EU Funding granted to COMENZE

A multidisciplinary and intersectoral project led by ITQB NOVA will train a new generation of innovative and entrepreneurial scientists.

A consortium led by ITQB NOVA received 2,5M€ in 2023’s call of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks (MSCA DN) to train doctoral candidates for a new paradigm in enzyme engineering and polymer design.

The project COMENZE – Computational and Experimental Enzyme Engineering for New Polymers – will train ten Doctoral Candidates in multidisciplinary domains, equipping them with cutting-edge computational and experimental proficiencies. The goal is clear: to engineer enzymes capable of producing eco-friendly polymers, aligning with the principles of a circular material economy.

Polymers are a fundamental part of our everyday lives, being found in clothing, household items and medicines. Most are synthetic polyesters which, in addition to relying on fossil resources, are difficult to recycle. Their disposal also contributes to significant carbon dioxide emissions. A sustainable circular economy must address these challenges by transitioning away from fossil-based sources, incorporating renewable feedstocks and establishing efficient recycling and degradation processes at the end of their life cycle. One of the solutions is to modify the polymers’ profiles by adding chemical groups that make their final degradation easier. But for this we need proteins to catalyze these chemical processes at an industrial level.

Computational approaches can make the proteins behind these reactions (enzymes) more efficient and resistant. But these methods remain in their early stages, restricting their use, particularly in the biorefinery field.

COMENZE, which obtained a rating of 100% in the call evaluation, promises to advance the bio-based polymer industry. “We are going to combine experimental and computational approaches to optimize biocatalysts and validate results in wet labs”, explains Lígia O. Martins, project coordinator and ITQB NOVA researcher. “In the end, we hope to achieve more efficient enzymes and more sustainable polymers that are easier to degrade and recycle”, she concludes.

Starting in 2025, “COMENZE will develop a training program synergizing computational, biochemical, and physicochemical methods and tools, to train doctoral candidates in computational design, molecular biology, biocatalysis and biophysics. The collaborative network brings together 8 leading academic institutions [ITQB NOVA, the Universities of Groningen (The Netherlands), Pavia (Italy) and Girona (Spain); the Technical Universities of Braunschweig (Germany), Śląska (Poland) and Aachen (Germany) and KU Leuven (Belgium)] and 5 highly innovative R&D companies [ZYMVOL BIOMODELING, S.L. (Spain), Gecco Biotech B.V. (The Netherlands), BASF SE and Aachen Proteineers GmbH (Germany) and Metgen Oy (Finland)], integrating researchers within different fields.