The 15th Global Summit on Regulatory Science 2025 (GSRS25) took place from 15–17 September 2025 in Lausanne, Switzerland. This year’s conference brought together more than 200 scientists to exchange their experiences and insights on the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence in regulatory science, for building a strong regulatory science with tomorrow’s technologies.

Representing the SSbD4CheM project, Barry Hardy (Edelweiss Connect) presented a poster showcasing the project’s work on developing a robust knowledge infrastructure. The poster, titled “FAIR Knowledge Infrastructure for Next Generation Risk Assessment and Safe and Sustainable by Design Workflows: Enabling High-Integrity Evidence Generation for Regulatory Submissions Including New Approach Method Results”, highlighted how FAIR data principles can support next-generation risk assessment and Safe and Sustainable by Design approaches. The poster introduced a FAIR knowledge infrastructure that integrates NAMs data, mechanistic insights, and harmonized workflows to generate transparent, traceable, and regulatory-grade evidence. It supports NGRA and SSbD through knowledge graphs, standardized data, and AI-ready structures, enabling robust assessments, improved data reuse, and compliance with evolving regulatory expectations.

The participation in GSRS25 offered an excellent opportunity to engage with regulatory scientists and foster new interactions relevant to the project’s goals.

The poster programme is available here.

The 13th edition of the World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences (WC13) took place from 31 August to 4 September 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This major international event brought together around 2,000 participants from academia, industry, innovation communities, and other stakeholder groups. Over five days, attendees took part in 141 sessions organised across five main themes: One Health, Human Health, Animal Health, Environmental Health, and Education.

Representing the SSbD4CheM project, Barry Hardy and Connor Hardy (Edelweiss Connect) participated in the congress. Barry Hardy delivered two oral presentations on AI in risk assessment and Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) on 1 September, in Session 132 (“Application of New Approach Methods in the Safe and Sustainable Design of Innovative Products”) and Session 20 (“Artificial Intelligence to reduce and replace animal testing”). He also chaired the Session 132.

The presentations were titled:

• “AI-assisted Next Generation Risk Assessment and Safe and Sustainable by Design Workflows enabled by FAIR Data and Knowledge”
• “Safe and Sustainable by Design Workflows supporting Product Design and Decision Making”

The congress offered a valuable opportunity to identify potential new collaborations and to disseminate the work carried out within the SSbD4CheM project.

The conference agenda is available here.

On 28 May 2025, an internal online workshop was held under the SSbD4CheM project for a duration of two hours. The session was organized by the Edelweiss Connect (EwC) team and attended by members of the entire consortium. The aim of the workshop was to provide an overview and hands-on demonstration of the SSbD tools implemented within the SSbD4CheM Knowledge Sharing Portal, supporting safer and sustainable by design (SSbD) assessments.

Detailed program:

The first part introduced the SSbD framework and presented how the newly developed tools can support the first step of the assessment process by increasing automation and simplifying user interaction.

The second part focused on AI-assisted resources designed to facilitate knowledge discovery and extraction. One highlighted tool was the SDS Toolbox, which enables users to search for Safety Data Sheets (SDS) online using a CAS number or IUPAC name, and to automatically parse and extract structured data from SDS PDF files. This toolbox integrates an end-to-end pipeline combining the search (SDS-FIND) and extraction (SDS-STRUCT) components into a single seamless process [DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.16735362]. 

Another tool introduced during the workshop was PubChemPal, developed to facilitate efficient access, retrieval, and management of chemical data from PubChem for SSbD applications. PubMed ChemInsight is an intuitive web-based tool designed to help researchers efficiently retrieve and analyze scientific literature related to specific compounds and their interactions [DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.14771565]. 

Several notebooks were also integrated into the portal to support the project such as the dataset for CLP classification, ecotoxicological endpoints, as well as chemical similarity search on repeated dose toxicity studies, and repeated dose toxicity studies.

The next part introduced SmartSafety, an operational safety assessment and decision-support tool designed to manage and evaluate product safety through a centralized repository of ingredient and formulation data. The system can interoperate with other platforms to enhance the performance of human health assessments such as Margin of Safety (MOS) and Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) calculations as well as to estimate environmental impact indicators. A new module has been incorporated to specifically support SSbD-related evaluations.

NAMs Test Method Documentation was also addressed, which provides a template and database for the systematic documentation of in vitro methods. This resource enables linking test methods to their respective readiness levels and incorporates a review workflow to ensure quality and traceability.

The following sections addressed the Physical–Chemical Characterisation Workflow and the use of workflow software for documenting SSbD steps. The Physical–Chemical Characterisation Workflow presented the process for organizing and managing protocols and associated datasets. This workflow supports the generation of harmonized and traceable data, ensuring consistency across different stages of assessment and facilitating integration with other SSbD components.

