Polymer Brushes and Lubrication: Nature Inspires New Biomaterial Advances

PRG4 or lubricin is a protein with a bottle-brush shape that can be perfectly mimicked by polymer brush grafting to biomaterial surfaces. This imparts to biomaterials’ surfaces super lubricous properties and a coefficient of friction (µ) lower than 0.01.  In addition, polymer brushes grafted to material surfaces may impart tunable hydrophilicity, self-cleaning, catalysis, controlled cell, and bacteria adhesion [1]. They can be applied for response actuation and drug delivery. Lubrication polymer brushes can be charged (positive and negative charges), amphiphilic, or act via steric hindrances[1]. The end properties can be controlled by molecular weight, grafting density, and radius of gyration.

One of the mechanisms of lubrication is brush hydration. The thick water film would prevent the probe from contacting the surface[1]. In nature, this role is played by hyaluronic acid and other sugar molecules in articular cartilage, for example. The sugar molecules are conjugated to lubricin forming a mucinous domain. The protein is anchored by a somatomedin-B (SMB) domain to hyaluronic acid from the extracellular matrix of cartilage cells (chondrocytes) [2,3]. The glycosylated domains can trap water and establish electrostatic repulsion promoting lubricity of the tissue [4,5]

Figure 1: Lubricin domains

Several strategies have been developed to mimic this biochemical environment. Poly(l-lysine) (PLL) brushes were grafted onto poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) surfaces to obtain good lubricity and biocompatibility[6]. Morgese et al. grafted to poly(glutamic acid) different polyoxazolines. These polymers are known for passivating surfaces and promoting now-fouling without eliciting immune responses. In samples with hydroxybutyrate (HBA), she obtained a biomimetic material that could bind to degraded cartilage and regenerate tissue[7]. This implies interesting solutions for people with early-onset arthritis.

To conclude, bottle-brush materials might be the future of cartilage tissue engineering, but more studies need to be conducted to show the in vivo feasibility of the concepts. We expect these new materials to influence scaffolds/gels potentially entering the market in the next decades.

REFERENCES

[1]          S. Ma, X. Zhang, B. Yu, F. Zhou, Brushing up functional materials, NPG Asia Mater. 11 (2019) 24. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41427-019-0121-2.

[2]          Y. Lee, J. Choi, N.S. Hwang, Regulation of lubricin for functional cartilage tissue regeneration: a review, Biomater Res. 22 (2018) 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40824-018-0118-x.

[3]          I. Bayer, Advances in Tribology of Lubricin and Lubricin-Like Synthetic Polymer Nanostructures, Lubricants. 6 (2018) 30. https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants6020030.

[4]          S.M.T. Chan, C.P. Neu, G. DuRaine, K. Komvopoulos, A.H. Reddi, Atomic force microscope investigation of the boundary-lubricant layer in articular cartilage, Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. 18 (2010) 956–963. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joca.2010.03.012.

[5]          I.M. Schwarz, B.A. Hills, Surface-active phospholipid as the lubricating component of lubricin, Rheumatology. 37 (1998) 21–26. https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/37.1.21.

[6]          S. Lee, M. Müller, M. Ratoi-Salagean, J. Vörös, S. Pasche, S.M. De Paul, H.A. Spikes, M. Textor, N.D. Spencer, Boundary Lubrication of Oxide Surfaces by Poly(L-lysine)-g-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLL-g-PEG) in Aqueous Media, Tribology Letters. 15 (2003) 231–239. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024861119372.

[7]          G. Morgese, E. Cavalli, J.-G. Rosenboom, M. Zenobi-Wong, E.M. Benetti, Cyclic Polymer Grafts That Lubricate and Protect Damaged Cartilage, Angew. Chem. 130 (2018) 1637–1642. https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.201712534.

 

This article was written by André Plath as part of an ongoing series of scientific communications written and curated by BioTrib’s Early Stage Researchers.

André is researching Boundary Lubrication of Fibrous Scaffolds at ETH Zürich, Switzerland.

LGBTQ+ Researcher Visbility: 500 queer scientists

500 queer scientists (Actually 1,625+ queer scientists) is a visibility campaign for LGBTQ+ and allied people working in STEM and STEM supporting roles. It is a database of self-submitted biographies and stories intended to boost recognition and awareness of STEM scientists. This is with the view of helping isolated members of the queer community realise they are not alone and perhaps even create opportunities and connect communities in academic or professional institutions!

