MANTA Chair Develops Marine Biomimetics

Launched in the fall of 2018, the MANTA partnership research chair works on upcycling marine resources by developing bio-inspired materials with a lower impact on the marine environment.  

Headed by Susana Fernandes, researcher/professor at the University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour (UPPA), the multidisciplinary MANTA (for MAriNemaTeriAls) chair currently includes two doctoral students, a master's student and a technician. Using a biomimetic approach (inspired by nature), the MANTA Chair develops materials from marine compounds that have yet to be upcycled, such as waste from the fishing industry. The natural compounds have specific biological, structural and physicochemical properties with high potential for manufacturing new functional materials.

The MANTA Chair team is working on extracting and modifying biomolecules and biopolymers from the marine products in order to process them as porous structures, films, hydrogels and composite materials for applications in cosmetics, biomedicine and packaging. Studying the impact of the new materials on human health and marine ecosystems also falls within the framework of MANTA's fields of research. In each of its fields of research, the MANTA Chair brings together academic and industrial partners and remains open to other joint efforts at the national and international level.

Junior Chair Coming Soon

Scheduled over five years within the IPREM Laboratory and located on the UPPA Anglet campus, the MANTA Chair is supported by the Basque Country Community, UPPA's E2S program, the Nouvelle Aquitaine Region, the Laboratoires de Biarritz, Lees and the CIDPMEM (Interdepartmental Committee of Maritime Fisheries and Fish Farming (CIDPMEM) for the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Landes. The MANTA Chair has also received other types of funding such as a doctoral scholarship with the governmental program "Make Our Planet Great Again".

The Chair's research work has already been covered in scientific publications as well as presented at conferences and symposiums. In particular, the MANTA Chair took part in the round table "Ocean as a Resource" in the "The Ocean / Our Future" forum held during the G7 Summit organized last August in Biarritz. The MANTA Chair team also participates in scientific popularization events such as the Science Festival in Hendaye in October.   

The latest news: creation of the MANTAzyme junior chair – a chair within a chair focusing on the development of enzymatic tools for extracting and modifying marine molecules. Other research topics, dependent on the future sponsor of the junior chair, will also be developed.

Website:https://iprem.univ-pau.fr/fr/collaborations/chaires/manta/presentation.html