Catarina M. Paquete wins INOVA+ Award in Scientific Innovation
Oeiras, 14 October 2024
Catarina M. Paquete, a researcher at ITQB NOVA, has won the first prize in the INOVA+ Award in the Scientific Innovation category. The BIOELETRA project has a practical application in wastewater treatment with energy generation.
This project uses the “Bioeletra” bacteria to understand the factors that limit the practical application of bio-electrochemical systems for wastewater treatment and energy production. It has application in the efficient treatment of wastewater and will make it possible to tackle current challenges facing society, such as population growth, the scarcity of potable water and the need for sustainable energy.
“Receiving this award is a recognition of the work done in recent years to develop strategies to optimize and implement bio-electrochemical systems in a practical way, in order to tackle several of society's current challenges,” says Catarina M. Paquete, MOSTMICRO researcher at ITQB NOVA.
As first prize winner, the researcher will receive a cash prize of €5000. The second and third place winners in each category will receive specialized consulting services worth €2,500.
And what are the next steps in this work? “ We are going to carry out genetic manipulation to optimize the growth of the ‘Bioeletra’ bacteria in biofilm co-cultures. To do this, we will test co-cultures with organisms that simulate those found in wastewater, under various experimental conditions,” explains Catarina M. Paquete.
There are nine distinguished projects in the 2024 edition of the INOVA+ Prize. Catarina M. Paquete shares the podium in the Scientific Innovation category with Vicente Garção (IST-University of Lisbon) in 2nd place, with the LAMPSY project; and with Vítor Gaspar (University of Aveiro), in 3rd place, with the CELLULARIS BIOMODELS project.
In the Business Innovation category, the companies SurgeonMate (Nuno Muralha) (1st place), NEVARO (Francisca Canais) (2nd place) and BestHealth4U (Sónia Ferreira) (3rd place) were honored.
And in the Innovation for Creative Cities category, the eduCITY (University of Aveiro) (1st place), História com Voz (Junta de Freguesia de Santo António) (2nd place) and Mikveh – Banhos Rituais de Purificação (Coimbra Municipality) (3rd place) projects were distinguished.
The INOVA+ Award honors innovative projects in scientific, business and public contexts. As you can read on the website, “it is aimed at differentiating products, services, solutions and/or technologies, in emerging areas, capable of responding to the main European priorities”.
The prize will be awarded at a private event on October 25th. With the High Patronage of His Excellency, the President of the Republic, the INOVA+ Prize is organized by the consultant company and its partners are "Agência Nacional da Inovação (ANI)", "Associação Industrial Portuguesa (AIP)", "Conselho Coordenador dos Institutos Superiores Politécnicos (CCISP)", "Conselho de Reitores das Universidades Portuguesas (CRUP)" and "Direção-Geral das Artes (DGArtes)".