Subsequently, the use of workflow documentation tools was demonstrated to illustrate the SSbD process through the ASPA-supported NGRA workflow. The extension of this workflow to SSbD enables a step-by-step visualization of the entire assessment, guiding users through each phase and ensuring the required documentation is linked to the corresponding decision points. This structured approach enhances transparency, reproducibility, and communication of the assessment outcomes within the SSbD framework.

Workshop materials:

• The slides will be available soon
• The recording will be available soon

On 25 November 2025, the Collab4Resilience (C&R) network met for its second online networking workshop. 17 participants representing 9 EU-funded projects gather to further build on the KOM from April 2025, and aiming to strengthen collaboration between projects and enhance their visibility and outreach activities.

The meeting was opened by the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, coordinator of the CheMatSustain project and leader of the initiative. They provided a brief overview of the network’s progress to date and recent developments within CheMatSustain. This was followed by a short presentation from the University of Bologna introducing the CheMatSustain Facility, the project’s key output, launched in 2025.

One of the highlights of the meeting was the “What We’re Proud Of” round, during which each project highlighted recent developments and achievements. Afterthat, we dive into a more interactive session with a digital mural to gather ideas for future communication activities—ranging from social media initiatives to joint events—as well as a knowledge-sharing activity to identify tangible collaboration opportunities.

The workshop concluded with a forward-looking discussion on plans for 2026, setting out practical next steps to strengthen communication, share resources, and foster mutual support.

Overall, the event demonstrated strong interest in further developing the community. 

Agenda of the meeting.

On 11 November 2025, Wood K Plus participated in Carinthia Innovates, an international conference held at Lakeside Park in Klagenfurt, Austria.  This edition focused on Green Transition & Semiconductor Technologies and gathered more than 300 international participants, creating a good opportunity for collaboration across sectors and borders. 

The event attracted a broad range of stakeholders, reflecting its multidisciplinary and future-oriented approach. Participants included industry representatives (coating manufacturers, timber industry, plastics industry), investors, regional authorities (2nd Deputy Governor and State Councillor responsible for finance, investments, development, and research), research and scientific communities (such as the University of Klagenfurt and the University of Applied Sciences Carinthia), as well as innovation clusters, including Green Tech Valley Cluster and the Timber Innovation Network Alpe Adria.

The SSbD4CheM project was represented by Wood K Plus (Mr. Christoph Jocham and Mr. Arun Mahendran) who took part in the “Research Deep Dive Tour”, where participants rotated through thematic rooms to discover ongoing research projects and their outcomes. Wood K Plus showcased, among others, SSbD4CheM’s contributions to sustainable solutions within the chemical sector. The plasma-coated textiles were presented, demonstrating their water-repellent properties with a live experiment. 

It was an excellent opportunity to share the project and its results with a strong regional audience of innovators, industries, and public authorities.

Among the valuable networking opportunities, the Wood K Plus team held a promising B2B discussion with a Hungarian coating company, opening doors for potential collaboration.

From 10-12 November 2025, Barry Hardy (Edelweiss Connect) and Wouter Gebbink (VITO) attended the 2nd Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) Conference – SSbD25 in Zurich, Switzerland. The event, organised by IRISS project – the International SSbD Community – and Empa, brought together researchers, industry representatives, and policymakers to exchange knowledge and advance the implementation of SSbD principles across sectors.

During the conference, Wouter Gebbink presented a poster explaining the work performed in the project exploring renewable wood plastic composites (WPCs), as sustainable alternatives to conventional polypropylene (PP) with talc used in car interior trims, to reduce Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOCs) emissions
compared to PP interior trims and assure no risk to human health. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17607096.

Barry Hardy gave an oral presentation which explored how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science enhance SSbD workflows. It showcased the case studies of the project, including cosmetics, PFAS-free coatings, biopolymers, bio-sourced chemicals, and graphene. The work demonstrated how AI-assisted tools support early-stage innovation by integrating existing data, models, and knowledge into risk identification, hazard profiling, and decision-making. By leveraging evidence-weighting and uncertainty scoring, the approach enables more ethical, accurate, and comprehensive assessments. The presentation highlighted methodologies, tools, and recommendations for addressing data gaps and strengthening SSbD practices. The presentation is available here.

It was a great opportunity to meet the broader SSbD community, share insights, and discuss the path forward towards sustainable innovation.

A big thank you to the organisers for an great event and for giving us the chance of attending – we’re already looking forward to next year’s edition!

The conference programm is available here.

The EuMINe Training School 2025 offered a dynamic event in Athens and brought together 44 participants from across academia, research, industry, and public institutions to strengthen expertise in advanced digital tools for materials development and drug discovery.

During the 2-days school (19 and 20 June 2025) the event focused on equipping scientists with practical skills to integrate design of experiments, machine learning, and multiscale simulations using state-of-the-art software tools and platforms. Participants were trained to use different software tools (i.e., Isalos Analytics Platform, Asclepios KNIME nodes), ans well as platforms (i.e., Enalos Cloud Platform, and Eos Cloud Platform) to accelerate innovation in advanced materials and chemical safety. The programme emphasized hands-on learning and real-world applications, empowering researchers to harness digital technologies for sustainable and safe-by-design development.

