The ‘STOP’ project members met 18th-20th September 2024 week on the premises of the Politehnica University of Bucharest, at a meeting organised by the project partner Apel Laser. This meeting marked the half-way point of the project, after two years of work and a successful interim review by the European Commission (during which the project was praised for its dissemination and communication activities, as well as a high level of technical progress and ambition). During the meeting, project members agreed upon the material development priorities, with a view to trialling novel antibacterial surfaces under realistic conditions (nursing homes) from summer 2025 in both Greece and Finland. (Ethical permission for such trials having been granted, subject to further documentation confirming the safety of the novel materials).