Visibility for LGBTQ+ STEM workers is critical for cultivating wellbeing in professional and academic environments. Many members of the LGBTQ+ community have reported incidents of harassment and discrimination in STEM environments,

It is estimated LGBT people are approximately 20% less represented in STEM fields than expected [Cech, 2017]. With nearly 28% of LGBT and 50% of trans staff at least once considering leaving the workplace due to a climate of discrimination [RSC, IOP 2019].

Further statistics and information is available on the 500 QS resource page.

If you are an LGBTQ+ person or ally in the STEM community, you can help grow 500 QS by submitting your own biography!

 

References

RSC, IOP 2019: https://www.rsc.org/globalassets/04-campaigning-outreach/campaigning/lgbt-report/lgbt-report_web.pdf

Cech, 2017: https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci6010012 

 

This article was written by Rob Elkington, the BioTrib website manager as part of a series of blog posts for LGBTQ+ history month.

 

BioTrib Silk Road – Embrace our opportunity of international research collaboration

Reaching back over 2,000 years, an ancient network of trade routes called the ‘Silk Road’ connected the East and the West. Precious goods, splendid cultures and religions travelling along thousands of miles, stroke, exchanged and merged. The term ‘Silk Road’ was first used by German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877, as silk is one of the favourite goods traded from China to Europe, also as a metaphor for the ideas travelled from different civilizations.2

Amazed by this picture (marks are the origins of all ESRs who joined BioTrib this year) and the idea of ‘BioTrib Silk Road’ presented by Prof Richard during our ESRs meeting, I started to think about the importance of international research collaboration in the modern world.

BioTrib Silk Road – Image by Prof Richard M Hall, recreated by Esperanza Shi

 

“Ideas transcend borders, no country controls the marketplace of ideas.”

— Alejandro Adem 3

Indeed, there isn’t a researcher who knows everything in the world, nor a university owns all of the state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. We have to collaborate, and we love to collaborate. When people from diverse backgrounds meet, idea sparks. When institutions collaborate, science thrives. While in BioTrib, deep international connections have formed between universities and industries from the UK, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, China and Australia; researchers are not only from different academic backgrounds but also diverse cultural backgrounds. The diversity and inclusiveness are the treasures of BioTrib and I can’t wait to see our footprints of contribution to academic research on this ‘BioTrib Silk Road’.

Header Image: Marco Polo Geography and Map Division/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (gct00215-ca000005) 1

 

References

(1) Marco Polo on the Silk Road https://www.britannica.com/topic/Silk-Road-trade-route

(2) The Silk Road https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/silk-road/

(3) The benefits and challenges of international research collaboration https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-international-research-collaboration/

 

This post was written by Esperanza Shi as part of an ongoing series of scientific communications written and curated by BioTrib’s Early Stage Researchers.

Esperanza is researching the Optimisation of Scanning Strategies for 3D Printed Artificial Joints at Imperial College London, UK.

 

(Another) new phase of matter discovered

(Another) new phase of matter discovered – a time crystal – even more interestingly, it has unusual properties that appear to suggest a perpetual cycle without breaking the laws of physics. Similar to how a crystal’s structure repeats in space, a time crystal repeats in time and does so infinitely and without any further input of energy.

This recent advancement was announced in Nature on Nov. 20 by a team of scientists from from Stanford University, Google Quantum AI, the Max Planck Institute for Physics of Complex Systems and Oxford University. You can read their paper which details their creation of a time crystal using Google’s Sycamore quantum computing hardware here.

“Time-crystals are a striking example of a new type of non-equilibrium quantum phase of matter,” said Vedika Khemani, assistant professor of physics at Stanford and a senior author of the paper. “While much of our understanding of condensed matter physics is based on equilibrium systems, these new quantum devices are providing us a fascinating window into new non-equilibrium regimes in many-body physics.”

Read the full article here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130130231.htm

Mi, X., Ippoliti, M., Quintana, C., Greene, A., Chen, Z., Gross, J., … & Roushan, P. (2021). Time-crystalline eigenstate order on a quantum processor. Nature, 1-1.

 

Advances in Additive Manufacturing: 3D-printed microneedles

The ongoing 4th Industrial Revolution has shifted the traditional paradigm of producing medical devices. Additive Manufacturing (AM), a mould-less technology commonly referred to as 3D printing, plays an essential role in the shift taking place in this field.

