The BioPhotonics for Healthcare Workshop organized by the MIRACLE consortium took place on 13th and 14th of March 2019 at the Tellus Stage, University of Oulu, Finland. The workshop provided high quality education for the next generation of photonics scientists and promoted an active collaboration among H2020 funded projects, researchers, clinicians and companies. The event was attended by speakers from Finland, Germany, Italy, France, Norway, Lithuania and UK.

The course ’Infrared Spectroscopy for Bioapplications’ covered the fundamental aspects of infrared spectroscopy, microscopy and data analysis, as well as how to apply this powerful tool to biosciences. Prof. Boris Mizaikoff (Ulm University) presented the fundamental aspects of infrared spectroscopy and waveguide-based sensing and their application in biosciences with Prof. Achim Köhler and M.Sc. Johanne Solheim (NMBU) organising hads-on activities during the ’Multivariate data analysis of infrared data’ session.

A session brought together H2020 funded projects to explore the synergy between osteoarthritis and photonics technologies. In a paralell meeting, the project coordinators and invited researchers discussed new ideas for upcoming proposals based on the outcomes of the current projects.

After a fruitful interaction during a one hour networking coffee break, the event was finalized with a roundtable to discuss the future of Photonics towards bioscience and medicine. Prof. Jyrki Saarinen (NextPho21 H2020 project, Finland), Dr. Francesca Rossi, Nello Carraca Institute of Applied Physics (Italy) and CEO Johannes Koeth (nanoplus) were the three experts participating in the roundtable moderated by Juha Purmonen (Photonics Finland). The panelists emphasized the importance of funding to promote fundamental research that will lead to novel solutions from photonics components to medical devices.