XtractTeam

📍✨ XtractTeam spent two amazing days last week in Thessaloniki at the 11th PurpleGain Workshop titled “Purple Phototrophic Bacteria: Application Potential and Stakeholder Perspectives” 🇬🇷💜

The workshop brought together researchers, industry representatives, and stakeholders working on innovative and sustainable solutions within the circular bioeconomy, creating a great atmosphere for scientific discussions, new ideas, and future collaborations 🌱♻️

🎤 During the workshop, Prof. Senka Vidović presented the upcoming 2nd Photorefineries Conference, which will take place in Novi Sad, Serbia from September 2–4, 2026, within the framework of the PurpleGain COST Action. The presentation highlighted conference topics, experiences from the previous edition, planned activities, and some of the distinguished invited speakers.

🧪 Our researchers — Slađana Krivošija, Mirjana Sulejmanović, and Isidora Vlaović, also presented their work focused on the isolation of pigments from Purple Phototrophic Bacteria (PPB) biomass using different green extraction technologies 🌿🔬

🌱 Besides the scientific sessions, the workshop was a fantastic opportunity for networking, exchanging ideas on photobiorefineries, biotechnology, and sustainable technologies, while meeting inspiring people from different countries and disciplines.

🙌 Huge thanks to Dr. Ioanna Vasillidou and Dr. Daniel Puyol for the excellent organization and warm hospitality, and to the entire PurpleGain COST Action community for creating such an inspiring and collaborative experience. We truly enjoyed our time in Thessaloniki, from great discussions to unforgettable moments and new friendships ✨

📣The deadline for the 2nd PHOTOREFINERIES Conference has been extended until 10th May 2026! That means you still have time to secure your place and be part of one of the most exciting events in the field of photobiorefineries, microalgae, and purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB).

👉 If you are particularly interested in the industrial application of PPB, this is something you really shouldn’t miss - it’s a great opportunity to hear directly from a leading industry expert.

👉 In this context, we are proud to introduce our next speaker: Dr. Victor Monsalvo Garcia, Head of the Eco-efficiency Area at the Innovation and Technology Department of Aqualia. As one of the leading water management companies in Europe, Aqualia is at the forefront of innovation in water treatment, reuse, and resource recovery. Dr. Monsalvo leads cutting-edge work in wastewater treatment and reuse and brings a truly valuable industrial perspective to the conference.

💡So, if you’d like to meet this inspiring speaker and gain a better understanding of how PPB can move from the lab to real industrial systems, this is definitely a talk you shouldn’t miss.

Register before 10th May and join us in Novi Sad! 💜

https://www.photorefineries.com/index.php

Ponosni smo na uspehe našeg tima! 🎉

Sa velikim zadovoljstvom čestitamo našim koleginicama Aleksandri Gavarić i Nataši Nastić na izuzetnom priznanju – uvrštavanju među top 10% najuspešnijih istraživača u Republici Srbiji. 🏆

💡Ovo priznanje je potvrda njihovog predanog rada, stručnosti i doprinosa naučnoj zajednici, ali i dodatna motivacija za ceo XtractTeam da nastavi putem izvrsnosti. 👏🍀🥰

We are proud of our team! 🎉

With great pleasure, we congratulate our colleagues Aleksandra Gavarić and Nataša Nastić on their outstanding recognition – being ranked among the top 10% of the most successful researchers in the Republic of Serbia. 🏆

This recognition confirms their dedication, expertise, and contribution to the scientific community, and serves as additional motivation for the entire XtractTeam to continue striving for excellence. 👏🍀🥰

🔬 ✨ Sa ponosom objavljujemo da od 2026. godine XtractTEAM započinje realizaciju dugoročnog projekta finansiranog od strane AP Vojvodine pod nazivom:
NEXTCARE – Ekstrakti nove generacije za primenu u kozmetičkoj industriji: prirodni eutektici i supramolekularni sistemi u valorizaciji koenzima Q10 i karotenoida iz ribljeg otpada i mikrobne biomase. 🌿

💡 Projekat NEXTCARE usmeren je na primenu zelenih ekstrakcionih tehnologija za valorizaciju sporednih proizvoda iz prerade ribe, kao i biomase dobijene tretmanom otpadnih tokova pomoću mikroalgi, sa ciljem razvoja inovativnih rešenja bogatih karotenoidima i koenzimom Q10 za primenu u farmaceutskoj i kozmetičkoj industriji. ♻️

