📅 1 October 2026
🕓 16:00 CEST
💻 Online via Zoom – Join using this link
The Association of ERC Grantees (AERG) is pleased to announce the next webinar in its Science & Society (S&S) seminar series, to be held online on 1 October 2026 at 16:00 CEST.
The AERG aims to defend excellent bottom-up fundamental research in Europe, facilitate networking among ERC grantees, and engage the public around the importance of scientific research for society. Through its Science & Society webinars, AERG explores how fundamental research contributes to a better society and a better world.
The series successively highlights the three core domains of science: Life Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities, and Physical Sciences & Engineering, while also addressing broader questions around the role of fundamental research in society.
A triptych perspective on Advanced Materials
This upcoming symposium will bring together three perspectives on Advanced Materials, connecting scientific knowledge with testing approaches, environmental risk assessment and regulatory preparedness.
As new materials are increasingly developed for applications ranging from medicine and electronics to food products, paints and pesticides, understanding their potential environmental impacts is becoming increasingly important. At the same time, researchers and regulators face the challenge of assessing risks under conditions that better reflect the complexity of real-world environments.
The symposium will explore how we can move from understanding the behaviour and effects of advanced materials to developing more reliable approaches for testing, risk assessment and regulation.
Programme
Welcome to the AERG Science & Society seminar
Eithan Galun | 2 min
Advanced materials tests in laboratory and mesocosm settings mimicking environmentally realistic conditions
Martina G. Vijver | 20 min
Martina G. Vijver will discuss why traditional laboratory toxicity tests may not be sufficient to understand the long-term environmental effects of engineered nanomaterials and other advanced materials. Her research combines controlled laboratory experiments, outdoor mesocosm studies, ecophysiological approaches and ecological modelling to investigate how chronic exposure can affect both individual organisms and the complex interactions that sustain ecological communities.
Her work highlights the importance of bridging the gap between laboratory studies and real-world ecosystems to strengthen environmental risk assessment.
Advanced Materials – How to become regulatory prepared?
Doris Völker | 10 min
Doris Völker will examine the challenges of preparing regulatory frameworks for advanced materials. Her work at the German Environment Agency focuses on the environmental implications of nanomaterials and advanced materials, including developing and adapting methods and instruments for reliable environmental risk assessment.
From Risk Assessment to Anticipatory Governance: Preparing for the Next Generation of Advanced Materials
Willie Peijnenburg | 10 min
Willie Peijnenburg will look beyond current approaches to consider where environmental risk assessment is heading. His contribution will explore anticipatory risk governance and Safe and Sustainable by Design, highlighting the importance of identifying potential environmental concerns early in developing new materials and technologies.
Q&A and discussion
Martina G. Vijver, Doris Völker and Willie Peijnenburg | 10–20 min
Meet the speakers
Martina G. Vijver is Scientific Director and Professor of Ecotoxicology at Leiden University. Her research sits at the intersection of ecology, toxicology and sustainability, with a particular focus on understanding environmental risks under realistic conditions. She has pioneered experimental approaches that bridge controlled laboratory research and complex natural ecosystems.
Doris Völker is a Scientific Officer in the Division of Chemical Safety at the German Environment Agency (UBA). Her work focuses on the environmental implications of nanomaterials and advanced materials and on developing methods and instruments for their reliable risk assessment and regulatory preparedness. She is also involved in OECD work on manufactured nanomaterials.
Willie Peijnenburg is a Senior Scientist at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands and Professor of Environmental Toxicology and Biodiversity at Leiden University. His research covers environmental fate, exposure and risk assessment of chemicals and advanced materials, with growing emphasis on anticipatory risk governance and Safe and Sustainable by Design.
About EcoWizard
The symposium will also feature research from EcoWizard, led by Principal Investigator Prof. Dr Martina G. Vijver. The project investigates the environmental effects of engineered nanomaterials using approaches that better reflect the complexity and dynamics of real-world ecosystems.
Join us on 1 October 2026 at 16:00 CEST on Zoom.
👉 Join the online webinar
The seminar will be recorded and made available for later viewing.