Sapienza Università di Roma
Sapienza University of Rome, founded in 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII, is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious universities. With over 122,000 students, including more than 11,000 internationals, it is the largest in Europe by enrolment.
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Sapienza University of Rome, founded in 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII, is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious universities.
With over 122,000 students, including more than 11,000 internationals, it is the largest in Europe by enrolment.It offers over 300 degree programmes (more than 60 in English), 90 PhDs, 200 master’s courses, and 80 specialization schools across 11 faculties and nearly 60 departments. Sapienza is active in international networks such as the CIVIS European University Alliance and participates in mobility and cooperation programmes including Erasmus+ and joint degrees. Its main campus, the “Città Universitaria” in central Rome, hosts libraries, museums, laboratories, sports facilities, and student services. The university excels in research in physics, aerospace, archaeology, and cultural heritage, while promoting sustainability, digital transformation, and social inclusion in line with the UN 2030 Agenda.
The Department of Biology and Biotechnology “Charles Darwin” specializes in biodiversity research at molecular, cellular, organismal, and population levels, integrating fundamental biological sciences with evolutionary studies and biotechnological applications. It supports degree and doctoral programmes and fosters interdisciplinary collaborations with Natural Sciences, Environmental Studies, and the Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine. The Plant Physiology and Biochemistry Laboratory has recognized expertise in plant physiology, molecular biology, cell wall biochemistry, plant pathology, genetic engineering, and plant transformation.
Role in the project
Sapienza University of Rome (UNIROMA) plays a central role in the OLinWASTE project as scientific leader. UNIROMA will coordinate the scientific activities and ensure the overall research excellence of the project. The team will organize and chair regular coordination meetings with all project partners to foster collaboration and alignment across work packages.
UNIROMA is responsible for leading Work Package 2 (WP2), which focuses on the use of isolated bioactive molecules derived from olive mill waste for the development of sustainable agricultural applications. Specifically, the Plant Physiology and Biochemistry Laboratory will be involved in the isolation and structural characterization of new biostimulants from OMW. The group will also assess the biological activity of these compounds, with a focus on their ability to trigger plant defense responses and improve plant fitness.
Furthermore, UNIROMA will contribute to the bioactivity evaluation and functional validation of the extracted compounds, supporting the identification of the most effective formulations for protecting plants against biotic and abiotic stresses.
In addition, within Work Package 7 (WP7), UNIROMA will actively support the dissemination, communication, and exploitation of the project results.
Vincenzo Lionetti
Associate Professor
Associate Professor
Prof. Lionetti will be the scientific leader of OLinWASTE. He is an expert in plant cell wall biology, plant physiology, plant immunity, enzymology, glycomics, and biomass valorization. He will coordinate the project and actively contribute to dissemination and communication activities to maximize its impact. In addition, Prof. Lionetti will lead the research activities of Work Package 2 as task leader, focusing on the development and assessment of bioactive molecules from olive mill waste to be used as bioimmunostimulants and biopesticides
Daniele Coculo
Postdoctoral researcher
Postdoctoral researcher
Dr. Coculo works in the field of molecular biology and plant immunity, with a focus on the biology and biochemistry of plant cell walls. In the project, he is responsible for the biochemical characterization of complex plant-derived materials, such as olive mill waste, using analytical techniques including High-Performance Anion Exchange Chromatography with Pulsed Amperometric Detection
Gabriele Pecatelli
Postdoctoral researcher
Postdoctoral researcher
With a background in Plant Molecular Biology and expertise in Confocal Microscopy, Dr. Pecatelli studies protein trafficking at the subcellular level. Within the OLinWASTE project, he is responsible for testing and evaluating bioactive molecules derived from olive mill waste as biopesticides, as well as assessing plant immune responses at both cellular and microscopic levels.
Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (acib)
acib is an international competence centre, developing new, environmentally friendly, economically and technically advanced processes for the biotechnological, pharmaceutical and chemical industry – all of them modelled on nature. acib is bridging the gap between academic research and producing industry. Acib provides it’s partners the possibility to translate scientific results into concrete processes and products by using scientific know-how, academic infrastructure or industrial networks in a single contract framework. Our platform offers tailor-made solutions for our stakeholders from Academia, Industry and Investors.
Role in the project
Acib is involved in OLinWASTE in three key areas. Acib tests compounds derived from olive waste for use as soil amendments to stimulate functional microbiome diversity and plant growth. Furthermore, acib works on producing PHA bioplastics from the fermentation products of the olive waste digestate and CO2, thereby contributing to circular, bio-based innovation. Finally, acib leads the dissemination, communication and exploitation WP.