Because of the high degree of geometrical freedom that can be achieved, AM is being used to conceive polymeric microneedles (MNs) with tailored design. For instance, Caudill and co-workers (2021) studied the benefits of microneedle vaccination over the traditional subcutaneous one. An AM process that relies on resin photopolymerization (i.e., continuous liquid interface production) was used to fabricate the MNs in two different shapes: square pyramidal and faceted (cf. image given in this post).

Cargo loading was performed via surface coating and assessed for the different MN designs. Whilst surface area increased 21.3%, cargo loading augmented 36% from square pyramidal to faceted with horizontal grooves, which pinpoints the importance of geometry design to loading biologics on MNs. Furthermore, transdermal delivery through MN vaccination was more effective in triggering primary antigen-specific IgG as well response duration when compared to subcutaneously or intradermally delivering paths.

Caudill et al. (2021) findings represent a major step towards a simpler, effective, and pain-free vaccination process that can potentially increase global vaccination. Furthermore, this self-administered vaccination path may aid in prompt responses during epidemic and pandemic scenarios. In that sense, AM has proved to be a feasible manufacturing route for improving drug delivery systems via tailored shapes and geometries.

Read more of this fascinating paper here: Transdermal vaccination via 3D-printed microneedles induces potent humoral and cellular immunity

This post was written by Pedro Luiz Lima dos Santos as part of an ongoing series of scientific communications written and curated by BioTrib’s Early Stage Researchers.

Pedro is researching the Functional Biotribology of the Surface Engineering of 3D Printed Components at the University of Leeds, UK.

BioTrib collaborators; University of Leeds and Imperial College, together with ETH Zurich and Uppsala University as project partners are awarded a programme grant for the treatment for spinal metastases

A £7 million research project has been launched to develop a new imaging and keyhole surgery approach to the treatment for secondary bone tumours of the spine. 

Known as metastatic bone disease, the tumours spread from a primary cancer located elsewhere in the body. The condition is particularly associated with breast cancer.  

The bone tumours cause vertebrae to weaken and eventually fracture, leaving people in severe pain, immobility and requiring surgery. In some cases, the fracture may damage the spinal cord and cause paralysis. For these patients, however, quality of life is a key issue and complex surgery may be inappropriate. 

A research collaboration between the University of Leeds, Imperial College London and UCL has received funding to develop an alternative approach based on developing new imaging and modelling techniques that will enable clinicians to predict which patients are at a high-risk of a vertebra fracturing.  

They would then be fitted – using minimally invasive surgery – with a tailor-made implant to strengthen the spine and prevent the fracture. 

The project – Oncological Engineering: A new concept in the treatment of bone metastases – has attracted £7 million in research funding, including £5.6 million grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, the Government-funded body set up to support research and innovation. 

“The problem facing doctors is they have no way of knowing which of the spinal vertebrae is going to collapse. But when that happens, patients may require major surgery which involves a lengthy period of rehabilitation. 

Our approach is to intervene by developing new techniques and equipment that will prevent spinal fractures, crucially helping to maintain a patient’s quality of life at a time when they may be terminally ill. ”

Professor Richard Hall

BioTrib Coordinator and expert in medical engineering at the University of Leeds who is leading the new research collaboration

According to Cancer Research UK, 150 people every day are diagnosed with breast cancer. Although more than 76% of people with the disease survive for more than ten years, some patients do develop stage 4 cancers, of which it is estimated about 50% to 60% get bone tumours.  

In stage 4 cancers, the disease has spread to other organs. 

Within five years, the research team hope to have developed new techniques and materials that will revolutionise the treatment of bone metastases.  

The approach is based on personalised medicine, assessing an individual’s risk that the spine has weakened so much that a vertebra will fracture. In those cases where surgeons intervene to strengthen the spine, the implant will be tailor-made.  

“Through improvements in imaging and modelling and a personalised approach, this project has the potential to revolutionise the treatment of secondary bone tumours. 

It demonstrates the importance of fundamental research and engineering solutions in developing new treatments that will have a profound impact on peoples’ lives.” 

Dr Kedar Pandya

Director for Cross-Council Programmes at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Predicting the risk of a vertebrae fracturing 

Researchers will develop news approaches to patient imaging and computer modelling, enabling them to track tumour development in the spine over time and how it might be weakening individual vertebrae. The information would be compared with the loading on the spine, enabling clinicians to predict which of the vertebrae is at risk of fracturing. 

“This funding will enable us to significantly expand our work combining computational modelling with cutting-edge imaging to better understand how cancers grow and interact with surrounding tissues.  

