i3S researcher wins yESAO Research Exchange Award

Rosmarie Schoefbeck, a researcher at i3S, has been honoured with the yESAO Research Exchange Award, which will allow her to complete a one-week scientific exchange at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, one of Germany's leading university hospitals.

This collaboration will enable the Biomedical Engineering PhD student at the Medical University of Vienna to study the hemocompatibility of medical devices. As part of this exchange, i3S will also host Charité researcher Isabell Esslinger to co-develop a project investigating the hemocompatibility of microstructured Ti-6Al-4V, a material widely used in blood-contacting devices.

The award is granted annually to promote international collaboration among young researchers. It will facilitate an exchange between the two involved laboratories: the Advanced Graphene Biomaterials group at i3S, led by Inês Gonçalves, and the Biofluid Mechanics Laboratory at Charité. Each institution will host the visiting researcher for one week, providing access to complementary methods and strengthening the joint work between the teams.

The project aims to improve hemocompatibility assessment approaches, a step toward developing safer, more reliable biomaterials for clinical applications.

The Austrian researcher intends to travel to Berlin in the summer, supported by a 750-euro grant awarded to each participant. For Rosmarie Schoefbeck, this recognition is an additional incentive for the work developed in collaboration with her supervisor, Andreia Trindade Pereira. “I am grateful for this opportunity and for Andreia’s support. This award recognises the importance of developing more hemocompatible surfaces for future medical devices,” she states.