nano4m
Three years of collaborative work amongst 12 partners and great steps in the study of nanotechnology and its better introduction into the market. This could be the sentence, which summarizes Nano4m – Nanotechnology for Market. The European project, funded by INTERREG IVC, involves four regions and twelve partners in Asturias (Spain), Lorraine (France), North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), and Tuscany (Italy). Each region is represented by a Regional or Local Authority, and one or two Research and Technological Centers. The European project began in October 2008 and is ending in this month (December 2011); its total budget is € 1,845,892.00 with an ERDF contribution of € 1,384,419.00.

The partners met several times, to discuss the project; the final conference of Nano4m took place in Avilés (Asturias - Spain) in September 2011. Important issues of the conference were the project results and the recommendations for regional and local authorities. Moreover, the final Steering Committee meeting took place.

 

 

Results of Nano4m

The main results of the project have been two.
The participating Research and Technology Centres produced the “Guidelines for Nanotechnology and Microtechnology Research and Technology Centres for improvement of market-oriented strategies” (http://issuu.com/nano4m/docs/guidelinesfornanotechnology) for defining market oriented strategic plans for Research & Technology Centers.

 

 

The “Recommendations intended for Regional and Local Authorities in order to improve regional strategies of transfer in the fields of micro and nanotechnology” (http://issuu.com/nano4m/docs/nano4mrecommendations) are the other main output: they explore possible specific measures regarding RTCs that could be implemented, possible priority markets on which policy makers and RTCs could agree on, and how policies could encourage researchers to pursue marked-oriented results preserving science quality.

 

 

Important events with the participation of Nano4m partners

During the whole duration of the project, Nano4m partners have taken part at events about sciences, micro and nanotechnology. This, of course, has also happened in the last phase of the project.
The City of Dortmund is one of the organizers of the NRW NanoConference, which took place on 17th and 18th October in Dortmund (Germany). Nano4m partners MST.factory and CeNTech participated in the conference, which is one of the most important events about nanotechnology worldwide, focusing on improving the way results from research can be implemented commercially. Many companies and institutes in the field of micro and nanotechnology were able to present themselves in the context of an accompanying exhibition. TZM, together with CeNTech, organised and attended a stand at the exhibition.

 

 

Agenzia per lo Sviluppo, Italian partner of Nano4m together with Circondario Empolese Valdelsa, organized the final conference of the project in its own country on 28th October in Florence, in collaboration with Region Tuscany and Promotion Tuscany (“Toscana Promozione”). Its title was “From research to market. Marked-oriented research strategies of Research and Technological Centers”. The conference was attended by local authorities, experts, members of the other partners (representatives of TZM/MST.factory and Fundación PRODINTEC took part in the conference).

 

The project Nano4m was also present at the J3N Annual Conference in Strasbourg (France), 7th-9th November. For the first time, a session concerning specifically innovation and technology transfer was held during the National Days of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 2011 (J3N), the leading annual nanotech event in France. On request of the French partner of the Nano4m project Institute Jean Lamour (IJL), Dr. Heinz Brueckelmann and Dr. Wolfgang Buscher attended this session as invited speakers. Their two presentations gave an overview of the project and its main achievements with a particular focus on the Dortmund and Muenster RTC success stories. Researchers and a large public had also the opportunity to visit a Nano4m stand to discuss about the project and to get in-depth information. Organized jointly by the ANR and CNANOs, the J3N days represent a national symposium on nanoscience and nanotechnology, giving the opportunity for scientific exchanges. This conference also permits dissemination of scientific and technological knowledge and the emergence of new ideas and new collaborations.

The Center of Investigation of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies, CINN, organized Open days within the “Science's Week” event, which took place in Asturias (Spain). From November 14th to 18th, CINN organized informative activities. Investigators of CINN and of its Research Centers Partners presented brief conferences concerning the implication of the world of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies in the daily life. In addition, guided visits were performed at the laboratories of CINN in the Technological Park of Asturias in Llanera, and researchers of the University of Oviedo affiliated to CINN participated to the activities programmed by the University.

Nano4m was represented with a poster stand at the symposium “INTERREG in North Rhine-Westphalia: Territorial Cooperation in Europe”, which took place in the Karl Arnold House, NRW Academy of Sciences and Arts, Düsseldorf, on 1st December. The event was organised by the State Ministry of Economics in collaboration with the Contact Offices of the INTERREG Programme in North Rhine-Westphalia. More than 200 visitors attended the event. During the symposium, the representatives of the 30 INTERREG projects being exhibited in the accompanying poster session, had the opportunity to report on their experiences of European interregionalcooperation to NRW State Minister of European Affairs, Dr. Angelica Schwall-Dueren - the NRW-based Nano4m partners TZM, CeNTech, City of Dortmund and Technologiefoerderung Muenster (TFM) presented Nano4m project -, and to receive first-hand information on the funding modalities of the next generation of the INTERREG programme starting in 2014.