Anita Emmerstorfer-Augustin
Senior Scientist
Senior Scientist
Priv.-doz. Dr. Anita Emmerstorfer-Augustin is a Senior Researcher in acib with an expert background in biotechnology and contributed to many successful projects and patent applications over the years. She also teaches at Graz University of Technology and received the prestigious Austrian Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship, which allowed her to proceed with her own research at UC Berkeley (February 2016 – June 2018). She is experienced in the implementation of EU projects and will be involved in strain engineering for PHA-based biopolymers production.
Regina Kratzer
Assoc. Professor
Assoc. Professor
Assoc. Prof. Regina Kratzer is deputy head of the Institute of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering and head of the working group ‘Bioprocess Engineering’ at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz). She is project leader and working group leader in acib and acted as key researcher in several EU projects. Her scientific key qualifications are microbial CO2-assimilation, gas fermentation of hydrogen oxidizing bacteria, biorefinery, whole-cell catalysis, bioproduct isolation. In the project, she will produce PHAs from CO2 in autotrophic and mixotrophic gas fermentations.
Birgit Wassermann
Assoc. Professor
Assoc. Professor
Ass. Prof. Dr. Birgit Wassermann works at Graz University of Technology at the Institute of Environmental Biotechnology and as key researcher in acib. Her research focuses on microbiome analyses to understand the interactions between plants and microorganisms. In OLinWASTE she will be involved in WP2 in testing the effect of OMW derived biostimulants and fertilizers on plants and soil.
Barbara Petschacher
Senior Scientist
Senior Scientist
Dr. Barbara Petschacher has a long lasting history as senior researcher in biotechnology projects (enzyme, strain and reaction engineering in projects with industry) at acib. More and more her focus changed towards sustainability (chief sustainability officer at acib, LCA, SSbD), researche management (including EU proposal application and management) and science communication (including leading “science in schools” projects). Her role in OLinWASTE is leading the dissemination and communication work package.
Agrolio
Role in the project
Agrolio is the flagship company of Agresti Group. We are producer of EVOO and wine. Agrolio is as an olive mill owner an essential partner of OLinWASTE, providing olive mill waste to for testing the biorefinery technologies. Noise, odour and energy need reduction concepts will be tested in Agolio’s factory.
CLIC Innovation
CLIC Innovation is an open innovation cluster with the mission of facilitating creation of breakthrough solutions in bioeconomy, circular economy and energy systems. We are owned by leading international companies and Finnish research organizations committed to create sustainable solutions for the world.
Role in the project
CLIC supports the administration, as well as communication, dissemination, and exploitation of the project results.
Laura Meyers
Project Expert, Bioeconomy
Project Expert, Bioeconomy
Laura works at CLIC as a Project Expert, focusing on RDI project preparation, management and implementation. She has a background in bioeconomy, biotechnology and synthetic biology, with over seven years of experience in Life Science Communications, Sales and Marketing.
Anna Tenhunen-Lunkka
Head of Circular Economy
Head of Circular Economy
Anna works at CLIC as the Head of Circular Economy. She leads the CE theme group activities and the RDI initiatives relating to CE. She worked for over eight years at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, most recently as a Senior Scientist and Project Manager.
Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE)
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden is Sweden’s research institute and innovation partner. Through international collaboration with industry, academia and the public sector, we ensure business competitiveness and contribute to a sustainable society.
Role in the project
RISE has expertise in the field of critical infrastructure services, including energy supply, food security and transport. We take a holistic approach thanks to our expertise in systems analysis, technical and organisational resilience, continuity management and human-technology organisation.
RISE will apply lifecycle thinking and the Sustainable by Design framework to create models and tools that support down-selection of processes and biomolecules for the optimisation of olive mill facilities.
To determine the potential of heat recovery systems, RISE will investigate the thermal waste energy on the site and recommend cutting edge technologies to support the suggested scale-up lab test solution. RISE will apply a holistic approach and systematic noise monitoring techniques to identify critical and harmful noise sources in the site, to devise effective noise control strategies and create a sustainable acoustic environment for the workers.
