Our Fellow Luisa Torsi, Full Professor at the University of Bari Aldo Moro, has been awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant for the project DIPNET – DIPole NETwork engineering for sub-attomolar digital quantitative optical assays. With €3.5 million in funding, the project was selected under one of Europe’s most highly regarded programmes supporting frontier research.

DIPNET aims to develop a new, simple, rapid and portable fluorimetric and colorimetric diagnostic platform capable of detecting biomarkers at extremely low concentrations. The project is based on an innovative approach to engineering the surface of the sensing biomaterial, with the goal of enabling highly accurate analyses even when only trace amounts of the target substances are present.

The grant is a major recognition of Professor Torsi’s scientific work and that of her research group, while opening up new opportunities for the development of increasingly sensitive, accessible and rapid diagnostic tools. The Italian Chemical Society warmly congratulates Professor Torsi and the entire research team on this outstanding achievement.