On 10 July 2025, the NSC contributed to the success of the NanoTexnology (NN25) in Thessaloniki, Greece, through a dedicated session titled “Special Session on Applying nanosafety competencies to the Advanced Materials arena”, chaired by Andreas Falk (BNN) and Cris Rocca (UoB), and featured a keynote presentation by Eva Valsami-Jones (UoB) on “From nanomaterials to advanced materials and their safe and sustainable future”.
The session brought together leading experts to explore the effective application of the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) principles to advanced materials innovation.
Presentations covered topics such as the advanced materials ecosystem (Andreas Falk, BNN, including e.g., InnoMatSyn-project), governance and policy for SSbD (RIVM, presented by Andreas Falk (BNN)), stakeholder negotiation in SSbD decision-making (Massimo Perucca, HUB360, including e.g., INTEGRANO-project), and workplace safety regarding engineered nanoparticles (Alexandros Alexopoulos, CERTH).
The session concluded with a wrap-up discussion that reinforced the NSC’s commitment to fostering cross-sectoral collaboration and policy alignment in the transition from nanomaterials to advanced materials.
The second part of the NSC session, chaired by Eva Valsami-Jones and Cris Rocca (both UoB), brought together experts to discuss the intersection of nanosafety and advanced materials innovation. V. Koutsos opened with insights into the behaviour of nanocolloids on surfaces, emphasizing their relevance to material performance and safety. K. Ellinas followed with a presentation on micro- and nanofabricated functional surfaces, showcasing applications in environmental and food systems. L. Ansari addressed the critical impact of defects in large-area 2D materials on device reliability, while D. Fragouli and colleagues presented nanocomposite hydrogels designed for simultaneous water purification and quality monitoring. Lech A. concluded with a methodological study on determining the specific surface area of silver nanowires, a key parameter for nanoscale safety assessments.
The NSC-sessions highlighted the importance of integrating safety competencies into the design and deployment of advanced materials to foster a more responsible and sustainable innovation ecosystem.