The training attracted representatives from leading institutions and organizations including NovaMechanics, Entelos, National Centre for Scientific Research Demokritos, Hellenic Navy, National Technical University of Athens, Democritus University of Thrace, Hellenic Army Academy, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, CNR-ISMN, Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University, and University of Bologna. This diverse representation fostered cross-sector dialogue and strengthened collaboration between institutions.

The event was organised by NovaMechanics, represented by Panagiotis Kolokathis, Dimitra Danai Varsou, and Konstantinos Papavasileiou, who played an active role both in coordination and scientific delivery.

An oral presentation titled “EosCloud: A Platform for Sustainable and Safe Chemical Innovation and Materials Informatics Powered by Enalos Cloud Platform Tools” highlighted how cloud-based infrastructures can support safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) strategies. The presentation also showcased the Sbd4Skin and HydroNanoConstruct web tools, demonstrating their potential to streamline chemical innovation while embedding safety and sustainability considerations from early development stages.

The project’s active participation ensured strong visibility of its digital tools and reinforced its mission to promote safe and sustainable chemical and materials innovation.

As a result of the training, scientists gained practical expertise to drive materials innovation using cutting-edge digital platforms, advanced algorithms, and data-driven methodologies. The event further strengthened the growing community working at the intersection of materials informatics, machine learning, and safe-by-design approaches.

Program and more information available here.

The 4th edition of the International Conference on Microplastic Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea (µMED 2025) took place in Ischia, Italy, from 19–22 October 2025.

The conference brought together experts from diverse disciplines, including the scientific and industrial sectors, policy makers and environmental organizations, to explore all aspects of micro- and nanoplastic pollution, offering a valuable opportunity to share the latest developments, highlight recent advancements, and identify innovative materials, technologies and strategies to detect and mitigate this pressing environmental challenge.

On October 20^th, approx. 130 participants from reasearch and industry stakeholders joint Milica Velimirovic‘s (VITO) oral presentation. Under the title “Progress in analytical strategies for micro- and nanoplastics detection and characterisation“, Milica shared the work in SSbD4CheM’s textile study from microfibers release. 

µMED 2025 once again proved to be a valuable platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration, driving forward the scientific understanding and mitigation of microplastic pollution in marine environments.

Final Programme available here.

Book of abstracts available here.

The 1st SENTIATECH Congress took place in Valencia (Spain) on 21–22 October 2025. The two-day event focused on “Detection, Measurement and Control of Emerging Risks”, highlighting specially emerging chemicals (such as PFAS and micro/nanoplastics), sensor technologies, and Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD).

The congress aimed to foster cross-sector collaboration, facilitate knowledge exchange, and accelerate the implementation of innovative solutions for managing risks related to the environment, human health, and materials/manufacturing.

Approximately 200 participants attended, mainly from the research and scientific community, along with industry representatives, regulatory partners, and local authorities who joined during the closing session.

SSbD4CheM participated in this particularly relevant event, as it closely aligned with the project’s objectives, addressing innovative techniques for detecting and assessing contaminants. Fruela Pérez and Pau Camilleri, from ITENE, delivered an oral presentation introducing the project. Their talk focused on how Steps 4–5 of the SSbD framework are integrated into the project’s activities. Their presentation entitled “Embedding Sustainability: How LCA Shapes the SSbD4CheM Approach” is available under DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17426621.

Outcomes of participation included:

• Increased visibility and recognition of the project
• Strengthened networking and collaboration opportunities
• Knowledge exchange and constructive feedback from peers
• Contribution to the project’s dissemination and impact goals

Some impressions of the congress:

In October 2025 (concretelly on Oct. 15th), Ivana Burzic, from Wood K plus, presented SSbD4CheM’s automotive case study at a dedicated meeting on the PARC project (European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals).

In her presentation, Ivana highlighted the safety (emissions) and sustainability (recycled materials, cellulosic fillers) goals of this case study on renewable based composites (WPC) with optimized TVOC emissions and odor for automotive car interior trims, as well as how the project is implementing all 5 steps of the SSbD framework. The presentation also covered different tests performed like weathering and TVOC emissions, before and after weathering tests, to ensure a safer production and application of the composites developed within the project, covering different cellulosic materials. The presentation also included LCA results.

The online meeting gathered PARC partners and European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) representatives to exchange experiences and contribute to building the EU SSbD toolbox. This collaborative effort supports a harmonised European approach to safer and more sustainable chemical assessments, enhancing environmental and health protection.

Demonstrating cross-project commitment to SSbD principles, Ivana also presented BIO-SUSHY’s food tray packaging as a case study, highlighting the PFAS-free, bio-based coatings that embody safety and sustainability principles from the very beginning of development.

This engagement underscores SSbD4CheM’s active participation in the European SSbD community and reinforces its position as a reference point for sustainable materials innovation.

The presentation is publicly available under DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17403579 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license).