We are excited to use these multidisciplinary frameworks to understand vertebra fracture risk and ultimately help to improve quality of life for cancer patients.” 

Professor Rebecca Shipley

Department of Mechanical Engineering at UCL and one of the co-investigators

Implant made of advanced materials 

Those vertebra at a high-risk of collapse would be supported by an implant inserted into the spine using minimally invasive techniques.  

The implant would be made from what is called a metamaterial, a material that has uncommon properties that can be fine-tuned to the needs of the patient, for example the material could harden when under stress. 

Metamaterials are currently used in the aerospace industry but with advances in 3-D computer printing, the research team believe they could be adapted to provide tailor-made structural integrity to vertebrae at high risk of fracturing. 

The advanced manufacturing group from the Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial College, London, will be developing a novel 3D printer capable of fabricating the intricate implant designs. Their machine will utilise smart optical systems to print photopolymers at extremely fine resolution. 

“This project allows us to expand our expertise in the analysis, optimisation and 3D printing of structural metamaterials. By working as part of the multidisciplinary team we aim to apply the new approaches and knowledge to improve the quality of life of late-stage cancer suffers.  

We will also be able to apply some of these new approaches back into the aerospace and mechanical engineering sectors where advanced meta-materials have a wide range of potential applications.”

Dr Rob Hewson

BioTrib Lead Scientist and Co-investigator of new research collaboration at Imperial College

By using minimally-invasive techniques to implant the material, the recovery period for patients will be days – rather than weeks or months with the surgery that is required if one of the spinal bones fractures. 

The NHS long-term plan for cancer treatment had called on researchers to develop new interventions that would improve the quality of life of patients living with advanced cancers. 

It is hoped the new techniques will be applied to other areas of the healthcare sector.  

Adapting Offices for the Future of Work

The pandemic has driven changes in the way we work, in particular how office space is now utilised by employees. In order to address new needs borne through the pandemic and to accommodate hybrid working along with neurodiversity in shared offices, Leeds Business School are actively researching how these spaces are adapting for the future of work.

Check out this interesting summary on the Adapting Offices for the Future of Work research project, funded by the ESRC: Economic and Social Research Council.

500 LinkedIn Follower Milestone!

A year on since the start of BioTrib we have now completed recruitment of all 15 Early Stage Reseachers and achieved a milestone 500 followers on LinkedIn!

Thanks to everyone in the BioTrib community!

Women in Science: Elena Corner Piscopia, the First Woman to Graduate

The Italian Elena Lucrezia Corner Pisonia is the first woman in the world to graduate, as she entered her degree in Philosophy from the University of Padua on June 25, 1678. Born in Venice in 1646, Elena was the daughter of Giovanni Battista, that held the part of the alternate most important authority in the Republic of Venice after the Doge.

Since she was a child, Elena had shown a great literacy capability, curiosity, and cleverness, as well as serious fidelity to her studies. Elena enrolled at the University of Padua – one of the most prominent universities in ultramodern Europe- for a degree in Theology. Her university operation was accepted by the directors without any difficulties. Still, she met with the opposition of Gregorio Barbarigo, bishop and cardinal of Padua, as well as chancellor of the university, who was trying to put the Catholic Church doctrine according to which women were allegedly not suitable to perform complex logic.

Without his authorization, Elena couldn’t graduate. Ultimately, the Corner family, the University and Barbarigo, reached a concession and it was agreed that Elena would be awarded a degree in Philosophy rather than Theology.

According to sources of the time, on the day of Elena’s graduation roughly 30’000 people showed up to attend her dissertation. Elena, therefore, became the pride of the University of Padua, and of the Republic of Venice. Her historical significance, however, was only conceded in 1969, when the University of Padua decided to officially certify her as being the first woman in the world to graduate.

Statue of Elena Corner Piscopia

Inside Palazzo del Bo’, the main structure of the University of Padua, her statue is exhibited.

Read more on Italy Magazine.

This article was written by Elisa Bissacco as part of an ongoing series of scientific communications written and curated by BioTrib’s Early Stage Researchers.

She is studying a PhD in Tribological Characteristics of Nanofibrous Electrospun Materials at ETH Zurich.

Building a career during a pandemic

Many BioTrib Early Stage Researchers have had the added challenge of beginning their PhD during the Covid pandemic requiring them to rapidly adapt to new paradigms of remote and hybrid working. 

