EU Graphene Flagship project aims for technological breakthroughs
- PDF / 274,734 Bytes
- 2 Pages / 585 x 783 pts Page_size
- 32 Downloads / 193 Views
EU Graphene Flagship project aims for technological breakthroughs graphene-flagship.eu
A
t a juncture when the economic situation has given scientists in Europe very little to smile about, the European Commission could not have better timed a new initiative that promises to deliver a healthy kick to materials research. Launched in October last year, the European Union (EU) Graphene Flagship is a 10-year, billion-euro (1.37 billion US dollars) project bringing together scientists and engineers across borders with the aim of generating technological breakthroughs around graphene and related materials. When asked whether the purpose of the project is scientific or economic, Jari Kinaret of Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, and head of the flagship project, said, “It really is both.” The European Commission’s hope is that this investment might stimulate industrial applications that have a knockon effect on European economies, creating fresh jobs and much-needed growth. When developing the proposal, Kinaret said, “Scientific quality was certainly the decisive factor, but the fact that we could argue for the economic impact was also important.” The flagship is one of two—the other focusing on the human brain—that demonstrate Europe’s commitment to emerging areas of science that show a great deal of technological promise. Graphene is yet to realize the apparently enormous industrial potential of its unique combination of strength, hardness, lightness, and flexibility. The project began with 75 partners from academia and industry, including the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, the Max Planck Society in Germany, and the National Physical Laboratory in the UK, along with the technology giants
Nokia and Philips, and aerospace and defense firms, Airbus and Thales. Yet despite the extent of this scientific expertise, the region has struggled to translate graphene research into technological applications when compared to the rest of the world. An analysis by the UK government’s Intellectual Patent Office in 2013 showed that China, the United States, South Korea, and to a smaller extent, Japan, are the global leaders in graphene-related patents filed. “We are less strong on the utilization,” said Kinaret; “The reasons for that are not all clear. There are some fundamental problems, but that they are fundamental doesn’t imply that they are insoluble.” He identifies part
of the difficulty to do with segmented company structures in Europe, which make it difficult for academics to link up with industry. Giant conglomerates in other countries—Samsung in South Korea, for example—have been able to recruit scientific talent to work in-house, he said. Kinaret also adds that a large number of patents filed does not necessarily equate to commercial applications. “In recent years there has been a lot of patenting activity in China, but I’m not sure how many of those patents are exploited,” he said. Now, with the Graphene Flagship and its sizeable funding package, the European Commission’s ambition seems to be to put the region
Data Loading...
