This document describes the COST Action on Advanced Engineering and Research of Aerogels for Environment and Life Sciences. The 4-year action involves over 150 research centers from 40 countries. It aims to develop aerogel-based products for biomedical and environmental applications by facilitating knowledge sharing between stakeholders. The action is organized into 5 working groups and plans activities like training schools, workshops, conferences and short-term scientist exchanges to achieve its objectives of advancing the field of aerogel research and applications.

1. Advanced Engineering and Research of
aeroGels for Environment and Life Sciences
https://cost‐aerogels.eu/
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2. Advanced Engineering and Research of
aeroGels for Environment and Life Sciences
CSO approval: 13/11/2018 Start Date: 30/04/2019
End Date: 29/04/2023 (4 years)
MC Chair: Carlos A. García‐González (carlos.garcia@usc.es)
MC Vice‐Chair: Irina Smirnova (irina.smirnova@tuhh.de)
Sci Comm Mngr: Pasquale Del Gaudio (p.delgaudio@unisa.it)
Science officer: Mónica Pérez Cabero (monica.perez@cost.eu)
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3. AERoGELS COST Action Members
• COST Countries
• Cooperating Country
Israel
• NNC Country
Jordan (German Jordanian University)
Russian Federation (Mendeleyev Univ. Chem. Tech.)
• International Partner Country
Costa Rica (Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica)
Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy,
Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,
Moldova, Montenegro, The Netherlands,
North Macedonia, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey, United Kingdom.
Open and living network
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4. About COST
Embracing diversity
Open
Ingenious
Human / Easy
Science is about
people
Unlocking the full
potential of science
• European Cooperation in Science and Technology
(COST) is an EU‐funded, intergovernmental framework
• Aim: Creation of research networks (COST Actions)
Creating spaces where
ideas and people can
grow without limits
Vision
Mission
Proposition
Values
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5. Excellence
Interdisciplinarity
Young
researchers &
innovators
About COST
• COST strategic priorities
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6. AERoGELS Action – Context (I)
• What are aerogels?
Aerogels are obtained from gels where the
liquid component has been replaced with a
gas, generally air
Aerogels are usually produced by extracting
the liquid component from the gel through
“supercritical drying” preventing gel network
collapse, as would happen with conventional
evaporation
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7. AERoGELS Action – Context (& II)
• Aerogels for biomedical and environmental applications
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8. AERoGELS Action – Objectives (I)
• To boost the development of aerogel‐
based products for biomedical and
environmental applications by
•setting up a multidisciplinary knowledge‐
based network to facilitate the exchange
of ideas, expertise and outcomes
•encompassing European key actors from
technological, scientific and market points
of view
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9. AERoGELS Action – Objectives (& II)
• To promote, disseminate and share knowledge on aerogels
technology through
•Workshops, Conferences, Meetings and Dissemination Events
• Industry‐Academia Forum
• Training schools
• Opinion and review articles and joint publications
• Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM)
• Conference Grants
• Web page, mass media and social media
https://cost‐aerogels.eu/
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10. AERoGELS Action – Key targets
• Involvement of industrial partners
•Training of early career investigators (ECIs)
•Long‐term legate beyond Action lifetime
•Technology ↔ application information flow
•Reach stakeholders and the general society
•Gender and geographical balance of the network
•Involvement of ITC countries
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11. AERoGELS Action – Organization
• Management committee (MC)
•Max. 2 representative per country
•Election of Action key roles
•Progress follow‐up and supervision of allocation of funds
• Core Group (CG)
•Action Chair, Vice‐Chair, WG‐leaders, STSM coordinator, ITC grant
manager, Science Communication manager
•Supplementary roles to undergo tasks to reach the Action
objectives
• Working Groups (WGs)
•5 WGs with leader/coleaders
•Reach specific research coordination objectives
Brussels (BE), 30.04.2019
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12. AERoGELS Action – Key roles
• Chair: Carlos A. García‐González (ES)
•Vice‐Chair: Irina Smirnova (DE)
•Science Comm. Manager: Pasquale Del Gaudio (IT)
•WG‐leaders
•WG1: Carmen Alvarez‐Lorenzo (ES)
•WG2: Tatiana Budtova (FR)
•WG3: Falk Liebner (AT)
•WG4: Can Erkey (TR) & Matthias Koebel (CH)
•WG5: Monica Neagu (RO)
• STSM Coordinator: Luísa Durães (PT)
•ITC Conf. Grant Manager: Patrina Paraskevopoulou (GR)
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13. AERoGELS Action – Working Groups
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14. AERoGELS Action – Working Groups
WG1. Pharmaceutical and biomedical applications
of aerogels
Objective: To design and develop
aerogel‐based products in the
form of drug delivery systems for
pharmaceutical applications, or
as medical devices for wound
healing and tissue regeneration.
