Date: 26 June 2026 10:30 UK, online
Don’t miss this month’s PhycoFriday talk, jointly hosted by PhycoClub and EBNet’s BES WG. Dr Marin Sawa will give a presentation on Bioefficiency, in the context of her work on algal biotechnology: for more details of speaker and topic, see below.
Marin’s talk was previously scheduled as a joint webinar in December 2025, but had to be postponed due to ill health. We are delighted that it has now been rescheduled.
To register for the talk and following questions see here. And for more on her work, don’t miss this UKRI feature video on Wallpaper that generates electricity | The wonder of algae
Dr Marin Sawa is a biodesigner and currently a research fellow at the architectural research organisation Grymsdyke Farm in Buckinghamshire, where she positions design as a critical interface between biological processes, technology, and the environments we inhabit. She specialises in the intersection of design and algal biotechnology, developing proof-of-concept systems.
Trained in architecture at the Architectural Association and shaped by early professional experience at Kengo Kuma & Associates, she completed a PhD at Central Saint Martins in collaboration with Imperial College London. She continued postdoctoral research across Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences at Imperial, advancing applications of photosynthetic systems in industry.
Her research spans design-led approaches to bioprinting, photobioreactors, and biophotovoltaics, including cyanobacteria-based solar biobatteries published in Nature Communications, one of the first fully designed bioelectronic devices in the emerging field. As NUAcT Fellow and Principal Investigator at Newcastle University (2021–2026), she established an interdisciplinary biodesign research programme, securing international collaborations and funded doctoral studentships.
Her forthcoming book, Biorealism (Routledge), contributes to critical discourse on design in green biotechnology. Additional highlights include industry collaborations with organisations such as ARM, Notpla and IKEA, alongside international exhibitions across Europe, the US and Asia.
At Grymsdyke Farm, her work takes on a site-based dimension, exploring how biotechnology can be developed in dialogue with landscape and ecological processes.
