The NANOSTEM Program has delivered an International Conference as one of the parallel sessions of the 31st Annual Conference of the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB 2021), 5th – 9th September 2021. Unfortunately, also this event was held fully online, however, the number of participants has been remarkably high! The conference attracted 975 participants from 48 different countries. The overall program included 10 plenary presentations, 98 invited lectures and 795 presentations, of which 348 oral communications and 447 posters. It was recorded that an average of 500 people connected daily.

Our 14 fellows contributed to the NANOSTEM session on the 6th of September by presenting an account of their latest results. The ESRs covered topic ranging from organic and polymer chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, neuroscience, and computational science. The session was complemented by two keynote lectures by Prof Marina Resmini “How do we create an inclusive and diverse research culture?” and Prof Lino Ferreira “Modulation of stem cells using nanotechnologies”.

The fellows also attended the five days conference whose main aim was “Future Biomaterials”. Throughout the event, biomaterials were analysed in conjunction with advanced technologies, such as nanotechnology, microfluidics, and bioimaging to develop the clinical combination products and functionalities of the future.

The conference had also a packed social program to promote networking with virtual nights out, yoga lunches, music evenings and much more.