The 3rd LignoNANO Workshop, held as part of the LignoNANO Platform, led by Sabancı University’s Center for Nanotechnology Research and Applications (SUNUM) and supported by the TÜBİTAK 1004 Program, took place at SUNUM on June 16, 2026.
Organized under the theme “From Waste to Value, From Research to Commercialization,” the workshop brought together representatives from academia and industry, facilitating the exchange of knowledge and experience in the areas of sustainable technology development, the circular economy, and smart agriculture applications.
At the workshop, which opened with a keynote address by SUNUM Director Prof. Dr. Alpagut Kara, LignoNANO Program Manager Dr. Yılmaz Şimşek provided information on the work and developments carried out within the framework of the platform. The program continued with presentations by research program leaders Beyzanur Yiğit Tutuş, Alper Sarıkan, İlke Gürol, Hasan Kurt, Gözde İnce, and Fatmanur Uyumaz, during which the latest project outcomes were shared with the participants.
As part of the event, a panel titled “Creating Value from Waste and Initiatives for Smart Agriculture” was held, moderated by Prof. Dr. Serdal Temel. The panel featured Doğan Taşkent, Director of Strategy and R&D at Atabay Pharmaceuticals; Mine Ataman, Agriculture Writer and Strategist at Dünya Newspaper; and Şebnem Dönmez Sanlı, Project Manager at the Hektaş R&D Center, as speakers.
During the discussions held as part of the panel, the speakers reached a consensus that regulatory frameworks are one of the most significant barriers to the commercialization of research results. In this regard, it was emphasized that researchers’ awareness of and knowledge about relevant regulations from the earliest stages of the project development process would accelerate the process of bringing technologies to market and reduce potential delays.
It was also noted during the panel that academic research sometimes drifts away from the needs of the private sector and the market, creating a significant commercialization challenge. In particular, it was pointed out that contact with industry representatives and potential users is often established only in the advanced stages of technology development, making it difficult to align the solutions being developed with market expectations. For this reason, the importance of universities and researchers developing collaborations with companies that possess production infrastructure and understand market demand from the very start of a project was emphasized; it was stated that incorporating private-sector feedback at various stages of the project lifecycle would significantly contribute to the successful commercialization of research results.
The program continued with the LignoNANO Strategic Partnership and Roadmap session, and the workshop concluded with a general evaluation session.
The LignoNANO Platform aims to transform waste into high-value-added products and develop innovative technologies that will contribute to smart agriculture applications, in line with the circular economy approach. LignoNANO has a total of 29 institutions/organizations, including 4 public research centers, 2 of which are consultants/service providers, 20 private sector organizations, 4 of which are consultants/service providers, and 5 universities, and approximately 150 researchers.
