CORDIScovery – unearthing the hottest topics in EU science, research and innovation

People often forget just how significant the wine industry is in Europe. Across the EU there are about 2.2 million wine‑growing farms looking after roughly 3.2 million hectares of vines, and every year those vineyards turn out something like 150 million hectolitres of wine, that’s around 20 billion bottles a year.
But growers are getting squeezed in two directions: more unstable harvests, and weaker demand. When a bottle is poured, it isn’t just a drink on the table. It’s part of a sector that keeps villages alive and brings billions into the economy.
So, what can we do to help the situation? Our three guests, all of whom have received support from the EU’s research and innovation funding programme, have some intriguing ideas.
Filipe Neves dos Santos develops autonomous robots and machinery, which can operatesafely on steep slopes, for the agricultural and forestry sectors. He works at the Centre forRobotics in Industry and Intelligent Systems, INESC TEC,in Portugal.
Zoe Doulgeri is professor of Robotics and Control of Manufacturing Systems at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Her current research interests include learning and control of unimanual and bimanual robotic object manipulation.
Gustavo Pérez González is a senior project manager at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He specialises in analytical chemistry, specifically to develop secure, traceable and immutable solutions for wine authentication.

There are advances being made in the area of dementia and cognitive ageing. But sometimes it feels like a race against time, so what can the latest research reveal?
Evidence-based solutions may help to foster better coordination between health and social care systems across the Europe. Our three guests, whose projects benefited from EU research and innovation funding, are helping to make a complex picture, clearer.
Alina Solomon is professor of Neuroepidemiology at the University of Eastern Finland, visiting professor at Imperial College London, and senior researcher at the Karolinska Institute. She is particularly interested in dementia risk detection and therapeutic approaches for dementia risk reduction.
Julia Neitzel is assistant professor at the Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Neitzel uses brain scans in large population studies to discover what protects and hurts brain health.
Currently professor at the University of Luxembourg, Anja Leist will soon be taking up a professorship at the University of Heidelberg. Her research focuses on sex and gender differences, socio-economic inequalities, and risk reduction in cognitive ageing and dementia.

The EU is intending to have all sectors of the economy at net zero greenhouse gas production by 2050. But heavy industry and transport can be challenging to electrify directly. So renewable, low-carbon hydrogen, and its derivatives, are key tools in the box. 
To get there, we need to create a stronger demand for the fuel, boost transport and storage networks and secure the renewable affordable electricity needed to generate cost-effective hydrogen. Our three projects today, all of which received support from the EU’s research and innovation funding, have some solutions.
Magali Senaux, senior consultant and project manager at Environmental Resources Management Limited, is keen tosee the day when the buses passing you by in the street no longer belch out fumes, instead, leaving nothing but a dribble of water.
Melanie Lienerth is passionately interested in hydrogen-powered flight which she brings closer at H2FLY, the company behind a test flight believed to be the first, forward flight of a vertical take-off and landing aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen.
Benedikt Hasibar is a project coordinator at Green Gas Technologies at RAG Austria AG – Austria’s largest energy storage company. Benedikt is working on the development of effective and efficient hydrogen storage.

This special episode of CORDIScovery comes to you from the EU’s Research and Innovation Days.
This episode discusses the effort going into making injectionsneedle-free, new diagnostic tools and therapies for heart conditions such as arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation, how wearable technologies are being harnessed to detect life-threatening conditions such as sepsis, and the influence of urban environments on our health.
David Fernandez Rivas leads the BuBble Gun project, aimed at developing a new method for needle-free injections.
Stéphane Hatem coordinated the MAESTRIA project, which set out to use machine learning and AI to detect atrial fibrillation and prevent stroke.
Bruno Miranda examines how urban and architectural environments affect brain behaviour, and is co-coordinator of the eMOTIONAL Cities project.
Andreu Climent is the CEO of Corify Care, a company that has grown to a team of 38 people and has secured over EUR 10 million in investment and revenue. Climent is coordinator of the SAVE-COR project.
Christoforos Panteli is developing electronic gas sensors and algorithms for diagnosing sepsis from exhaled breath, which he has explored through the SepsISensoR project.

This special episode of CORDIScovery comes to you from the EU’s Research and Innovation Days. Let’s dive into artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Our four cutting-edge projects have all received EU research and innovation funding, showcasing the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in various sectors, including health, environment, industry and culture.
Thomas Gutt is the AIMS5.0 project coordinator, which aims to use AI to improve the sustainability of European manufacturing.
George Nikolakopoulos, coordinator of the PERSEPHONE project, is professor in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (RAI), at the Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Luleå University of Technology in Sweden.
Sophia Alexandersson is the representative of a partner in the MuseIT project. She is the chief executive and artistic director of ShareMusic and Performing Arts, a Swedish centre for artistic development and inclusion. Alessandro Kartsiaklis is CEO of NaviBlind, which develops technologies for improved accessibility and mobility, particularly aiding blind and partially sighted individuals in navigation and daily tasks.