A major European and worldwide challenge is tackling the spiralling costs associated with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer in the face of a growing and ageing population. A central strategy for dealing with this challenge is to develop point-of-care biodiagnostic devices that: (1) Empower people to self-mange their own care especially for chronic conditions. (2) Provide prognostic indicators well in advance of clinical symptoms so as to enable early intervention. (3) Offer reinforcing feedback to individuals regarding positive lifestyle changes they are making with respect to diet, exercise etc. To further advance point-of-care diagnostic devices new materials with improved properties and significantly enhanced detection sensitivity are required. This project aims at the development of novel highly porous and functional polymeric materials for biosensors. The focus will be on macroporous polymeric materials derived from high internal phase emulsions (HIPE) with functional interconnected pores of approximately 25 microns. This proposal addresses the central issue of optimising the porosity of a multicomponent polymer material, e.g. catalytic metal complex, biomolecule and signal enhancing metal particles/film. It spans the entire chain of knowledge from material development to device fabrication. This project brings together researchers with expertise in material science, sensor technology, device engineering, and biotechnology hosted by the School of Chemical Sciences and the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute at DCU. The applicant will find unique training opportunities both to develop new scientific as well as complementary skills.