The SOCBIOAfri project takes up key challenges formulated by the High Level African Panel on Modern Biotechnology in its report ?Freedom to innovate?: that introducing biosafety frameworks into Africa requires the active engagement of the public, the development of educational and training facilities, and regional private-public cooperation and partnerships. It also builds on the fact that EU countries and most African countries have ratified the Cartagena protocol, which includes the ?precautionary principle? for the introduction of biotechnology. Europe-Africa collaboration on learning from experiences with biotechnology and on effective policies is therefore expected to be highly relevant. The project connects teams in Kenya, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Belgium and the Netherlands in investigating biotechnological innovation in Africa. It thereby addresses issues of policy development, technology regulation and capacity-building initiatives of relevance to all parties involved in biotechnology applications, including small-hold farmers and their organizations. The shared approach adopted by the project is derived from contemporary Science & Technology Studies (STS) and applies a co-evolutionary approach in which technological and societal innovations are analysed as co-determining processes. SOCBIOAfri aims to contribute to research on privately and publicly financed biotechnology innovations in Africa, relating these to requirements for elaborating effective policy frameworks for biotechnology in Africa. It also aims to contribute to capacity-building in the analysis of biotechnology and in policy development. The project focuses on the interrelated challenges arising from the policy, economic and sociocultural aspects of biotechnology innovation in farming. Thus, it is highly interdisciplinary in design, with strong roots in relevant African academic and policy institutions. The project will pay special attention to questions of regulation biotechnology regulation and to the possibilities of facilitating innovations that benefit small-hold farmers. SOCBIOAfri has formulated the following specific research questions: " What are the key differences between biotechnology-based agriculture projects in Africa as compared to current dominant agricultural farm systems in Africa with respect to the social (including socioeconomic) and environmental consequences? " What are the key differences between commercially/privately funded and publicly funded biotechnology projects in several African countries with respect to the role of and socioeconomic impact on stakeholders, the choice of crops, IPR, required farm systems, etc.? " What are the perceptions of stakeholders concerning the role of biotechnology in food security, food sovereignty, socioeconomic infrastructure and the environment? How can stakeholder (including small-hold farmers and local communities) interests and their views be represented in participatory decision-making procedures and innovation processes with respect to biotechnology policies? " What forms of biotechnology (with respect to social conditions and the kind of applications) can support local African agricultural practices? During the project, mutual interaction and exchange of information will occur through international workshops in all participating countries, short stays by African researchers in Europe and the construction of a project website. African stakeholders will be involved through participation in workshops, interviews and surveys. The project will deliver peer-reviewed papers, trained African researchers, training frameworks for regulators and recommendations for policy and for scientific and technology innovation procedures.

Medical imaging only captures the human body in a static, horizontal view, which doesn’t reflect the forces and function that occur during everyday activities like standing or exercise. BioMotive aims to revolutionize this with an advanced MRI infrastructure that can scan the body upright and during movement. This will allow us to see how muscles, bones, and even the heart behave under real-life conditions, such as during exercise. By applying advanced MRI techniques, BioMotive enables real-time visualization of internal forces and physiological processes, providing deeper insights into conditions of the muscles, digestion and blood circulation influenced by posture and movement.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful joint disease in which cartilage is worn away. It affects 1.5 million people in the Netherlands, costing €1.3 billion per year. In this project, we will engineer living cartilage large enough to replace a joint, thereby creating a life-long solution for people suffering from OA.

Worlwide 23 million people suffer from heart failure. For advanced heart failure, heart replacement is the gold standard. However, due to the limited availability of donor hearts only half of the candidates receive a donor heart. Waiting lists are long and many patients die while on the waiting list. We are developing the Holland Hybrid Heart (HHH): the first functional artificial organ. The HHH will be a soft robotic heart that resembles the healthy human heart as closely as possible. This safe alternative to a donor heart is essential to offer a lifesaving solution for thousands of heart failure patients.

Regenerative medicine (RM) reinforces the regenerative power of a person’s own body to heal damaged or diseased tissues and organs, like bones, the heart, and kidneys. In the future, RM promises to cure what are now chronic diseases – but to get there, a concentrated effort to achieve major scientific breakthroughs is needed. The Center for Materials-Driven Regeneration (MDR) brings together the best Dutch scientists from various research fields to force these much-needed breakthroughs.