11 November 2026
Developing new technologies that could one day help people with visual impairments or improve treatments for neurological disorders - this is the focus of Prof. Francesca Santoro's research at Forschungszentrum Jülich. She has now received the Advanced Science Young Innovator Award 2026 in recognition of her innovative work.
Santoro is one of twelve researchers to receive this year's international award for early-career scientists, presented by scientific publisher Wiley. The winners were announced on 2 November at the Advanced Summit 2026 in London. Established in 2024, the award comes with a prize of US$1,000 and recognises outstanding scientific achievements and innovative approaches to research.
When electronics communicate with nerve cells
Francesca Santoro is Director at the Institute of Biological Information Processing - Bioelectronics (IBI-3) at Forschungszentrum Jülich and Professor of Neuroelectronics at RWTH Aachen University. Her research combines materials science, electrical engineering and neuroscience. She develops novel materials and electronic systems that can interact with living nerve cells. Her aim is to improve communication between biological and electronic systems and open up new possibilities for medical applications.
Such technologies could help researchers better understand how the nervous system works and develop more targeted approaches to treating neurological disorders. In the long term, they could pave the way for smart prostheses, novel brain-machine interfaces and medical sensors. Through her research, Santoro aims to translate findings from basic research into technologies that could one day improve patients' quality of life.
From basic research to potential medical applications
The research also opens up possibilities for future technological applications. The properties of the newly developed materials can be precisely adjusted using chemistry, allowing them to be tailored to different requirements. The devices are flexible and have low power consumption, making them promising candidates for future bioelectronic systems, including visual prostheses and optical sensors. However, before they can be used in medical applications, further research is needed to assess their biocompatibility - in other words, their compatibility with living tissue.
Further international recognition
The Young Innovator Award marks another international distinction for Santoro. In July 2026, she was appointed a junior member of the Italian Academy of Engineering and Technology (ITATEC), which brings together experts from academia and industry and advises policymakers on technology-related issues. Her previous accolades include the Leopoldina Early Career Award, the Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year in Engineering & Technology, and recognition as one of MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35 in both Europe and Italy.
