INL and BME announce the launch of a Joint Research Programme

INL is pleased to announce the launch of a joint programme with the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME). Scheduled to begin on 1 January 2026, the BME-INL collaboration initiative will support 5 research projects to be carried out over a period of 12 to 18 months.

Last May, INL welcomed a prestigious Hungarian delegation, including representatives of the Embassy of Hungary in Lisbon and the BME. The meeting resulted in the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), a significant landmark in the partnership of the two institutions.

Following this commitment, INL and BME opened a call for proposals, inviting submissions for targeted, small-scale R&D activities, researcher exchanges (including competence transfer and PhD training), the creation of consortia, and support for joint research projects.

After due assessment, by a bilateral evaluation committee, 5 scientific projects were approved to receive a €6,000 grant each. Covering themes such as plasmonic sensing, graphene surface functionalization, detection of microplastics in water, supramolecular assembly of graphene materials, and hybrid 2D catalytic heterostructures, the awarded projects are:

:: Investigation of Novel Nanomaterial Systems for Plasmonics Sensing
Leaders: Attila Bonyár (BME VIK) and Sara Abalde (INL- Diéguez Research Group)

:: Fluorescence detection of microplastics in aqueous media
Leaders: Dóra Hessz (BME VBK) and Begoña Espiña (INL— Espiña Research Group)

:: Out-of-Equilibrium Supramolecular Assembly for Scalable Manufacturing of Graphene-Based Materials
Leaders: István Lagzi (BME TTK) and Yury Kolen’ko (INL— Kolen’ko Research Group)

:: Fabrication and Atomic-Scale Characterization of Hybrid 2D Material Heterostructures: Electronic Structure and Catalytic Properties
Leaders: Levente Tapasztó (BME TTK; HUN-REN MFA) and Tahir Muhmood (INL— P. Ferreira Research Group).

:: GRESISTOR – GRaphene ElipSometry In-SiTu senSOR
Leaders: Péter Petrik (HUN-REN MFA) and Jérôme Borme (INL— Alpuim Research Group)

Overall, the initiative serves to strengthen institutional ties, and promote progress in materials science and nanotechnology.

Text by Clara Miranda
Photography by Rui Andrade