🖇 Na projektu će XtractTEAM ostvariti saradnju sa kolegama sa Farmaceutskog fakulteta Univerziteta u Novom Sadu:
prof. dr Natašom Jovanović-Lješković, dr Slađanom Vojvodić i dr Gaborom Katonom. 🤝

Radujemo se novim naučnim rezultatima, inovacijama i budućim zajedničkim dostignućima. 🚀🤍

Working in PHOTOCATALYSIS? ✨✨ Here’s why you shouldn’t miss the 2nd PHOTOREFINERIES CONFERENCE.

📍The 2nd International Conference on Novel Photorefineries for Resource Recovery – 2nd PHOTOREFINERIES CONFERENCE, which will be held from 2nd to 4th September 2026 at the is a strategic platform for the consolidation of a new generation of light-driven biorefineries and an event where light energy and photo-activated processes become the engine of the transition toward a circular and climate-neutral bioeconomy. 🧪🧫♻️

🌍 Within the framework of COST Action PurpleGain (CA21146), the conference brings together fundamental science, technological development, and industrial implementation to transform waste streams and secondary resources into high-value products. Its central narrative revolves around a powerful concept: harnessing light to close material loops.

The scientific programme is structured around three complementary pillars:

1. Microalgae and Cyanobacteria Biorefineries
2. Purple Phototrophic Bacteria (PPB) Platforms
3. Photocatalytic Processes and Artificial Photosynthesis

💡 What makes this conference truly distinctive is not only the diversity of technologies presented, but also their integrative approach. The different technologies are not treated as separate solutions, but as interconnected components of a single light-driven biorefinery framework. Within this model, biological carbon fixation, nutrient recovery, pollutant degradation, and solar-driven chemical production are designed to coexist and operate synergistically, creating efficient and scalable systems for circular resource recovery.

IceBIO je zvanično počeo! 🍦✨

👉 Održali smo prvi kick-off sastanak projekta i definisali plan rada za unapređenje postojećih formulacija i njihov dalji razvoj u funkcionalne proizvode na bazi herbalne prašine.

📑 Pred nama su formulacije, optimizacija procesa i mnogo eksperimentalnog rada… a verujemo i ozbiljno testiranje ukusa 😄

🍀 Radujemo se nastavku saradnje sa kolegama sa PMF-a i kreativnom spoju nauke i gastronomije!

✨️ MICROBIAL SUPERSTARS – Video Competition for Young Scientists! 🧫🦠📽

📍Are you a PhD student or Early Career Investigator working with purple bacteria, cyanobacteria, or microalgae?

💡 Introduce us to this remarkable world and educate about its potential for advanced biotechnological applications. Show the world how these microorganisms can drive sustainability and zero-waste solutions!

🎬 Submit a short video (up to 2 minutes) and share your research, ideas, and scientific passion.

🏆 Prize:

Free participation and accommodation at the 2nd PHOTOREFINERIES Conference. ✨️🍀😊

‼️ Deadline: 20 April 2026 ‼️

Submit to: [email protected]

Be creative. Be scientific. Be a Microbial Superstar.

Competition organized by PurpleGain Cost Action.

See you on 2nd PHOTOREFINERIES Conference at Tehnološki fakultet Novi Sad the host of this great event, from September 2-4. 💜😊

👇 More details on:

https://www.photorefineries.com/index.php/component/content/article/42-awards-and-competition?catid=2

✨️ Professor Dr. Senka Vidovic and Mirjana Sulejmanović from Tehnološki fakultet Novi Sad attended the Kick-off Meeting of the HORIZON project POST-PURPLE at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC), under the umbrella of the Instituto ITPS, bringing together the full consortium for the first time. The project is coordinated by Daniel Puyol Santos.

🟣 POST-PURPLE focuses on the development of integrated photobiorefinery solutions to tackle diffuse gaseous, liquid, and solid emissions from urban treatment systems. The project combines purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB) as a core biological platform with complementary biobased processes, adsorption technologies, digital modelling tools, and system-level assessments (TEA, SLCA, and circularity analysis), aiming at real technological integration and replicability. ♻️

✔️ During these two days, the consortium aligned on the technical roadmap of the work packages, discussed the first characterization activities already starting in WP1, and set the basis for coordination across biological, engineering and digital solutions. The discussions were open, constructive, and very focused on practical implementation, exactly what a project like this needs from day one.

