AGEYE Marie Curie ITN

AGEYE (Ageing Eye) is a Marie Curie Initial Training Network action, funded by the 7th EU framework programme, to foster research training in Vision Sciences. AGEYE is a coherent training and career development platform for the training and career development of young researchers in Vision Sciences. The duration of the project is 48 months, starting from September 2013.

It aims to structure the collaboration in research and training between leading academic centres and industrial world in Europe. It places emphasis in experience-based training through cross-disciplinary research projects that will analyse, using state-of-the-art technology, how the young eye’s crystalline lens works.

This information will make it possible to improve the diagnostic tools that are used for cataract and presbyopia. This, in its turn, will contribute to the development and the improvement of therapeutic solutions capable of restoring the adult eye’s visual function back to young eye’s levels.

University of Valencia


The University of Valencia of today is the outcome of more than five centuries of history that have led to the accumulation of knowledge and unique documentary treasures, making it one of the top Spanish universities. The University of Valencia has become one to the top five scientific centres in Spain thanks to the wide range of teaching and research activities offered in all areas of knowledge (basic sciences and engineering, health sciences, educational sciences, humanities and social sciences, economics and law) and its commitment to excellence.

The optometry research group in Valencia has many years of research experience behind them, and they are backed by their consistent results. They have analyzed the factors that contribute to age-related vision changes, and searched for therapeutic solutions that could offset the effect of presbyopia and of cataract pathology. The group has published over 200 high-impact scientific papers in the past 10 years. Approximately 75% of those papers correspond to publications belonging to the top 30% of the Journal Citation Report.  The Optometry research group is currently working on several research project funded by public invitation to tender programs as well as by research contracts that were signed with various multinational companies from the Health Care and the Biomedicine sectors. R. Montés-Micó has recently received an ERCs Starting Grant (2012-2017).

University of Murcia


Vision Science Research Group of the University of Murcia (CiViUM), has as its main line of research the fundamental and applied study of accommodation and its loss with age (presbyopia). It is directed since 2003 by Dr. López-Gil and it is formed by several teachers from the University of Murcia and external collaborators. CiViUM has been founded by several national and european grants as well as privates companies in the field of Optics and Vision.

University of Manchester

The University of Manchester is world renowned for its academic and research excellence. Research is at the heart of The University of Manchester and the sheer scale, diversity and quality of our research activity is unrivalled in the UK. The results of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise confirm that The University of Manchester is a genuine research powerhouse both in the UK and further afield. In 2005 and 2006 it was awarded the title ‘University of the Year’. With a distinguished history and exciting agenda for the future, our graduates are constantly in demand from the world’s top employers.

The physiological optics lab in Manchester has a well-established history of publishing high quality research papers. The physiological optics group is a part of a very active Eye and Vision Sciences research group in Manchester. Researchers in the Eye and Vision Sciences work on basic science and clinical projects to improve our understanding of structure and function of the human visual system, and to translate new knowledge into useful clinical tests. Research topics encompass function and dysfunction, visual optics, ocular imaging, psychophysics and electrophysiology and low vision.

Wroclaw University of Technology

The Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation at Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw, Poland, is one of the few in the country that have the rights to award PhD degrees in the field of biocybernetics and biomedical engineering. Research work, often conducted in collaboration with key national and international centres, is focused on biomedical optics and electronics, bio-spectroscopy, nanomedicine, cell biophysics, molecular dynamics, and biomedical signal and image processing.

Rotterdam Ophthalmic Institute

The Rotterdam Ophthalmic Institute (R.O.I.) is the research institute of the Rotterdam Eye Hospital (R.E.H.). This hospital is the only specialized eye hospital in The Netherlands. R.O.I. focuses its activities on evidence based innovation across the full spectrum of ophthalmology in order to improve the treatment of eye diseases.   R.O.I. focusses on clinical and translational research activities and adheres to all applicable legislation for clinical research. Every study at R.O.I. is conducted in close collaboration with ophthalmologists from the R.E.H. Since 2009, dr. Netty Dorrestijn is director of the R.O.I.. Subsequent to obtaining her PhD degree, she gained 10 years experience in initiating and conducting clinical research in various medical positions in the pharmaceutical industry.

Imagine Eyes

Imagine Eyes markets novel ophthalmic diagnostic devices that enable examining the living eye with unprecedented detail. These products help doctors to prevent and treat diseases that threaten the health of several hundred million patients. The company is now commercializing the rtx1, Adaptive Optics Retinal Camera, which is the first and only medical system able to image the living retina at the cellular level. By transforming the eye into a magnifying lens to the body’s neural and micro-circulatory systems, the rtx1 reveals early symptoms of diseases and short-term therapeutic effects that have been invisible with other imaging techniques.  Its applications include age-related macular degeneration, diabetes and arterial hypertension. The rtx1 has obtained regulatory approvals in Europe (CE mark) and Japan (Shonin), and has been sold to major ophthalmology centers in Europe, Asia and America.

Imagine Eyes was founded in 2003 in the Paris region by photonics and ophthalmic industry specialists. Its products are based on a proprietary technology called “adaptive optics” that originated from the astrophysics domain. The company has established a strict quality management organization, certified for the ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 standards.  Imagine Eyes’ first products have conquered industrial and scientific niche markets in a highly-competitive international context. Thanks to its intensive R&D program, broad IP portfolio and rapid adoption of its cutting-edge products by key opinion leaders, the company reached a worldwide technology-leading position. It is now leveraging this position to address a medical imaging market estimated to be worth 10 billion dollars.

Alcon Labs

Alcon is the global leader in eye care, provides innovative products that enhance quality of life by helping people worldwide see better. The three Alcon businesses – Surgical, Pharmaceutical and Vision Care – offer the widest spectrum of eye care products in the world. Alcon is the second largest division of the Novartis Group.

civium (from latin, genitive plural of civis-civis, "belong to the citizens")