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research round-up nanoeurope Technology in transit Tim Harper believes nanotechnolgies have promise, but are yet to make their mark on the world outside of science N Tim Harper is head of nanotechnology business intelligence specialists, Cientifica anotechnology began to come to attention in 1999 as the foundations were laid for the national nanotechnology initia- tives. Like any 10-year-old child, a time of transition for the technology is fast approaching, moving from the nurtured environment of a primary school to the rough and tumble and opportunities of secondary school. Just as it would be unfair to guess whether a 10-year-old will become a president or a street sweeper, it is too early to assess whether nanotechnology will fulfil the promises that have been made since its birth. The next challenge involves establishing its place in the world, making the leap from the cosy world of government funded research to the harsh realities of the commercial world. I spend a lot of time working with national nanotechnology funding programmes, and there are increas- ing questions over whether it should be rolled into a more results-oriented funding mechanism, perhaps as new production processes. While the move towards applied nanotechnologies is to be applauded, we must remember that it is from our understanding of basic science that many of the applications will spring, and 10 years of research isnt nearly enough. But there is increasing pressure on funding agencies due to a growing range of technologies. Should we fund nanotechnologies and other potential key technologies such as synthetic biology? While these other technologies are potentially interesting, nanoscience is unique in its ability to underpin advances. It can be understood in the same way that information technology has changed us from being hunter-gatherers to con- noisseurs of scientific data. So the real challenge for nanotechnology is whether it will be able to make enough of an eco- nomic and social impact fast enough to keep the attention of politicians in these lean times for science funding. It is worth considering that it took biotech nearly 30 years to become commercially viable, and despite the pace of technology diffusion, we are still at the beginning of the road for nanotechnologies. Another challenge is the financial crisis, which limits access to funding, especially for nanotechnological startup firms, and might hamper development. Startups play an outstanding role and depend to a great extent on financing possibilities for busi- ness activities with high economic risk. Nanotechnology as an innovative, inter- disciplinary field of technology also places new demands on vocational training and further education, qualification, and junior training programs. For the transfer of innovations to marketable products, young people must choose a career in nanotechnology, be it through relevant university studies or vocational training. Junior programmes and the provision of skilled experts at all professional levels are decisive general conditions for the economic and techno- logical progress of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology faces some big challenges as it takes the next steps in its development, says Axel Zweck I Axel Zweck is head of the future technologies division of the VDI technology centre n the past 20 years, nanotechnol- ogy has developed from a scientific field to a prominent international research and development trend. Its development is manifest in a rise in public subsidies and the number of patents, and in the spread of nanotechnological products. However, the development and success of nanotechnology will be closely con- nected to socioeconomic conditions and nanotechnology will face big challenges. One important issue is to ensure a safe and responsible use of nanomaterials, taking into account potential (eco-)toxicological side effects. Potential risks in the field of consumer and environmental protection will strongly influence public perception and acceptance of nanotechnology. This can be an impediment for the merchan- dising of nanotechnological products and might influence the level of public funding. Comprehensive risk research and precautionary risk management, and transparent risk communication are there- fore vitally important. Open questions regarding standardisation and the regu- latory handling of nanotechnology are only answerable at supranational level and require international coordination. The commission has made first steps in the adaption of the regulation framework for nanospecific aspects, for example intro- ducing mandatory labelling for the use of nanomaterials in cosmetics from 2012. 