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15. AERoGELS Action – Working Groups
WG2. Environmental Applications of Aerogels
Objective: To design and develop
new functional aerogel‐based
products for sound insulation,
absorbents and adsorbents,
catalysts and sensors, as well
as the reuse and valorisation
of by‐products in the form of
aerogels through the
biorefinery approach.
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16. AERoGELS Action – Working Groups
WG3. Materials Engineering and Characterization
Objective: To impart aerogels
application‐specific properties
such as hydrophilicity,
lipophilicity, ultra‐low density,
flame retardation, tailored
porosity, nanomorphology or
surface chemistry to fit the
specific needs in biomedical and
environmental applications.
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17. AERoGELS Action – Working Groups
WG4. Process Engineering, Development and
Scale‐up for Industrial Applications
Objective: To develop process design
guidelines for aerogels
manufacturing (inorganic,
organic and hybrid) in various
forms (powders, beads,
monolithic blocks) on an
industrial scale.
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18. AERoGELS Action – Working Groups
WG5. Toxicity, Health, Risk Assessment and
Regulatory Aspects
Objective: To create the framework
of health risk assessment of
aerogel‐based materials for its
use in specific biomedical and
environmental applications.
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19. AERoGELS Action – Planned activities (I)
GP1. May 2019 – April 2020
Training school
“Aerogels processing, modelling
and environmental‐driven
applications”
Place: Coimbra (Portugal)
Dates: 21‐23 October 2019
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20. AERoGELS Action – Planned activities (II)
GP1. May 2019 – April 2020
Workshop + WG2&3 meetings:
“Workshop on Porous
Polysaccharide Materials”
Place: Aveiro (Portugal)
Dates: 24 October 2019
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21. AERoGELS Action – Planned activities (III)
GP1. May 2019 – April 2020
Conference + WG1‐5 meetings +
MC‐meeting:
“International Conference
on Aerogels for Biomedical
and Environmental
Applications”
Place: Santiago de Compostela
(Spain)
Dates: 18‐20 February 2020
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22. AERoGELS Action – Planned activities (IV)
GP1. May 2019 – April 2020
Training school: “Training school
on advanced processing
and characterization of
aerogels”
Place: Krakow (Poland)
Dates: 25‐27 March 2020
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23. AERoGELS Action – Planned activities (V)
GP1. May 2019 – April 2020
Short‐term Scientific Missions:
Exchange visits to support
individual mobility,
strengthen existing networks
and foster collaboration
Number: 10
Duration: 5‐90(180) days
Cut‐offs: 1) 9.Sep.2019
2) 2.Dec.2019
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24. AERoGELS Action – Planned activities (VI)
GP1. May 2019 – April 2020
ITC‐Conference Grants: Grants
aimed at supporting ECIs and PhD
students from ITC‐countries to
attend international conferences,
events or activities on the
Action’s topic
Number: 6
Cut‐offs: 1) 5.Jul.2019
2) 15.Aug.2019
3) 15.Nov.2019
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25. AERoGELS Action – Planned activities (VII)
GP1. May 2019 – April 2020
Dissemination activities:
Logo design
Web page
Press releases
Promotional material
Promotional video
Social media & events
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26. AERoGELS Action – Planned activities (VIII)
GP1. May 2019 – April 2020
Dissemination activities:
Logo design
Web page
Press releases
Promotional material
Promotional video
Social media & events
https://cost‐aerogels.eu/
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27. AERoGELS Action – Planned activities (VIII)
GP1. May 2019 – April 2020
Dissemination activities:
Logo design
Web page
Press releases
Promotional material
Promotional video
Social media & events
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28. AERoGELS Action – Planned activities (IX)
GP1. May 2019 – April 2020
Dissemination activities:
Logo design
Web page
Press releases
Promotional material
Promotional video
Social media & events
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29. Conclusions
Aerogels for biomedical & environmental
applications
 Emerging market opportunities for these materials
 Need to boost the research, career and innovation on the topic
AERoGELS Action
 Funded and based on COST Association principles and rules
 Interdisciplinary and intersectorial
 Formed by more than 150 research centers from 40 countries
 Structured in 5 Working groups
Action aims
 To set up a multidisciplinary knowledge‐based network
 To encompass key actors from technological, scientific and market
points of view
 For planned activities, visit https://cost‐aerogels.eu
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30. Advanced Engineering and Research of
aeroGels for Environment and Life Sciences
https://cost‐aerogels.eu/
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