🖇 Beyond the technical work, the Kick-off also showed a strong group dynamic. The social activities reflected a consortium that is not only highly competent but also collaborative, approachable, and genuinely motivated to work together over the next four years.

From productive sessions to memorable moments in Madrid, we're ready to move forward. The journey starts now. 😊🧫💡♻️

Think Purple, Act Circular. 💜

💡U okviru aktivnosti realizovanih tokom 2025. godine, član našeg tima Siniša Simić učestvovao je, u organizaciji Evropske alijanse za globalno zdravlje (EUGLOH), na dve međunarodne radionice posvećene inovacijama i strategijama komercijalizacije istraživanja u oblastima medicine, biomedicine, farmacije i javnog zdravlja.

💻 Prva radionica, pod nazivom „Commercialisation: From Concept to Market“, održana je na Univerzitetu u Lundu u periodu od 31. marta do 3. aprila 2025. godine. Druga radionica, „Entrepreneurship Meets Health Innovation with EUGLOH“, realizovana je na Univerzitetu u Hamburgu, u periodu od 2. do 5. juna 2025. godine.

🤝 Ovakvi interdisciplinarni događaji od velikog su značaja za naš tim, jer pored sticanja novih znanja i veština, predstavljaju i važnu platformu za međunarodno umrežavanje i uspostavljanje profesionalnih saradnji, koje dodatno doprinose unapređenju istraživačkih i inovacionih aktivnosti. Stečena iskustva i ostvareni kontakti predstavljaju osnovu za dalji razvoj saradnje u okviru EUGLOH mreže, čiji ćemo razvoj sa interesovanjem pratiti u budućnosti. 🖇🌍📑

📣 Novu godinu započinjemo novim projektima, a jedan od prvih tokom 2026. godine je IceBIO - Innovative ice cream based on herbal dust: from by-product to functional innovation, projekat finansiran od strane APV-a. 🍀✨️👏

💡ICEBIO projekat je usmeren na razvoj funkcionalnog sladoleda sa herbalnom prašinom, zasnovanog na ideji koja je na nacionalnom takmičenju Ekotrofelija, pre nekoliko godina, osvojila drugo mesto. Vreme je da ova ideja dobije svoju konačnu formu!

🤝 Na razvoju proizvoda sarađujemo sa kolegama sa PMF-a: Veliborom Ivanovićem, Goranom Radivojevićem i Stefanom Šmugovićem.

Pratite nas - možda vas uskoro pozovemo i na testiranje! 👀🍦

📣 Kao što smo obećali prva lepa vest za početak godine! ✨️

📍Xtractteam će biti jedan od organizatora 2nd PHOTOREFINERIES – 2nd International Conference on Novel Photorefineries for Resource Recovery, koja će se održati od 2. do 4. septembra 2026. na Tehnološkom fakultetu Novi Sad i Univerzitetu u Novom Sadu. 🏛🍀

👉 Konferencija se organizuje u okviru COST akcije PURPLEGAIN i okuplja istraživače iz oblasti biotehnologije, hemijskog inženjerstva, ali i drugih srodnih disciplina. Kao što znate naš tim već duže vreme aktivno učestvuje u sjajnim aktivnostima ove akcije. 🧪⚙️

🌍 Nakon velikog uspeha i sjajnih impresija sa prve konferencije održane 2024. u Valjadolidu, Španija, a koja je okupila više od 170 učesnika iz 26 zemalja, drugo izdanje PHOTOREFINERIES pružiće odličnu priliku za:

✔️ razmenu najnovijih naučnih rezultata iz oblasti biotehnologije 🔬
✔️ diskusiju o industrijskim primenama i održivim rešenjima ♻️, zasnovanim pre svega na ljubičastim bakterijama, cijanobakterijama i mikroalgama 🦠🌱

💡Više informacija o konferenciji pronađite na: https://www.photorefineries.com/index.php

Vidimo se u septembru u Novom Sadu na ovom veoma atraktivnom naučnom događaju! 📑✨️🖇