Francine Amon
Senior scientist, lifecycle assessment, risk assessment, SSbD
Senior scientist, lifecycle assessment, risk assessment, SSbD
Nata Amiryarahmadi
Senior scientist noise mitigation
Senior scientist noise mitigation
Bassam Badran
project leader Heat recovery
project leader Heat recovery
William Mackintosh
project leader
process integration
Jonas Markusson
Senior project leader techno-economic assessment
Senior project leader techno-economic assessment
Metkel Yebiyo
Senior scientist
Senior scientist
University of Padua
The University of Padua was established in 1222, after a group of students and teachers decided to come here from Bologna. They set up a free body of scholars, who were grouped according to their place of origin into nationes, in which students approved statutes, elected the rettore (rector, or chancellor) and chose their teachers, who were paid with money the students collected. Defending freedom of thought in study and teaching became a distinctive feature which today lives on in the University motto: Universa Universis Patavina Libertas.
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The University has 32 departments dealing with many disciplines and scientific fields. Two depts are deeply involved in Olinwaste.
The Department of Agronomy Food Natural resources Animals and Environment (DAFNAE) was founded in 2012 by the fusion of the teaching, technical and administrative staff of the Departments of Environmental Agronomy and Crop Production, Agricultural Biotechnology and Animal Science. The „mission“ of the Department is to promote the quality of human life, the competitiveness of the agri-food sector and the sustainable use of natural resources, biotic and abiotic, through the production and dissemination of knowledge on the management and improvement of plants, animals, microorganisms and soil for the production of quality food and biomass, ensuring the conservation of ecological systems, the protection of cultivated plants and preservation of the environment and biodiversity.Assuming that in the agro-food industry the close connections between the environment, crop and animal production, biomass and food require integrated and interdisciplinary approach, vision and methods, the Department DAFNAE develops excellent research and teaching activities in several fields of the agricultural sciences, including the science and technology of plants, animals and microbial organisms, crop and livestock management systems, environmental sustainability, food technology and agricultural biotechnology. The main novelty in the cultural project of the department is to study the environmental and agri-food sectors with an innovative and comprehensive approach, in order to consider and exploit the multidisciplinary interconnections that exist within individual scientific areas and among different steps of the production/transformation chains. In particular, we are organized in a logical and strategic system of units based on scientific disciplinary sectors and aggregations.
The Department of Industrial Engineering (DII) of the University of Padua represents a center for research, training and skills in numerous areas of Engineering including Aerospace, Chemical, Electrical, Energy, Materials and Mechanical Engineering. The Department’s mission is to promote the innovation of industrial engineering and competitiveness through excellence in research and training. Founded in 2012 by the union of six independent departments, the DII hosts 66 research laboratories and provides four First Level degrees, seven Second Level degrees, two Doctoral programs and several Master courses. The staff counts over 500 among professors, researchers, doctoral students and technical and administrative staff. Approximately 50% of revenue derives from collaborations with industries and research centers; in addition, numerous spinoff companies bear witness to the entrepreneurial ferment of DII.
Role in the project
UNIPD will take the lead in WP3, which mainly focuses on the sustainable production of PHAs from both liquid and gaseous waste streams. UNIPD will lead also the activity for the development of biotech and engineering solutions to deal with the odours management (WP4). Additionally, UNIPD will provide support within WP6 and for the dissemination efforts of WP7.
Lorenzo Favaro
Associate Professor
Associate Professor
which focuses on biotechnological solutions to process organic waste streams into valuable bioproducts. Lorenzo will lead the WP3 devoted to PHAs production from both liquid and gaseous streams and the task on WP4 dealing with biotech approaches to manage odors.
Viviana Paulon
Fellowship holder
Fellowship holder
Viviana Paulon, MSc, is a research fellow at the Waste to Bioproducts Lab (DAFNAE Department, University of Padova). Her work focuses on developing biotechnological processes for the valorization of organic waste, including the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from CO₂ and from food waste (FORSU), and on anaerobic digestion within the OLINWASTE project.
Gianmarco Mugnai
Fellowship holder
Fellowship holder
Gianmarco Mugnai, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the Waste to Bioproducts Lab. His research experience focuses on the valorization of olive mill waste using dark and photofermentation strategies, aimed at generating biohydrogen, bioactive compounds, and the bioplastic polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)
Marco Schiavon
Associate Professor
Associate Professor
Marco Schiavon, PhD, is an environmental engineer with experience in air pollution control, human exposure to environmental pollutants, health risk estimation, and waste management. He will be involved in the development and testing of biotechnological solutions for odour control.
