Graphene research is first European 'flagship' awarded funding
On 28 January, Europe launched a new form of joint coordinated research on a previously unprecedented scale, an 'EU Future Emerging Technology flagship'. Flagship programmes run for ten years and have a budget of 1 billion euros. The European Commission chose 'Graphene' as one the first flagships. FOM researcher and professor at Delft University of Technology Lieven Vandersypen played a leading role in achieving this result. FOM workgroup leaders professor Herre van der Zant (Delft University of Technology) and professor Bart van Wees (University of Groningen) will each coordinate one of the 15 work programmes within Graphene.
The aim of the Graphene flagship is to make graphene and related layered materials from the laboratory available to society and to introduce revolutionary new insights into various industrial sectors so that economic growth and new jobs are created within Europe.
Nobel Prize
As a result of groundbreaking experiments over the past 10 years, research into graphene has made phenomenal progress. In 2010 Andre Geim and Kostya Nosovelov received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their research into graphene. The unique properties of graphene make it an ideal starting material for very thin, efficient electronics, such as advanced batteries, electronic paper, flexible communication equipment and also more energy efficient aeroplanes.
126 groups in 17 European countries
The Graphene flagship brings together academic and industrial research in a consortium which has the aim of realising breakthroughs in technological innovation. The research will cover the entire value chain from material to component production and system integration.
The Graphene flagship, which starts in 2013, will coordinate the research of 126 academic and industrial groups in 17 European countries with an initial budget of €54 million for 30 months. After that the consortium will be brought up to full strength with about 30 additional groups that will strengthen the engineering aspect of the consortium.
Professor Jari Kinaret, from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden is responsible for the coordination of the flagship. He will work together with the coordinators from the fifteen work programmes within the flagship.
Several Dutch groups involved
Several academic groups and industrial partners from the Netherlands are involved in the Graphene flagship as equally various units within NWO. The flagship covers long-term fundamental and applied research.
Wim van Saarloos, director FOM Foundation, about the Graphene flagship: "For many years the Netherlands has been a leading light in the area of graphene research. The funding of this Graphene flagship will strengthen the position of the Netherlands in this area in both academia and industry. The flagship therefore ties in perfectly with the current top sector policy that focuses on knowledge institutions and industry working together to develop new technology".
Further information
About the Graphene flagship (see 'Media Kit' for photos and other press material)
About the EU Future Emerging Technology Flagship Initiative
Contact
Paula van Tijn, FOM Foundation, +31 (30) 600 12 22