The research proposal ‘Nanocycle’ that was submitted to the 2017 NWO programme Gesloten Kringlopen (‘Closed Cycles’) has been granted to Prof. Mark van Loosdrecht and Prof. Stephen Picken, this entails two PhD positions and some equipment upgrades (total project is about 800,000 euro). The proposal was also supported by Chaincraft and Royal Haskoning DHV. The aim is to analyse/train the micro-organisms to make optimised alginate like exopolymer that is designed for optimal bionanocomposite performance, in particular to further enhance the very impressive stiffness, and to optimise the toughness and strength.
See the announcement on the NWO website here (in Dutch).
NWO Gesloten Kringlopen