Published On: 21 July 2025

  • The award-winning Ceramic Passive Samplers detect emerging pollutants in water without electricity or costly infrastructure

  • The General Foundation of CSIC and Banco Santander initiative supports science-based entrepreneurship and technology transfer to society

Evgeny bulatov shows one of the Ceramic passive Samplers, which retain contaminants of different physico-chemical properties with high efficiency. | Evgeny Bulatov

The Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC) has been selected as one of the winners of the CSIC Entrepreneurial Projects and Start-ups Call, organised by the General Foundation of CSIC (FGCSIC) in collaboration with Banco Santander through its Santander X programme. The prize recognises the development of Ceramic Passive Samplers by researcher Evgeny Bulatov:  a low-cost, energy-free technology designed to detect emerging pollutants in water, contributing to more efficient and sustainable water quality monitoring.

The Ceramic Passive Samplers are porous ceramic cylinders specially designed to maximise the diffusion of multiple contaminants across a wide range of water samples. | Evgeny Bulatov

The initiative highlights the innovative talent and knowledge transfer potential of research generated within CSIC. In total, ten prizes have been awarded to entrepreneurial projects and four to start-ups led by CSIC researchers with a strong potential for impact, commercial application and knowledge transfer.

CSIC Entrepreneurial Projects

This category is aimed at supporting early-stage or validation-phase scientific projects with an entrepreneurial focus. Proposals were required to present an MVP, a conceptual prototype or show clear potential for market application through an innovative model.

The 10 winning projects in this category, along with their CSIC lead researchers, are:

  1. AgilBiomech – Clara Beatriz Sanz Morere
    Centre for Automation and Robotics (CAR, CSIC-UPM)

  2. iFABCell – Enrique Martínez Campos
    Institute of Polymer Science and Technology (ICTP, CSIC)

  3. Green Energy Revolution – Carlos García Cobos
    Institute of Micro and Nanotechnology (IMN, CSIC)

  4. SureVision – Víctor Rodríguez López
    Institute of Optics (IO, CSIC)

  5. Plant and Microbial Genetic Resources for Climate Change – Antonio Miguel de Ron Pedreira
    Biological Mission of Galicia (MBG, CSIC)

  6. NOVATEM BIOPHARMA – Pablo Botella Asunción
    Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ, CSIC-UPV)

  7. IrrigaTech: Innovation in Agricultural Irrigation – Cristina Ferrer Blanco
    Institute of Subtropical and Mediterranean Horticulture “La Mayora” (IHSM, CSIC-UMA)

  8. TarMeMeT: Nano-missiles for Treating Metastatic Ovarian Cancer – Pilar Sandoval Correa
    Severo Ochoa Centre for Molecular Biology (CBMSO, CSIC-UAM)

  9. Advanced Water Analysis – Evgeny Bulatov
    Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA, CSIC)

  10. EleXcell – Sahba Mobini
    Institute of Micro and Nanotechnology (IMN, CSIC)

CSIC Start-ups

In addition to the entrepreneurial projects, the call also recognised 4 science- and technology-based start-ups in the acceleration phase, further supporting the transfer of innovative solutions from research to society.

These awards reflect the ongoing commitment of FGCSIC and Banco Santander to foster scientific and academic entrepreneurship as a means of bringing knowledge to industry and the wider public.

More news