Argentine university contributing biomedical materials science and Latin American social research expertise to European MSCA mobility networks.
UNSAM is a leading Argentine public university near Buenos Aires with strong research capacity spanning materials science, biomedicine, social sciences, and governance. In H2020, they contribute expertise in advanced functional materials (nanostructured surfaces, coatings for medical implants), protein science (intrinsically disordered proteins), and Latin American urban and social studies. They serve as a key Southern Hemisphere research partner, bringing regional knowledge on urban development, migration, education, and citizen science to European consortia. Their work bridges fundamental science with applied biomedical and social challenges.
Projects Bio-TUNE (multifunctional coatings for implants), HYMADE (mesoporous drug delivery), and OXIGENATED (hemoglobin nanocarriers for cancer therapy) form a consistent biomedical materials thread.
LoGov (urban-rural governance), CONTESTED_TERRITORY (extractivism and displacement in Latin America), GLAM (South American migration), and EduCommon (popular education in Buenos Aires) demonstrate deep regional expertise.
IDPfun focused on intrinsically disordered proteins, databases, and prediction tools — a specialized computational biology contribution.
CoAct — their only directly funded project — focused on co-designing citizen social science for collective action, indicating institutional commitment to this approach.
SPICOLOST explored spin conversion and oxide-based electronics with DFT calculations, showing physics and computational materials capacity.
GLAM (South American migrant integration) and CONTESTED_TERRITORY (displacement, post-colonialism) reflect growing focus on mobility and social inequality research.
UNSAM's early H2020 work (2015–2019) centered on physical sciences and computational methods — oxide electronics, thermoelectrics, DFT calculations, protein structure prediction, and drug delivery systems. From 2020 onward, two clear shifts emerged: in materials science, they moved toward applied biomedical surfaces (biosensing, antibacterial coatings, implant functionalization), and in social sciences, they expanded significantly into citizen science, migration, popular education, and Latin American urban studies. The portfolio has broadened from predominantly lab-based science toward a dual identity combining applied biomaterials with participatory social research.
UNSAM is increasingly positioning itself as a bridge between European research networks and Latin American social and urban realities, while maintaining strong biomedical materials capacity.
UNSAM operates almost exclusively as a third-party partner (9 of 10 projects), typically brought in by European coordinators for specific regional or technical expertise. They have never coordinated an H2020 project, which is expected for a non-EU institution. With 82 unique partners across 33 countries, they are well-networked and clearly valued as a recurring contributor — their involvement in 7 MSCA-RISE projects shows they are a go-to partner for international staff exchange and knowledge transfer programs.
UNSAM has collaborated with 82 distinct partners across 33 countries, an exceptionally wide network for a non-EU institution with 10 projects. Their geographic reach spans Europe, Latin America, and beyond, reflecting their role as a key Southern Hemisphere node in MSCA mobility networks.
UNSAM offers something rare in H2020 consortia: a serious research university in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area that can deliver both hard science (functional materials, protein engineering) and deep Latin American social science expertise. For European coordinators, they provide genuine access to Argentine research infrastructure and local knowledge that cannot be replicated remotely. Their dual competence in biomedical materials and participatory social research makes them unusually versatile for an associated country partner.
