interview with the journalist Dr Vasiliki Michopoulou, she highlights the benefits of the program and the value of international research visits.

Προγράμματα «αδελφοποίησης» με ερευνητικά κέντρα και πανεπιστήμια του εξωτερικού προσφέρουν πλέον στους νέους επιστήμονες την ευκαιρία να πραγματοποιήσουν έρευ...

09/01/2025

Exciting news from our project! This work advances perovskite technology for highly sensitive & stable room-temperature ozone sensors, with impact for material engineering and sensing other gases too. Read more in Small journal:

Mixed halide perovskites (MHPs), especially those doped with Mn, demonstrate a robust and sensitive response to O3 at room temperature. Atomistic simulations and experiments confirm that Mndoping boo...