Hannah Preston, Dr Helen Hughes and Dr Matthew Davis at Leeds University Business School have created a range of resources based on Helen’s research giving an overview of new working trends along with advice on what organisations and researchers can do to maximise their wellbeing and working practices.

They have even created a podcast avaliable here!

Check out the full report and more of this timely and cutting edge research on the Understanding the value of internships project page!

Formnext global exhibition

Additive manufacturing also known as 3D printing has rapidly evolved since the 80’s and is now a major fabrication methodology for rapid prototyping of custom-made object [1]. Its benefits are applied in many fields such as medical, academic, aerospace, robotics and industrial machinery. 3D printing encompasses different technologies like stereolithography (SLA), fused deposition modeling (FDM) or selective laser melting (SLM) using metal powder. Those printers exhibiting different workflows and using different materials allow to access wide range of possibilities for the characteristics (structural complexity, color, resolution, etc) and properties of the final constructs [2] [3].

Formnext convention in Frankfurt, November 2021

3D printing is making great strides every year and the business market is growing with them so as to respond to customers demand and to access a wider range of applications. In order to promote these new 3D printing related innovations, Formnext is taking place every November in Frankfurt since 2015. Formnext is a global exhibition on additive manufacturing and industrial 3D printing gathering hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of visitors. This event is an opportunity for the actors of 3D printing to exchange with companies and discover novelties in terms of printers, materials, post processing solutions and software.

Formnext also represents a human experience as this convention brings together people working in a wide range of fields, from experts to beginners in 3D printing. Formnext 2021 allowed the additive manufacturing community to meet again after 2020’s edition which took place online because of COVID-19.

Now let’s see how these innovations will be put to good use!

[1] Matias, Elizabeth & Rao, Bharat. (2015). 3D printing: On its historical evolution and the implications for business. 551-558. 10.1109/PICMET.2015.7273052.
[2] Deshmukh, Kalim & Houkan, Mohammad & AlMa’adeed, Mariam & Sadasivuni, Kishor kumar. (2020). Introduction to 3D and 4D printing technology: State of the art and recent trends. 10.1016/B978-0-12-816805-9.00001-6.
[3] Wohlers Associates Inc. (2013). Wohlers report. Fort Collins, CO: Wohlers.

 

This article was written by Marie Moulin as part of an ongoing series of scientific communications written and curated by BioTrib’s Early Stage Researchers.

Marie is researching the Bioprinting of Bone and Cartilage at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Five Lessons For A Successful Engineering Career

BioTrib is comprised of fifteen Early Stage Researchers all located in substantial engineering groups within five european universities in the global 1%. Each ESR is pursuing a PhD and developing significant expertise in the fields of Tribology, Biomechanics, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Polymer Science, Multifunctional Biomaterials and Materials Science. Following graduation from the BioTrib programme, our Early Stage Researchers will be equipped to be future engineering leaders within the medical technology community driving significant innovations in joint replacement technology.

To this end it is useful to consider what skills are required by effective engineering leaders. A recent article by John Butterfield at Hallam ICS reflects on five lessons learned throughout his own engineering career.

  1. Recognize you own strengths; respect those of others
    • None of us can be good at everything. We are at our best when we are engaged in work that fits our aptitudes, interests, education and experience.  Respect others for things that they know, and you don’t. Others can help you succeed.
  2. Understand your personal “value proposition”
    • What unique value do you offer through your personal combination of knowledge, skills, aptitude and experience? People will respect you and seek your advice for things that you “are good at”. Your contributions will also help others be successful.
  3. Never stop learning
    • Continuous learning and broadening your range of knowledge expands your mental “toolbox”. Our biggest limitation, is “not knowing what we don’t know”
  4. Communication is your link to the world
    • Your ability to speak, read, write and listen surpasses your technical knowledge and experience.
  5. Even in Engineering, it’s not just the technology, it’s really about the people
    • Cultivate the colleagues and contacts around you, they are your biggest asset and support network.

You can read the full article along with John’s own experiences throughout his engineering career here.

Seasons Greetings from BioTrib

Seasons greetings from BioTrib. We wish you a very pleasant winter break and a happy new year!

This concludes posting for 2021, we are looking forward to more novel and pioneering tribology and biomedical engineering research in the new year!

Researcher-App offers a bioconjugation course on the last week of January

Researcher App is an academic newsfeed with 15,000 journals across 10 different research areas (1). With the app, people can subscribe to specific keywords or journals and follow the latest updates via push notifications or email. Available at the store of your preference, web browser or as a google chrome extension, the app allows to get recent paper information such as the abstract, keywords and DOI.

