Meeting: WG Meeting in Munich – June 25–26, 2025

COST Working Group meeting, Action CA21159, Understanding interaction light – biological surfaces: possibility for new electronic materials and devices (PhoBioS).

Various biological surfaces are known to be covered by elaborated micro- and nano-structures, serving a number of functions (e.g. anti-reflective, structural coloration, anti-fouling, pro- or anti-adhesive, etc.) and inspiring numerous industrial applications. Recent years have witnessed a remarkable boost in research in this field. To a large extent, this boost owes to the increasing interdisciplinary of approaches being applied to the study of structured biosurfaces. Sciences as different as classical zoology and botany are inseminated with the advances in genetics and molecular biology; biologists collaborate more and more with nanotechnologists, materials scientists and engineers – all these contribute to the widening of the horizons of research on micro- and nano-structured biological surfaces, and to biomimetic and bioengineering applications of these surfaces in industry. We aim at ‘riding the wave’ of these developments with our proposal. The main goal of the COST Action “Understanding interaction light – biological surfaces: possibility for new electronic materials and devices” is to bring together scientists coming from distinct disciplines into this vibrant field of research, focusing on the photonic effects of nano-and micro-structuring of biological surfaces and their bionic applications. Our consortium will ensure cross-inspiration among the different participants coming from different research fields and will boost innovation in research and eventual industrial developments.

Meeting Programme:

📆 Wednesday, 25 June 2025

  📍 Venue: Hall B1 – Level 2, Room B13

  🧩 Event: Joint Session with SPIE Conference 13571

  🔬 Track: Optical Methods for Inspection, Characterization, and Imaging of Biomaterials VII

  🔗 Conference Details

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🧠 08:10 – 10:10 — COST Action Session I

             Chairs: Virgil-Florin Duma (Univ. Politehnica Timisoara, Romania), Pietro Ferraro (CNR, Italy)

• 08:10 – 08:40 – Microstructured imaging windows for live histology (Invited)

👤 G.G. Chirico et al. — Univ. Milano-Bicocca, Politecnico di Milano, CNR

• 08:40 – 09:10 – Photonic integrated light sources for sensing and spectroscopy at 2–3 µm (Invited)

👤 M. Guina, J. Viheriälä — Tampere University (Finland)

• 09:10 – 09:40 – Learning from nature: multimodal imaging and surface interactions (Invited)

👤 D. Fixler — Bar-Ilan University (Israel)

• 09:40 – 10:10 – Lithium niobate as functional substrate for living cells (Invited)

👤 F. Borrelli, V. Bianco, P. Memmolo et al. — CNR, Italy

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☕ 10:10 – 10:40 — Coffee Break

🧠 10:40 – 11:40 — COST Action Session II

            Chairs: Virgil-Florin Duma (Univ. Politehnica Timisoara, Romania), Pietro Ferraro (CNR, Italy)

• 10:40–11:10 – Dynamic surfaces to guide cell behavior and fate decisions (Invited Paper)

👤  Paolo Antonio Netti — Univ. degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italy)

• 11:10–11:40 – Bioinspired nanocoatings: self-assembly and photonic properties of insect corneal structures (Invited Paper)

👤 Mikhail Kryuchkov, Vladimir Katanaev — Univ. de Genève (Switzerland)

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🍽️ 11:40–12:30 — Lunch Break

🖼️ 12:30–13:30 — Poster Session 

  📍 Location: ICM, Hall B0

  📌 Selected contributions from Poland, Romania, Turkey, Netherlands

  💡 Topics: laser scanning, microscopy, anti-reflective coatings, failure analysis, biomedical optics

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🧭 13:30–17:00 — COST Networking & EXPO Visit 

  📍 Location: MESSE Munich

  🎯 Guided visit and strategic collaboration time for COST Action members

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📆 Thursday, 26 June 2025 

  📍 Venue: ICM Room 21

  🔷 Event: COST PhoBioS Special Sessions (CA100)

  🧬 Theme: Nano-/Micro-structured Surfaces: Photonic Properties and Applications

  🔗 Conference Details

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🎙️ 09:00–10:00 — Cost Action (PhoBioS) Special Session I   

          Chairs: V.-F. Duma, M. Dabbicco

• 09:00–09:30 – Can we use nature to design photonics materials?

👤 V. Katanaev, D. Fixler, M. Godinho, P. Wityk et al.

• 09:30–10:00 – Nanoengineered optical interfaces for healthcare applications (Invited)

👤 S. Krishnamoorthy — LIST, Luxembourg

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☕ 10:00–10:30 — Coffee Break

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🎙️ 10:30–12:30 — Cost Action (PhoBioS) Special Session II 

             Chair: D. Fixler

• Topics include:
• Terahertz QCL modeling
• Hyperspectral bacterial imaging
• Decade of OCT scanning optimization
• Holographic microscopy for bio-interfaces
• Market dynamics of photonic surfaces

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🍽️ 12:30–13:40 — Lunch Break

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🎙️ 13:40–15:30 — Special Session III 

Chair: J. Radovanovic

• Detector-free IR imaging proposal
• Modular fs-laser for micromachining
• Anti-fouling coatings via iCVD
• Fiber photometry for neuroscience
• Wearable UV photodetectors

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☕ 15:30–16:00 — Coffee Break

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🎓 16:00–18:00 — Special Session IV:  Young Researchers Workshop 

             Chairs: V.-F. Duma, M. Szczerska

• 16:00–17:00 — Presentations by PhD students

       – Optical pH sensors

       – Laser cutting for airbags

       – BP-based UV detectors

• 17:00–18:00 — Short pitches by COST PhoBioS students