16 research review November 2009 Issue 11 November 2009 Watch this space Exploring Europes space policy: The facts behind science fiction Climate change Copenhagen: Elisabeth Lipiatou on the role of research ahead of the COP15 Mini Europe: Gustaaf Borchardt on the risks, and opportunities of nanotechnology Crossing the boundaries: contents Issue 11 November 2009 research round-up 6 2025 vision A more united Europe is needed to adapt to socio-ecological transition, says Jean- Michel Baer future forecast space 2010: A research odyssey 20 Heavenly views Space observation and communication systems are the new priorities for Europ REALISE T Rare earth oxide atomic layer deposition for innovations in electronics New dielectric materials and processing will allow memories and mobile phones that are smaller, faster and cheaper he REALISE project has announced the successful development of a new dielectric material, along with a research round-up The world in 2025 2025 vision A more united Europe is needed to adapt to socio- ecological transition, says Jean-Michel Baer W Jean-Michel Baer is director of science, economy and society at DG Research inston Churchill often said, Where there is no vision, the people perish. Wher Science and policy research round-up Lets work together The Joint Research Centre is looking forward to increased inter-institutional cooperation, says Roland Schenkel I welcomed the chance to present the Joint Research Centre ( JRC) to the industry, research and energy com- mittee (ITRE) last mont research round-up EU-US cooperation Eu and Us EU-US energy council ready to tackle energy woes The EU-US energy council convened for the first time in Washington DC on 4 November, providing a new framework for bilateral talks on energy issues. EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs led a delegation EU-US cooperation research round-up energy is generated would give their quest to tackle climate change a boost. Joint projects to spark EU-US research collaboration Two new EU-funded projects to promote research between the EU and the US will help both continents to increase their research experti Are privacy rights in the EU being left behind? he European Union is embarking on a new round of discussions about freedom, security and justice policy. The EUs second work programme in this area, the Hague Programme (a follow-on from the 1999-2004 Tampere programme), is due to conclude in 2010. Its nanoeurope research round-up Mini Europe This years NanoEurope conference brings together Europes biggest minds to discuss sciences small ideas. Francesca Ross reports I f you believe the hype the annual NanoEurope conference, has become one of the most prominent nano- technology conferences in Eur eAdministration Getting linked up securely lectronic government has much to offer the European Union. Modernising administrations at many levels European, national, regional and local offers both greater cost efficiency in constrained times, and more user-friendly services, which can be delivered nanoeurope research round-up Small-scale thinking Gustaaf Borchardt thinks regulators face a tough challenge when it comes to nanotechnology, and says some clear definition would be a useful first step recent conference in Brussels, sponsored by the European com- missions directorate general for th research round-up nanoeurope Safety first Peter Kearns is head of the nanosafety team at the OECD environment directorate Ensuring the safety of nanotechnology is a work in progress, but moves are afoot to address these concerns, say Peter Kearns and Mar Gonzalez N Mar Gonzalez is project manager o For your transnational research projects in Nanomedicine, think EuroNanoMed! The application of nanotechnology to medicine and health, named Nanomedicine, has great potential to improve public welfare and enhance economic growth, thus improving the quality of life of people in Europe and around the research round-up nanoeurope Technology in transit Tim Harper believes nanotechnolgies have promise, but are yet to make their mark on the world outside of science N Tim Harper is head of nanotechnology business intelligence specialists, Cientifica anotechnology began to come to attention in 1999 a Design of Foams and Froths with Entailed Durability he contribution of this project consists in the combination of broad number of factors affecting the froth/foam durability in a whole methodology for designing of froth/foam with entailed lifetime. Hence the knowledge on the behavior of single foam PROFILE FOTIS KAFATOS Crossing the boundaries Fotis Kafatos tells Francesca Ross about life at the frontier of science and how EU funding is helping the most innovative and creative projects get off the ground What are your motivations in your professional life? Soon after I became a professor at t FOTIS KAFATOS PROFILE The greatest discoveries in science do not come every other minute, they are part of a process. At the ERC we are funding the best scientific proposals and are delighted to receive those that are truly innovative, for example, those that cross the boundaries between different future forecast SPACE 2010: A RESEARCH ODYSSEY Heavenly views Space observation and communication systems are the new priorities for European space policy, Giuseppe Morsillo tells Francesca Ross ooking up at inner space and the outer universe has been the core element of space activities, Giuseppe SPACE 2010: A RESEARCH ODYSSEY future forecast priorities. Furthermore, the most recent council meeting, in May 2009, offered an update