In the week between January 20th and 31st, researcher will host four webinars about bioconjugation. With this technique, a molecule is attached to another molecule to elicit a biological response (2). None, one, or both molecules may biomolecules, e.g., protein, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids (2). As applications to the technique, we can cite polymer brushes conjugated to hydrogels to increase cell viability and lubricity (3), bacterial nanocellulose fibers modified with collagen I and fibronectin to increase cell adhesion (4), and others. At the seminar, key-speakers from UCL, Abzena, ETH Zürich and the University of Cambridge will talk about specific applications of bioconjugation. The seminar is free of charge and registration can be made in the following link.

REFERENCES

(1)   Researcher app. Available at:  <https://www.researcher-app.com> 29. Nov. 2021.

(2)   HERMANSON, Greg. T. Bioconjugate Techniques – Chapter 1. Available at: <https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-382239-0.00001-7> Access 29 Nov. 2021

(3)   DIVANDARI, M. et al. Surface-grafted assemblies of cyclic polymers: shifting between high friction and extreme lubricity. Available at: <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2018.11.039>. Access 29 Nov. 2021.

(4) KUZMENKO, V. et al. Universal method for protein bioconjugation with nanocellulose scaffolds for increased cell adhesion. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2013.07.031> Access 29 Nov. 2021.

This article was written by André Plath as part of an ongoing series of scientific communications written and curated by BioTrib’s Early Stage Researchers.

André is researching Boundary Lubrication of Fibrous Scaffolds at ETH Zürich, Switzerland.

LunchLottery: a way to improve our personal and professional relationships

Should you like to make more contacts within your University? How can we maintain a social relationship during the Covid pandemic? What would happen if people from different departments and hierarchies would talk more often to each other?

These are some of the questions I asked myself before taking part in this initiative a few weeks ago. The Covid pandemic radically changed the opportunities for interaction with people. But whether a smile in passing, a quick “hello” or a lingering conversation, shared moments bring vibrancy to life. Human interaction is a necessity for everyone and the desire for connection is a core need essential to feeling satisfied with your life.

Since I started this new experience at ETH Zürich, I was eager to meet as many people as possible, from all over ETH and other institutions, to keep me socially fit and also to compare with people and deal with different perspectives and cultures and upgrade my training and skills, not only in scientific fields. So, when I saw this opportunity called ETH LunchLottery [1], which I had never heard about before, I decided immediately to sign up. Unfortunately, like me, just a few people know about this occasion to meet people and that’s why I’m interested in talking about and sharing it.

The idea here is basically to mix staff and doctoral students as much as possible, once a month, by assigning randomly every participating employee one or several lunch or coffee break partners to meet both online and in person. Then a smart matching algorithm optimizes for the perfect match. All participating employees automatically receive a customized e-mail about the upcoming LunchLottery initiative [2] and partners’ e-mail addresses. You’re ready! Employees connect with new colleagues from other departments and hierarchy levels [2]. You can decide with your lunch/coffee break partners when and where to meet them. This will help to make new connections and exchange ideas with all sorts of people. It will enrich everyday working life immensely by getting to know new people and hearing about the work they do across all units and functional levels, or just by having an exciting chat on various topics. It could also be a great idea for setting up small projects and collaborations with other departments.

And in this regard, after this experience, I asked myself: “Could we take a cue from this kind of event also to develop networks and to share our knowledge or to simply get to know better the other BioTrib’s members, also considering the different geographies and time zones? Could be an idea to get in touch and know even other ETNs’ members in the most relevant scientific fields?”. A short interruption to our daily routine could be a good idea to get to know other colleagues better and it would also help to open many doors and possibilities for all of us, as well as to gain additional knowledge and skills to help us to manage and do better our jobs. And even more, in light of the pandemic we are still immersed in, I believe it is a perfect opportunity to allow people to return to real life.

Networking and relationship building will lead to innovation!

[1] https://ethz.ch/services/en/news-and-events/events/eth-lunch-lottery.html
[2] https://lunch-lottery.com

 

This article was written by Alessio Amicone as part of an ongoing series of scientific communications written and curated by BioTrib’s Early Stage Researchers.

Alessio is investigating the Elucidation of Friction-Induced Failure Mechanisms in Fibrous Collagenous Tissues at ETH Zürich, Switzerland.