TSU research team will launch a start-up in the EU

6 May 2019

The unique technology for cleaning bottom sediments of oil-contaminated water bodies Aeroschup is about to enter the European market. It was developed by the Biological Institute (BI) of Tomsk State University. In April 2019, BI research group took part in the Deep Tech Atelier conference in Riga (Latvia) and negotiated with the management team of Commercialization Reactor - an international technology commercialization platform . The product designed by BI research team is the basis of a start-up that will be established on the territory of the European Union for solving environmental issues in the EU and in other regions of the world.

– Participation in the Deep Tech Atelier conference is the starting point for our collaboration with Commercialization Reactor, a platform that establishes new technological start-ups in Latvia, bringing together local entrepreneurs with scientists (mainly from Russia and the CIS), - says Danil Vorobiev, Director of BI TSU. - Promising ideas for further market are selected by a network of experts from big European companies. The Aeroschup project approved at the qualifying stage will be presented to experts and participants of the next commercialization reactor in Riga this autumn. 


The technology for assessing and cleaning oil-contaminated water bodies successfully passed pilot tests and was used in the northern regions of Russia. In 2018, the lake remediation project, implemented in Khanty-Mansiysk region together with the Samotlorneftegaz JSC, TSU industrial partner, became the winner in the Russian Geographical Society competition in The Best Environmental Project nomination. This technology is supposed to become the basis to set up a company in the European Union.

– During this business trip to Riga, we managed to establish a number of working contacts with entrepreneurs, including director and founder of Commercialization Reactor, Nikolai Adamovich, who confirmed interest in the presence of TSU on the international start-up platform, – says Andrei Trifonov, Aeroschup project engineer. 

Aeroschup is a potential participant in the next session to be held in October, 2019. It is planned to establish a new separate start-up on the basis of TSU technology. This will encourage international investment in the product development and provide access to global markets. In addition, it will strengthen the position of TSU as one of the leading centers of innovation development in the Russian Federation.

It is worth mentioning that earlier Ambassador of Portugal to Russia Paulo Vizeu Pinheiro and Attache for Scientific and Educational Relations João Carlos Mendonça expressed their deep interest in the project. During the meeting with the Director of BI, they proposed to develop a joint Russian-Portuguese project based on TSU researchers’ ideas to design AEROSCHUP MARINE. It would solve the global problem associated with the need to clean bottom sediments of offshore shelf areas from hydrocarbon raw materials. The possibility of such collaboration with the CIMA at the University of Algarve, the leading center for marine research is currently under discussion. 

The Aeroschup technology was used to clean and restore the ecosystem of Lake Shchuchye (Komi Republic), which entered the Guinness Book of Records as a water body that had been contaminated after one of the largest on-land oil spills on the planet. With the help of Aeroschup technology scientists lifted 157 tons of oil from its bottom.