Two ERC Proof of Concept awards recognise research at Politecnico di Milano
Politecnico di Milano has been awarded two new European Research Council (ERC) grants with BATTITO and SAC3 projects, confirming its position as the leading Italian university for results achieved within the Horizon Europe programme.
Coordinated by Paola Occhetta, Associate Professor in the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, BATTITO aims to revolutionise preclinical drug testing by addressing unexpected cardiotoxicity, the main cause of failure of new medicines. The project, developed in collaboration between Politecnico di Milano and its spin-off BiomimX S.r.l., will create the first fully automated and intelligent "heart on chip", combining a three-dimensional model of human cardiac tissue with an artificial intelligence-based control system to make testing more reliable and reduce the need for animal testing.
SAC3, coordinated by Gianvito Vilé, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Material and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”, will develop the first platform for producing 3D-printed single-atom catalysts. The technology will enable the creation of robust "catalytic cartridges" ready for industrial use, overcoming one of the main limitations of fine chemistry, where catalysts are often used in powder form that is difficult to handle, recover and reuse. The aim is to validate this solution at pre-industrial scale and lay the foundations for a Politecnico di Milanospin-off dedicated to the commercialisation of single-atom cartridges for the fine chemistry and pharmaceutical sectors.
With these new ERC Proof of Concept grants, Politecnico di Milano now counts 49 ERC projects funded under Horizon Europe 2021–2027, for a total of approximately 49.26 million euros.
The ERC PoC call selects excellent projects already holding ERC funding, with the aim of exploring the practical applications of an idea originating from the main ERC project, facilitating the entry of early-stage basic research results into the market.