LEARTIKER, SCOOP

Their core work

LEARTIKER is a Basque Country research cooperative specializing in biomaterials, tissue engineering, and advanced manufacturing. Their core work centers on developing biocompatible materials for cardiac applications — from 3D-printed regenerative heart valve prostheses to engineered cardiac tissue using human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC). They also apply their materials expertise to lightweight composite parts for electric vehicles, combining eco-design with circular economy principles. As a cooperative SME, they bridge the gap between academic biomaterials research and industrial-scale production.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

LEARTIKER entered H2020 in 2020 with a strong focus on cardiac bioengineering — stem cell-derived tissues, biomaterials, and 3D printing for heart disease. By 2021, they expanded in two directions: deeper into cardiac applications with computational heart valve simulation (SimInSitu), and laterally into lightweight materials for electric vehicles (LEVIS). This suggests a research center rooted in materials science that is diversifying its application domains while keeping biomaterials as the core competence.

LEARTIKER is expanding from purely biomedical materials toward sustainability-driven materials engineering, suggesting future interest in green manufacturing and circular material design.

How they like to work

LEARTIKER participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator, which is typical for a specialized SME contributing domain expertise to larger consortia. With 40 unique partners across 11 countries in just 3 projects, they operate in large, multi-national consortia — likely bringing specific biomaterials or testing capabilities to broader research programs. This pattern indicates a reliable specialist contributor rather than a project driver.

Despite only 3 projects, LEARTIKER has built a broad network of 40 partners across 11 countries, indicating participation in large EU consortia with strong pan-European reach. Their Basque location connects them to both Spanish and wider Southern European research ecosystems.

What sets them apart

LEARTIKER occupies an unusual niche as a cooperative SME research center that combines biomaterials expertise with industrial manufacturing know-how. Their ability to work across both biomedical (cardiac tissue, heart valves) and industrial applications (lightweight EV parts) makes them a versatile materials partner. For consortium builders, they offer the agility of an SME with the research depth of a larger institute, plus a track record of working in large international teams.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BRAV3
  Largest funded project (EUR 579K) combining computational biomechanics with 3D printing for personalized cardiac bio-prostheses — a high-impact intersection of digital health and tissue engineering.
• LEVIS
  Demonstrates LEARTIKER's materials versatility beyond biomedical applications, applying eco-design and circular economy principles to lightweight electric vehicle components.