As the SupraLife project nears its conclusion, it stands as a model of how collaboration, knowledge exchange, and vision can transform a scientific community. Funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No. 101079482), the project brought together researchers from the University of Aveiro, the Eindhoven University of Technology (The Netherlands), and the University of Bordeaux (France) and its affiliated entities Bordeaux INP and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) to advance the fields of supramolecular chemistry, biomaterials, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

We spoke with João Borges, Assistant Researcher at CICECO and coordinator of the SupraLife project, who has guided this three-year initiative from concept to impact — a journey that has reinforced CICECO’s position as a leading centre in supramolecular chemistry and biomaterials science.

A Collaborative Vision Turned into Reality

Reflecting on the project’s trajectory, João Borges highlights its transformative impact:

“SupraLife has been instrumental not only for me, but also for the COMPASS Research Group, CICECO, the Department of Chemistry and the University of Aveiro as a whole” he explains. “Before this project, we had never worked together with our consortium partners — the Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands) and the University of Bordeaux (France) and its affiliated entities Bordeaux INP and CNRS. What we accomplished in these (almost) three years is truly remarkable.”

Over its duration, the project organized 13 international events, including three summer schools, one final international conference, two scientific retreats, three hands-on workshops, and four international symposia held within major internatonal conferences in the field, such as IUPAC|CHAINS 2023 (The Hague), the European Society for Biomaterials 2023 (Davos), the World Biomaterials Congress 2024 (Daegu), and TERMIS-EU 2025 (Freiburg).

“All these networking and training activities and events were key to bringing to Aveiro truly world-renowned scientists in the field of supramolecular and biomaterials chemistry,” Borges notes. “They also contributed to positioning CICECO and the University of Aveiro as a major player contributing to advancing the knowledge in this area of research.”

Beyond scientific networking, SupraLife placed strong emphasis on capacity building and skills development. The project opened free training opportunities to students and early-career researchers across the university and beyond, addressing topics such as leadership, career development, scientific writing and publishing, science communication, entrepreneurship, open science, ethics, mental health, and diversity, equity and inclusion in science, among others.

“This component should never be forgotten” Borges stresses. “Even more within universities, where the focus is on the education of students across various fields of knowledge and on training them to boost their professional skills aiming to unlock their career potential and become better individuals and professionals.”

Scientific Exchange and New Directions

While SupraLife is a Coordination and Support Action, it also facilitated collaborative research through the exchange of PhD students, researchers, and staff among the consortium partners. These interactions have been fundamental to exploring several joint research projects and already enabled joint publications at the interface of supramolecular and polymer chemistry, biomaterials science, and tissue engineering, with several other works underway.

“Among the papers published to date, I emphasize a perspective article, joining the consortium partners and published in a high-impact journal, in which we summarized the research pursued to reconstruct the native extracellular matrix (ECM) of tissues by resorting to either dynamic supramolecular designs or naturally sourced biopolymers” Borges explains. “More importantly, we propose merging the natural with the synthetic world to enable hybrid cell-instructive materials — an approach that combines the dynamic mechanical profile, biomolecular composition and structural features of the ECM at all scales, from the nano- to the mesoscale, to create an artificial ECM that could emulate the native ECM’s complexity.”

“The field of hybrid materials is still in its infancy” he continues, “but we believe this will be a seminal paper in moving forward, together with the scientific community at large, towards more complex and dynamic materials and systems to create a fully functional artificial ECM.”

Global Leaders in Supramolecular Science Gather for SupraLife Final Conference

The University of Aveiro hosted the SupraLife Final International Conference from September 29 to October 3, 2025, marking the culmination of the networking events promoted by the consortium. The week-long event gathered world-renowned researchers in supramolecular and polymer chemistry, systems chemistry, self-assembly, biomaterials science and bioengineering, nanotechnology, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine to discuss cutting-edge developments shaping the future of bioinspired supramolecular materials and life-like systems.

The conference opened with welcoming remarks from Artur Silva, Vice-Rector for Research, Innovation, and 3rd Cycle Studies, João Borges and João F. Mano. Over five days, participants engaged in plenary lectures, oral and poster sessions, and plenty of networking opportunities, highlighting advances in supramolecular materials’ science and biomedical applications.

Plenary speakers included Samuel Stupp (Northwestern University, USA), E.W. “Bert” Meijer (Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands), Luisa De Cola (University of Milano, Italy), and Marcy Zenobi-Wong (ETH Zurich, Switzerland), among others.

“Organizing the Final International Conference of SupraLife, but also each one of the three previous schools in Aveiro, has been really important for CICECO and the Department of Chemistry to position ourselves in the field, but also for the community in Portugal, Europe and beyond” Borges remarks. “Several colleagues emphasized the quality of the scientific programs across all events, gathering outstanding scientists in the field — most of them recipients of at least one ERC grant — who interacted closely with students in an informal manner.” Borges adds. “Of course, I would like to emphasize the commitment, dedication and effort of all colleagues from the COMPASS Research Group who were part of the organizing committee and without whom it would not have been possible to organize and run the event in such a smooth and professional manner.”

“We always organized the events without parallel sessions and gathered around 150 participants since we really wanted to be focused and foster networking as much as possible. The feedback and enthusiasm of participants every year, and their encouragement to continue organizing these schools and conferences in Aveiro, is a very good sign — it means that the community enjoyed the events and intends to return, putting the city, CICECO and the University of Aveiro on the map in this area of research.”

Looking Ahead: Building a Lasting Legacy

“Our partners from Eindhoven and Bordeaux were major players for the implementation of the SupraLife project,” Borges concludes. “The open communication, mutual respect, trust and support for one another, and the fruitful exchanges across the almost three years of the project have been truly fundamental to bringing the ideas written on the paper a few years ago to life — and I am sure this collaboration will continue beyond the project timeframe.”

“I hope that the scientific community, mainly the young scientists, could be inspired by the outstanding lectures and stimulating discussions across all the events to advance their own research and pursue new and truly impactful ideas in supramolecular biomaterials and beyond, contributing to address pressing societal challenges, mainly pertaining to healthcare.”

“The bridges established among interdisciplinary scientists attending the events will resonate in new fruitful collaborations that will be key to advancing the fields of supramolecular and biomaterials chemistry, nanotechnology, bioengineering, biotechnology, and regenerative medicine — paving the way toward more complex, dynamic, and adaptive materials that could hopefully be translated to clinical settings in the decades to come.”

The SupraLife Final Conference thus marks not only the end of a project, but the continuation of a vision — one that connects molecular science, professional development, and the collaborative spirit that drives scientific discovery.

- See more activities of the SupraLife project at: LinkedIn: SupraLife EU
- Learn more about the project: www.supralife.eu