Annual meeting generated ideas

The first Nano Connect Scandinavia annual meeting, held in Copenhagen 8 June, was a chance to sum-up the work done so far, and to look at what lies ahead.

Lars Montelius of Øresund Org gave an overview of project activities so far. Since the project started, work has been done in three major areas: coordination of resources in the region, academia-industry collaboration and innovation, and promoting the region as a leading nano hub on the international arena.

The NCS cleanroom network collaboration between the Chalmers MC2 nanofabrication laboratory, DTU Danchip and Lund Nano Lab is one example of successful coordination of resources. Other examples include the outreach network, a mapping of the research in the region, and the project team in itself – having eight universities and institutes a phone call away is a unique opportunity. Nano Connect Scandinavia has brought the nano community closer together.

When the project started, there were some 17 companies listed which had expressed an interest in the project. In June, the number of companies in the project database had grown to 87. So far, Nano Connect Scandinavia has arranged or taken part in 170 meetings and have carried out eight major meetings/events with external participation. Six networks have been initiated in areas such as nano safety, innovation, nano energy, and medical devices.

The project and the region have been presented to international audiences in places like Atlanta, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Lubeck, Moscow, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Trondheim and Vienna.

Summary of main activities so far

Summary of planned activities

The cleanroom network

Ivan A. Maximov of Lund University presented the NCS cleanroom network. The collaboration between Chalmers MC2 nanofabrication laboratory, DTU Danchip and Lund Nano Lab has this far has led to an employee exchange program and a process of standardising courses for cleanroom users. Nano Connect Scandinavia supports this network with reimbursement for travel costs, with planning of activities and with administration.

Ivan Maximov's presentation

Nanowires as an innovation system

Head of the Nanometer Structure Consortium at Lund University Lars Samuelson spoke about nanowires as an innovation system, arguing that the recipe from MIT and Stanford works: Excellent research can function as an engine for innovation.

Lund University spin-offs Sol Voltaics and Glo are in the process of developing applications of nanowire technology for solar cells and LED:s respectively. Future applications could include new types of transistors.

SunFlake A/S on academia-industry collaboration

The next speaker, Morten Schaldemose of SunFlake A/S - a University of Copenhagen spin-off developing solar cells based on nanoflakes, gave his view of key success factors when it comes to academia-industry collaboration:

• It is important to secure an alignment of interests – the need to find funding alone is not enough off a motivating factor for a successful long-term collaboration.
• Once the company has been spun-off it has to be an independent entity, with the university-company relationship governed by formalised agreements.
• Intellectual property rights need to be balanced.
• For a small spin-off company, the university partner can play a vital role in providing a network, as well as credibility.

Discussion on academia-industry collaboration across borders

The workshop was concluded by discussions in smaller groups on other ways to strengthen academia-industry collaboration across borders.

These were some of the ideas that emerged from this session:

• We should create places for small and large companies to meet. Such sessions could include academic presentations on the latest developments in the world of nanoscience.
• Access to university equipment for companies at a low cost would be very valuable to small companies.
• It is important to work on solving IPR-issues.
• We could make a list of persons that can help companies answer questions like: who can help us with this specific issue?
• Companies often think about their needs, not about how to solve them. To address this, what is needed are forums where scientists and companies can meet.
• Master’s thesis’ is a good way to facilitate collaboration.
• Databases that list resources and people can serve a purpose, to a certain extent, but who should keep them updated once the project is over?
• The importance of funds to create collaboration was discussed. EU-funding demands much administration. One idea is therefore for to create a service for companies to help them with this administration.
• We need mechanisms for matchmaking companies that are in the pre-competitive phase.
• Usually, Danish companies are well informed about what collaboration projects are underway between other Danish companies and Danish universities. The same is true in Sweden. But what is going on on the other side of the border is less known. It could be our role to communicate that information.
• One idea to promote cross-border collaboration would be to launch a Scandinavian framework for common diploma work.