Twinning to address the PFAS challenge in Serbia

Project acronym:   PFAStwin

Project type:   Horizon EU

Grant agreement No.:   101059534

Project Web site:   http://pfastwin.org

       

Project is funded by:   European Commission (Brusseles, Belgium)

Instituions where the research is conducted:

• University of Belgrade - Faculty of Chemistry (Belgrade, Serbia) – Coordination
• Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, M.P. (CSIC) (Madrid, Spain) – Beneficiary
• Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM), (Orlean, France) – Beneficiary

Project realization is scheduled from September 1, 2022 till August 31, 2025.

Project staff

Repository for research results:   https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101059534

Short description of the project

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are synthetic chemicals widely used for more than 60 years to make plastics, firefighting foams, and lubricants, and help create stain-resistant, waterproof, and nonstick products. However, they ended up in the environment and now can be found in the soil, water, sediment, accumulated in human bodies and represent a worldwide challenge. The Serbian national chemicals legislation recognizes these chemicals, but none of the existing scientific or governmental institutions analyze these compounds. In addition, a solution to the challenge of remediation is not in sight. Based on a number of publications in peer-reviewed journals, a number of international projects, and a number of students, the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Chemistry (UBFC) is one of the leading scientific institutions in Serbia. This project aims to enhance networking activities between UBFC and two top-class counterparts, who are leaders in PFAS analysis (IQOG from Spain) and innovative (bio)remediation of emerging pollutants (BRGM from France). In addition, this project will focus on strengthening the research management capacities and administrative skills of the Grant Office from UBFC. This will be conducted through the development of a scientific strategy for dealing with PFAS (WP1), knowledge transfer in the field of analysis and (bio)remediation of emerging pollutants (WP2), networking and promoting joint research integrating creativity and developing new approaches for PFAS remediation (WP3), capacity building of the UBFC Grant Office (WP4), and through dissemination, exploitation and communication (WP5). The expected impact of PFASTwin is to enhance the reputation, research and administrative profile, and networking channels of UBFC and improve its capability to compete successfully for national, EU, and international research funding while simultaneously benefiting partner institutions through new contacts, skills, and collaborations.