on the implementation of these grand plans and Morsillo believes we can expect more major events in 2010. He argues we need to discuss exploration further in the y The Euro-Argo research infrastructure: towards a sustained european contribution to a global ocean observing system T he science of climate dynamics and climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our century. Understanding and predicting changes in both the atmosphere and ocean are needed MyOcean the ocean today and tomorrow Will sea-level rise chase Nile, Ganges and Mekong Delta rivers inhabitants from their homes? Are changes in oceanographic conditions a reason for the Blue Whale to return from the coast of California to the Gulf of Alaska? How to win the Historical Seas Tall Ship future forecast SPACE 2010: A RESEARCH ODYSSEY All together now Norbert Glante says European decision makers must work together to transform GMES into a fully operational force G Norbert Glante is a member of parliaments industry, research and energy committee and rapporteur on GMES MES global mon GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security): Earth observation services available Your task is not to foresee the future, but to enable it. A. de Saint-Exupery Several pre-operational versions of services to be provided through Europes Earth observation system are now available. Frédéric C future forecast space 2010: A research odyssey To boldly go Vladimír Remek argues that the European parliament has already shown its mettle in the area of space research, and to raise its profile must do so again I Czech MEP Vladimír Remek was the first astronaut from a European country came to par Bridge2Geo: From local to global Through a liaison of universities, research institutes and private enterprises the EU FP7 project Bridge2Geo opens new avenues for the Geoinformation industry in Europe to serve international markets. Bridge2Geo is a two year project connecting two so called Regions future forecast SPACE 2010: A RESEARCH ODYSSEY Fact or fiction? Space. The final frontier. The Research Reviews ongoing mission: To explore the possibility of going to strange new worlds. To seek out how we may picture new life and traces of civilisations. Here we ask EU research scientists how we COPERNICUS for monitoring of our adaptation to and mitigation of climate change In my book Air-Man-Environment published in 1981, I used a satellite picture proving the transboundary pollution fluxes entering the Polish territory from former Czechoslovakia through the Moravian Gate. The picture was SPACE 2010: A RESEARCH ODYSSEY future forecast same time, the new space technologies and operative experi- ence that ISS is producing is paving the way for the next step: manned exploration of Moon and, later, of Mars. Space is the last frontier, a frontier that is already expanding. programmatic f Networking the unregulated threat in the air next step will strive to adopt its derived sampling and analyzing methodologies as reference method by other monitoring networks and in future EU regulation strategies. Since the beginning of EUSAAR in 2006, the aerosol observation network has constantly SPACE 2010: A RESEARCH ODYSSEY future forecast To infinity, and beyond pace enthusiasts gathered in Brussels last month to discuss the ins and outs of Europes future policy in the field. The two-day conference, held in the commissions Charlemagne building, was attended by the indus- trys big-hitter The ReunionIsland Faces the Challenge of Climate Change The Regional Council of Reunion Island has added the problem of climate change to its sustainable development policy. It is working on developing a climate plan that includes recommendations and concrete measures for mitigation and adaptation. The first regional ERA-NET project for NETworking Tropical and Subtropical Biodiversity in the Outermost Regions and Territories of Europe in support of sustainable developement: NET-BIOME Towards an innovative and integrated biodiversity research including measures for adapting to and mitigating th future forecast SPACE 2010: A RESEARCH ODYSSEY Reach for the stars A coordinated European space policy can help ensure the EU realises its ambitions in the field of employment, economic growth and research, says Rainer Wieland ules Vernes science fantasy novel claims, Nothing can astound an America climate change Copenhagen Smart thinking Ready, steady, research I n the run-up to COP15 in Copenhagen, climate change dominates European and international news, increasing public awareness more than ever before. Climate change is a global challenge affecting environmental stability to an extent t smart thinking climate change Copenhagen Feel the heat Research is underway to assess the effect of rising temperatures on the Earths natural and manmade ecosystems, says Paul van der Linden ife in Europe in the 21st century can seem very detached from the climate. Perhaps well pause to think abou The magazine for MEPs, by MEPs theparliament.com subscribe online POLITICS, POLICY AND PEOPLE Gender equality in science is not simply a question of fairness; to strengthen research... total human