Universidad de Burgos
The University of Burgos (UBU) is a public university, recognized among the best young universities in the world, which carries out its mission based on comprehensive, high-quality teaching that is student-centered and focused on internationalization. Founded in 1994, UBU has become a benchmark in Spanish university research and knowledge transfer to the business sector. Recognized by the Ministry of Education as a Campus of International Excellence, it is part of the RUN-EU European University alliance, along with nine other universities across the continent.
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It boasts a highly qualified faculty committed to research, knowledge transfer, and the use of new technologies applied to teaching. The University of Burgos has currently about 10.000 students and offers 26 undergraduate degrees, five of which are available in both online and on-campus formats, and two of which are bilingual (in English and Spanish). Additionally, there are seven double degrees, 27 master’s programs, 13 doctoral programs, and 16 proprietary degrees.
This academic offering is primarily aimed at enhancing the employability of its graduates, through internship agreements—both curricular and extracurricular—with the region’s strong business and industrial network, as well as with international companies. The university also provides comprehensive student guidance services to support students throughout their academic journey. Internationalization is another key hallmark of the University of Burgos. This enables nearly all students to complete part of their studies at internationally renowned universities, thanks to numerous ERASMUS and UBU-GLOBAL agreements (in Asia and the Americas), as well as international cooperation scholarships around the world.
Located in a medium-sized, welcoming city with a strong business ecosystem that makes it the main industrial hub of Castilla y León, the University of Burgos offers state-of-the-art facilities, laboratories, workshops, libraries, its own television and radio stations, as well as a wide range of cultural and sports activities. UBU has 67 research groups in 5 main research fields, and the Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology (BIOIND) research group, with an extensive experience in the valorisation of different agri-food by-products and wastes, is the group involved in the OLinWASTE project.
This academic offering is primarily aimed at enhancing the employability of its graduates, through internship agreements—both curricular and extracurricular—with the region’s strong business and industrial network, as well as with international companies. The university also provides comprehensive student guidance services to support students throughout their academic journey. Internationalization is another key hallmark of the University of Burgos. This enables nearly all students to complete part of their studies at internationally renowned universities, thanks to numerous ERASMUS and UBU-GLOBAL agreements (in Asia and the Americas), as well as international cooperation scholarships around the world.
Located in a medium-sized, welcoming city with a strong business ecosystem that makes it the main industrial hub of Castilla y León, the University of Burgos offers state-of-the-art facilities, laboratories, workshops, libraries, its own television and radio stations, as well as a wide range of cultural and sports activities. UBU has 67 research groups in 5 main research fields, and the Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology (BIOIND) research group, with an extensive experience in the valorisation of different agri-food by-products and wastes, is the group involved in the OLinWASTE project.
Role in the project
The role of the BIOIND group in the OLinWASTE project consists in supporting the work of WP2, which includes biomass characterization, extraction by green technologies, mainly subcritical water and further fractionation by membrane processes.
UBU will provide different extracts and treated solids to the rest of the partners.
María Teresa Sanz Diez
Professor of Chemical Engineering
Professor of Chemical Engineering
Responsible for the coordination of tasks conducted at UBU within the OlinWASTE project, with a focus on the planning of experiments involving subcritical water to optimize the extraction of phenolic compounds and oligosaccharides followed by separation procedures utilizing membrane technology.
Óscar Benito Román
Ramon y Cajal Researcher
Ramon y Cajal Researcher
Senior Researcher in charge of the dissemination of the project at UBU / Expert in subcritical water hydrolysis of biomass and separation process, including membrane processes.
Alba E. Illera
Postdoctoral researcher
Postdoctoral researcher
Expert in the development and optimization of analytical techniques (HPLC, GC, etc.) to characterize the different streams of the process.
University of Surrey
The University of Surrey (UoS) was established on 9 September 1966 with the grant of its Royal Charter, but its roots go back to a late 19th-century concern to provide greater access to further and higher education for the poorer inhabitants of London.
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The University ranks 13th for the number of graduates in higher-skilled jobs in Graduate Outcomes 2025, HESA, 15th for overall student satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2025, 19th of the Complete University Guide 2026, in the UK, 233rd in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025 and 262nd in the QS World University Rankings 2026. Hospitality and leisure management, Petroleum engineering, Marketing, Nursing, Information technology and systems, Food science, Veterinary medicine, Manufacturing and production engineering, Sociology etc. are strong research fields domestically and globally.