 

 

 

Nano4m at the INTERREG IVC Good Practice Fair in Krakow (Poland)

Interregional cooperation has brought many advantages to those organisations involved in partnerships. Across 122 projects financed by the INTERREG IVC programme, over 1000 good practices have been identified in ten themes thanks to this cooperation.
To share the knowledge gathered in 27 EU countries, Norway and Switzerland, an intensive one-day event was organized on 24th November in Krakow. Policy-makers, practitioners and interested parties from all over Europe took part at this event, which aimed at being a platform for exchanging experiences and taking up good practices identified or transferred with cooperation projects. ASEV and CEV attended the fair, which was a wonderful occasion to socialize the project at European level. A lot of people went to ask for information at the stand prepared on purpose.

 

 

International projects and potential collaborations after Nano4m

Nano4m contributed in the initiation of international projects and other potential collaborations. In fact, one of the aims of the project is to strengthen the interregional collaboration by identifying and developing specific research and business opportunities of common interest in the emerging field of nano/microtechnology. Numerous collaborations are being initiated as an effect of this project.

A bright example is the project “Nanomobility - Innovation and new professions for nanotechnology market”, which involves Nano4m partners: leader is ASEV (Italy), CeNTech (Germany) and CINN (Spain) are participating. The Tuscan Region will fund a mobility programme to those two countries. The participants will be representatives of R&T Centres managing the Regional Innovation Pole on Nanotechnologies, and entrepreneurs & managers of the companies, which take part in the above mentioned Pole. The project is funded by ESF, on the V axis of Regione Toscana POR (Regional Operative Programme).

Another positive outcome of Nano4m is the strategic collaboration on microtechnology and nanotechnology that has been put in effect between Prodintec (Spain) and the German partners.

Also Principado de Asturias will continue on this wavelength. From the Asturias region, there are plans for implementation with three Nano4m partners (Nanotechnology Center Empoli, CeNTech, GeorgiaTech). Knowledge transfer will be again the topic for cooperation. Moreover, Asturias will analyse how to build up institutional agreements with Lorraine, reinforcing those collaborations that will be implemented by respective Research Centres (CINN and GeorgiaTech).
Nano4m has created another interregional cooperation with the new project BORDWIIS+ Boosting Regional Development with ICT Innovation Strategies, approved in the 4th Call of INTERREG IVC with the participation of Asturias, Tuscany, Lorraine and NRW, as well as other European regions.

North Rhine-Westphalia has implementation plans, regarding some issues, among which: a new INTERREG IVC project of Dortmund Economic Development Agency named “HR-Production” focusing on human resources development in advanced manufacturing and services, and a new INTERREG IVB project of Dortmund Economic Development Agency named “Accelerate” with focus on manufacturing and production technology.

Also Lorraine has got one implementation plan for international collaboration: “Photovoltaics” with CINN, IJL and GeorgiaTech. Moreover, following the experience with Nano4m project, IJL has one INTERREG project in evaluation, INTERREG IV A, Magnetism Network for Great Region with the Saarland University and Technicla University of Kaiserslautern. This cooperation between three actors from the Great Region aims at developing both education relating to nanosciences and technology transfer. Technology transfer from fundamental research to industries process should be implemented as well, in order to improve regional dynamism. Strategic elements of the Nano4m “recommendations” for local and regional authorities have been taken into account.

Nano4m Expert Groups

A brief publication, containing a synthesis of the work and results of the Expert Groups (composed by experts from Nano4m Research & Technology Centers), is going to be realized; particular attention will be paid to the fields of analysis, and the used methodologies of intervention by the 4 EGs: Expert Group 1 - Dental Implants (Health), Expert Group 2 - Biocidal Nanocarriers (Health), Expert Group 3 - Photovoltaics (Energy), and Expert Group 4 - Transparent Armors (Security/Defense).
The EGs focused their work on product development, as well as on their industrialization and commercialization following the whole value creation chain. The objective of the EGs' work on the 4 case studies is the creation of virtual process chains, after feasibility studies concerning the market opportunities of new products, identifying success and failure factors, for the Research‐to‐Market process in each region.