capital must be utilised IFW Dresden Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien CNRS Grenoble/Nancy Georg-August-Un AGRISAFE Climate change: a challenge for training applied plant scientists Climate change scenarios forecast signicant decreases of up to 20 in plant productivity for a substantial part of Europe. Central and Eastern Europe are particularly affected, with weather extremes including both high and low climate change Copenhagen Smart thinking No time to waste Dear politician, You are probably told all the time that the science on climate change is not quite there yet, that we cannot be sure. And that is not so strange, because Earth system requires different scientific approaches to many other f Victoires Au quotidien dA FRANE En 2008 et début 2009, nous avons apporté leau et construit un bloc sanitaire et social dans un lycée de filles à Djalalabad. Nous avons construit quatre bâtiments scolaires, fourni des équipements scientifiques, réalisé des formations en dari, en maths et en sciences climate change Copenhagen Smart thinking Cause and effect Dear politician, accepted, the search is on for solutions. While many of the needed actions, such as reducing energy consumption and new end-of-pipe technologies are clear, we face hard question s when it comes to managing the natural envir policy progress FUTURE INTERNET Bringing online in line limiting access to other users. There are numerous examples of peer to peer applications (e.g. downloading large files) severely restricting resource access to competing applications. The deployment of traffic management tools, which make it p The DeLight Project: Innovative technology to provide fast and cheap optical communications The FP7 ICT project DeLight (www.delightproject.eu) is developing advanced structures and technologies for the low-cost fabrication of high-performance telecommunication lasers. Surface gratings a thousand ti policy progress FUTURE INTERNET Digital dawn Margot Wallström says the internet plays an increasingly important role in everyday communication, and shows no sign of letting up ooking back at my five-year mandate as EU communi- cation commissioner, one of the most notable changes in the media and co Eurocancercoms: Communicating Cancer Prof. Veronesi Prof. Sullivan Prof. Eggermont Prof. McVie examining the flow of information between basic scientists and other healthcare professionals assessing the way cancer research results are disseminated and identi- fying the existing barriers to su policy progress FUTURE INTERNET Breaking down boundaries A digital single market would help ensure Europe emerges from the recession more productive, competitive and knowledge-driven than before, writes James Waterworth s a new parliament and commission begin identifying legislative priorities for FUTURE INTERNET Policy progress potential. The establishment of a harmonised and strong set of consumer rights applicable throughout the EU is vital to achieving a real European e-commerce market. In addition, obtaining licences to offer music services across the European territory remains far more building bridges WOMEN IN SCIENCE Harnessing potential Paul Jacquet sets out the aims of the second Prometea conference, taking place in Paris later this month W Paul Jacquet is president of CDEFI and head of Grenoble INP e have helped to organise the second Prometea inter- national conference, whi WOMEN IN SCIENCE building bridges More must be done to address gender imbalances in Luisa Prista is calling for the EU to do more to increase the number of women in research decision making the field of research, writes Danièle Meulders he objective of the second international Prometea con- ference building bridges WOMEN IN SCIENCE WOMEN IN SCIENCE building bridges Stem the flow Science must be promoted as an attractive career path if the under-representation of women in the field is to be addressed, argues Britta Thomsen I Britta Thomsen is a member of parliaments industry, research and ene WOMEN IN SCIENCE building bridges Its all relative Would modern science look the way it does if Einstein was a woman? We asked three leading female researchers set to address the upcoming Prometea conference to tell us why they believe so few women end up in key research posts Valérie Davidson, fro building bridges WOMEN IN SCIENCE networks, connections, mentors, and giving priority to work and not to family. This scientist work ideal reflects traditional masculine traits and qualities characteristic of men. The masculine work ideal is problematic for women since it presents them with the (in Innovation in action REGISTER NOW to attend Civil Service Live at MANCHESTER CENTRAL on 7th December 2009 Civil Service Live is coming to heart of the North West, bringing some of the best content from the National event in London and marrying it with content that focuses on local issues. This is a SPACE FOR EUROPE The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europes gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europes space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. ESA is an international organisation with 18 M