European Com­mis­sion: Call for applic­a­tions for the new Tech­no­logy Coun­cil for Advanced Materials

Back­ground

Advanced mater­i­als are inten­tion­ally designed and engin­eered mater­i­als with innov­at­ive prop­er­ties and func­tion­al­it­ies. Advanced mater­i­als are an import­ant factor for the com­pet­it­ive­ness of European industry and cru­cial build­ing blocks for the EU’s resi­li­ence and open stra­tegic autonomy. The demand for advanced mater­i­als is expec­ted to increase sig­ni­fic­antly in the com­ing years and this should be accom­pan­ied by increased innov­a­tion and pro­duc­tion in the EU. 

Europe must ensure that it has the neces­sary capa­city and resources to lead in innov­a­tion and the use of advanced mater­i­als. This will ensure eco­nom­ic secur­ity in terms of crit­ic­al tech­no­lo­gies for today’s soci­ety. In line with the object­ives of the Green Deal and indus­tri­al policy, the sus­tain­ab­il­ity and cir­cu­lar­ity of advanced mater­i­als and the resi­li­ence of value chains must be con­sidered in such an approach. 

Ini­tial tar­get areas under this ini­ti­at­ive for the applic­a­tion of advanced mater­i­als are energy, mobil­ity, con­struc­tion and elec­tron­ics, as they are par­tic­u­larly import­ant for the real­iz­a­tion of the twin transition.

Tech­no­logy Coun­cil for Advanced Materials

The Tech­no­logy Coun­cil for Advanced Mater­i­als is a high-level group with rep­res­ent­at­ives from EU Mem­ber States, aca­demia, industry and oth­er key play­ers in research and innov­a­tion. It will pro­mote dia­log and cooper­a­tion to strengthen the European advanced mater­i­als sector.

As a for­um for exchange, the Tech­no­logy Coun­cil will define stra­tegic object­ives and invest­ment pri­or­it­ies for rel­ev­ant research and innov­a­tion. It will coordin­ate efforts at European, nation­al and region­al levels and out­line ini­ti­at­ives to accel­er­ate the deploy­ment of advanced mater­i­als. This coordin­ated approach will sup­port Europe’s ambi­tions in terms of com­pet­it­ive­ness, digit­al trans­form­a­tion, cir­cu­lar eco­nomy, resource effi­ciency and sustainability.

The Tech­no­logy Coun­cil will explore syn­er­gies in vari­ous areas, includ­ing a digit­al infra­struc­ture for research and innov­a­tion in advanced mater­i­als, cap­it­al invest­ment and access to fin­ance, stand­ard­iz­a­tion, intel­lec­tu­al prop­erty and skills devel­op­ment. It will also facil­it­ate col­lab­or­a­tion with region­al innov­a­tion val­leys and coordin­ate with smart spe­cial­iz­a­tion strategies, includ­ing the respect­ive them­at­ic part­ner­ships of the Com­munity of Practice

Applic­a­tions

The call for mem­ber­ship applic­a­tions is open until 9 Septem­ber 2024 and is open to organ­iz­a­tions in three cat­egor­ies, namely aca­demia, industry and asso­ci­ations rep­res­ent­ing aca­demia, RTOs and/​or industry.

Fur­ther inform­a­tion and the link to the applic­a­tion can be found here.

European Com­mis­sion, Dir­ect­or­ate-Gen­er­al for Research and Innov­a­tion, Com­mu­nic­a­tion on advanced mater­i­als for indus­tri­al lead­er­ship, Pub­lic­a­tions Office of the European Uni­on, 2024, https://​data​.europa​.eu/​d​o​i​/​1​0​.​2​7​7​7​/​4​01624