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (SCCE) brings together two closely related disciplines – chemistry and chemical engineering – opening unique opportunities in both teaching and research. In the latest UK Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), we ranked 15th in the UK for ‘research power’ in engineering. The University ranks 33rd in the UK for research quality. The research in SCCE is strongly interdisciplinary and ranges from fundamental science to commercialization of technological innovations. Successful research collaborations have been developed across the School, the University and with other academic institutions and industry in the UK and worldwide.
In 2025, the University launched a Surrey Circular Economy Group (SCEG), which is a unique, inclusive, interdisciplinary team that combines systems thinking with engineering and digital innovations to create new circular value chains for an equitable society. The team will form a critical mass with joint voice allowing thinking big to create the excellence of research around circular economy at University of Surrey, with the ambition of becoming a top circular economy group in the UK and internationally. SCEG is part of £25M worth portfolio of projects ranging from national centers, hubs, prestigious Fellowships, and standard projects, funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK, Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, European Commission, and industry. Internationalization is another key hallmark of the University of Burgos. This enables nearly all students to complete part of their studies at internationally renowned universities, thanks to numerous ERASMUS and UBU-GLOBAL agreements (in Asia and the Americas), as well as international cooperation scholarships around the world.
Located in a medium-sized, welcoming city with a strong business ecosystem that makes it the main industrial hub of Castilla y León, the University of Burgos offers state-of-the-art facilities, laboratories, workshops, libraries, its own television and radio stations, as well as a wide range of cultural and sports activities. UBU has 67 research groups in 5 main research fields, and the Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology (BIOIND) research group, with an extensive experience in the valorisation of different agri-food by-products and wastes, is the group involved in the OLinWASTE project.
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (SCCE) brings together two closely related disciplines – chemistry and chemical engineering – opening unique opportunities in both teaching and research. In the latest UK Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), we ranked 15th in the UK for ‘research power’ in engineering. The University ranks 33rd in the UK for research quality. The research in SCCE is strongly interdisciplinary and ranges from fundamental science to commercialization of technological innovations. Successful research collaborations have been developed across the School, the University and with other academic institutions and industry in the UK and worldwide.
In 2025, the University launched a Surrey Circular Economy Group (SCEG), which is a unique, inclusive, interdisciplinary team that combines systems thinking with engineering and digital innovations to create new circular value chains for an equitable society. The team will form a critical mass with joint voice allowing thinking big to create the excellence of research around circular economy at University of Surrey, with the ambition of becoming a top circular economy group in the UK and internationally. SCEG is part of £25M worth portfolio of projects ranging from national centers, hubs, prestigious Fellowships, and standard projects, funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK, Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, European Commission, and industry. Internationalization is another key hallmark of the University of Burgos. This enables nearly all students to complete part of their studies at internationally renowned universities, thanks to numerous ERASMUS and UBU-GLOBAL agreements (in Asia and the Americas), as well as international cooperation scholarships around the world.
Located in a medium-sized, welcoming city with a strong business ecosystem that makes it the main industrial hub of Castilla y León, the University of Burgos offers state-of-the-art facilities, laboratories, workshops, libraries, its own television and radio stations, as well as a wide range of cultural and sports activities. UBU has 67 research groups in 5 main research fields, and the Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology (BIOIND) research group, with an extensive experience in the valorisation of different agri-food by-products and wastes, is the group involved in the OLinWASTE project.
Role in the project
The role of University of Surrey in the OLinWASTE project is to develop a system digital twin and an online platform in WP5, incorporating with multi-criteria assessment functionality to support decision making. Based on hierarchical model developing approach, corresponding process-level digital twins, after model training and validation in WP2 to WP4, will be integrated into system-level mass and energy balances to develop a system digital twin, which will be implemented in an online platform, continuously updated by new data and integrated with multi-objective optimization algorithms to evaluate interdependent metrics such as material circularity, system efficiency. By collaborating with WP7, economic feasibility and carbon footprint of the waste treatment system will also be evaluated.
Laura Meyers
Project Expert, Bioeconomy
Project Expert, Bioeconomy
Dr Lei Xing’s research interest lies in the sustainable growth of chemical/energy industry and agri-food sector via industrial decarbonation, waste utilisation and AI-based digitalisation within the context of circular economy, with focuses on the development of the next-generation processes, devices and systems. Dr Xing’s current research focuses on the system integration, optimisation, and multi-criteria assessment of the industrial-agri-food nexus, consisting of various renewable-energy-driven waste recycling and utilisation process, in which digital twin (DT) simulation and artificial intelligence (AI)-based adaptive optimisation, techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) are conducted to underpin the Net Zero target.