Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ENF2019 (EURONANOFORUM 2019 - NANOTECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED MATERIALS PROGRESS UNDER HORIZON2020 AND BEYOND)

Teaser

This Coordination and Support Action project aim was the organisation of EuroNanoForum 2019 (ENF2019) conference in Bucharest, Romania, within the framework of the Romanian EU-Presidency. The conference was successfully organised and was attended by the planned amount of...

Summary

This Coordination and Support Action project aim was the organisation of EuroNanoForum 2019 (ENF2019) conference in Bucharest, Romania, within the framework of the Romanian EU-Presidency. The conference was successfully organised and was attended by the planned amount of participants.
The ENF2019 intention was to facilitate and stimulate debates between researchers and various stakeholders (including the representatives of general public) acting in Nanotechnologies and advanced Materials areas (NM) in Horizon 2020 NMBP Programme. Moreover, the event objective was to emphasise the importance of the industry presence in the ENF 2019 program (both sessions, posters, workshops, exhibition) as key player of the Horizon 2020 NMBP Programme. Particular attention was given to the societal impact. The national, regional and European policy makers were engaged in discussions on future challenges and research priorities, especially in the perspectives of post-Horizon2020 scenarios. For that reason, the motto of the ENF2019 was “Almost there - what’s next?”.
At a glance, the event:
o built visibility for nanotechnologies and advanced materials areas of the Horizon 2020 NMBP Programme at the European level;
o brought together and fostered cooperation between scientists, industry, small and medium sized enterprises & start-ups, businesses, investors, local authorities, non-governmental organisations etc., to share information and exchange ideas on scientific, industrial, key policy and societal issues in NM related areas and to support the endorsement of new industrial technologies;
o attracted distinguished speakers from research, policy & industry, inspiring the participants to pursue the experience in the field of nanotechnology and advanced materials towards the industrial applications;
o contributed to the identification of policy options and priorities and offered input for defining the next research priorities and creation of new initiatives with focus on NM;
o the main topics addressed in the conference programme were related to nantotechnologies and advances materials (NM) for EU RE-INDUSTRIALISATION, applications of NM in ENERGY, NANOMEDICINE, Nanotechnology for society, POLICY for nano (Safe by Design & Open Innovation Testbeds, Governance & Standardisation), INSTRUMENTS FOR NANOMATERIALS KNOW-HOW AND NANOMATERIALS APPLICATION

Work performed

The conference has been successfully organised and the objectives were met, in spite of the short period. The conference consisted of 3 plenary sessions, 15 parallel sessions within 6 pillars, poster session, 8 workshops, technical exhibition, site visits at different research facilities and brokerage event, and various social activities that provided a platform for networking between participants.
ENF 2019 provided opportunities for presenting the latest European and world-class results in advanced materials and nanotechnologies.

Activities from the beginning of the project:
- identify the target audiences for EuroNanoForum 2019
- elaborating invitations for speakers at the conference and workshops and defining the event programme
- establish the communication and dissemination strategy, including communication with the press
- outreach and promotion actions to introduce the event to both local and international audiences and invite participants to the event, using conference webpage, electronic newsletters, social media, media partnerships, personalised invitations
- promotional materials creation, branding (printed materials adapted to targeted audience - flyers, brochures, posters, roll-ups, banners, spiders)
- organizing the Industrial and Research Exhibition and the Posters Exhibition
- organizing local transport and accommodation for invited speakers and transport for all participants to site visits and gala dinner
- onsite organization of the conference, including technical visits and social events

Final results

The Bucharest 9th edition of the EuroNanoForum event achieved the proposed objectives and its impact can be quantified reviewing the following aspects:
- the visibility of nanotechnologies and advanced materials was improved by presenting the latest advancements in these fields, their importance and applicability in all industrial sectors;
- prestigious speakers from leading research centres and industry were invited and accepted to present in the conference sessions and workshops their state-of-the-art results, development of products and market strategies (128 top-level speakers and moderators in total from research, industry and policy makers)
- the benefits and importance of nanotechnologies and advanced materials in developing new solutions and contributing to the increased local, national, EU industrial competitiveness and growth were promoted and popularised.
- the event contributed in increasing the awareness of Romanian and EU policy makers about the importance of nanotechnologies and advanced materials and helped identifying topics to be included in the next RDI strategies
- the conference, exhibition, workshops and brokerage event provided real opportunities to improve international cooperation between different actors, facilitating the exchange of ideas, expertise, knowledge, networking, with the aim of finding new potential partners for development of new EU projects
- the visibility of Romanian research centres, universities and SMEs active in nanotechnology and advanced materials was improved

EuroNanoForum 2019 in figures:
- approx. 500 delegates, with 128 speakers and moderators
- 3 plenary sessions and 15 parallel sessions with 85 oral presentations, 8 Workshops
- 89 posters, 16 posters in the student sessions
- 30 projects applying for the Best H2020 project in NMBP Competition
- 180 meetings between 68 delegates from 19 countries in the Brokerage sessions
- 22 exhibitors in the Industrial and Research Exhibition
- 13 media partners
The conference and its associated events (poster sessions, workshops, exhibition, and brokerage sessions) offered opportunities for the scientific community to interact with representatives from large industry, small and medium sized enterprises and local investors, as potential business partners for commercial exploitation of research results. Particular attention was given to the societal impact, finding of new solutions for energy efficiency and healthcare.

Website & more info

More info: https://www.euronanoforum2019.eu/.