On January 1st, 2021 the EU-funded FET-open project "Progeny" started under the coordination of the IAPP. Other project partners are:

• University of Bremen, Germany
• Chalmers Technical Highschool Göteborg, Sweden
• Leiden University, Netherlands
• iLM, University of Lyon, France
• ICGM (UM), University of Montpellier, France
• ECOIND, Romania
• Wasabi Innovations, Bulgaria

The Project: Today, due to the changes in our lifestyle and common use of new technologies, a massive proliferation of electronic devices is observed. However, this new, unprecedented phenomenon poses environmental hazards created by the ever-growing amount of toxic electronic waste. The electronics industry must urgently introduce sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions. To that end, the EU-funded PROGENY project aims to design advanced, functional protonic materials to be used in revolutionary biomimetic devices and sensors branded as proto-opto-electro-mechanical systems (POEMS). The novelty design exploits natural, efficient and intrinsically sustainable biological systems, bringing a fundamental breakthrough in device and sensor innovation. In the TRL 3-4 phase, PROGENY will deliver and demonstrate the first bionic device with gated electron–proton hybrid transistors that can host living cells.

PROGENY targets a foundational and sustainable innovation, exploiting unique properties of designer soap films as advanced functional materials, to be used in fundamentally new type of biomimetic devices and sensors categorized as Proto-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems (POEMS). A common soap film is uniquely characterized by a proton conducting, flexible, semipermeable, quasi 2-D aqueous phase, which doubles as a smooth (3.2Å roughness) and low defect substrate for self-assembled surfactant monolayers on its opposite surfaces.

The FET Open Programme: The EU-funded programme FET Open, now part of the EIC Pathfinder pilot, supports the early-stages of the science and technology research and innovation around new ideas towards radically new future technologies. It also funds coordination and support actions for such high-risk forward looking research to prosper in Europe, and FET Innovation Launchpad Actions aiming at turning results from FET-funded projects into genuine societal or economic innovations.