Who We Are

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) – The Research University in the Helmholtz Association – is a higher education and research organisation with about 9,200 employees, 25,100 students, and a total annual budget of about 880 million Euro. It bundles the missions of a university of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and of a large-scale research institution of the Helmholtz Association. KIT is devoted to top research and excellent academic education as well as to be a prominent location of academic life, life-long learning, comprehensive advanced training, exchange of know-how, and sustainable innovation culture. Within the Research Fields “Energy” and “Key Technologies”, KIT competence covers the areas of energy storage systems, biotechnology and nanotechnology, micro- and nano-electronics, optics and photonics, microsystems, and materials technology as well as information technology KIT is also the hosting the Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility, a high-tech open access infrastructure platform with more than 100 users from academia and industry from across the globe.

The KIT Institute for Automation and Applied Informatics (IAI) conducts research and development in the field of innovative, application-oriented information, automation & system technology for futureproof energy systems and complex industrial and laboratory processes. Interdisciplinary working groups conceive integrated systems solutions, with all development phases being covered from conceptual design to modelling and simulation, to prototyping, to practical testing, also under industrial conditions.

Contributions to NanoFabNet

1. Identify, map and connect to (i) existing actors and (ii) available infrastructures in the areas of nanofabrication and technology sustainability across and beyond Europe
2. Create the initial NanoFabNet Database of disciplines, actors and infrastructures
3. Contribute expert knowledge in nanosafety assessment, LCA and safe-by-design for nanomaterials for 3D printing

BioNanoNet (BNN) is a non-profit organisation specialised in international R&D&I collaboration to support and guide towards sustainable development of connected technologies. It is the operative unit of the BioNanoNet Network, an international association that gather both, private and public R&D&I organisations from different sectors dealing with nanotechnology and its applications. Main thematic areas of both, the association and BNN are (i) enabling technologies, (ii) health and safety, and (iii) data and sustainability aspects. Moreover, standardisation and regulatory aspects of the nanotechnology field (e.g., safety data sheets, exposure scenarios, REACH context, etc.) are key topics in the research of BNN. Therefore, BNN continuously interacts with national and international stakeholders, as well as policy makers and regulatory and legislative authorities.

The four areas that form the core of BNN activities are based on (a) Building Alliances and Initiatives, (b) Technical Support based on Safe-by-Design and Sustainability aspects, (c) Innovation support and management and (d) Complementary Business support (e.g. project management, dissemination, communication). Through these activities, BNN successfully helps its association members to: access to expertise and infrastructure inside and outside the BioNanoNet association, communication with funding agencies, to get technical support in the development of multidisciplinary research projects, get synergies through joint activities, global, cross sectoral support for regulatory awareness, get connectivity across sectors and skills that ensure growth and innovation of its members.

Moreover, BNN is involved and part of the coordination of international nano-safety and nano-innovation activities (e.g., SusChem Platform, NanoSafety Cluster, Industrial Innovation Liaison i2L, Closer-To-The-Market, etc.). On the Austrian level, BNN also coordinates the Austrian Nanomedicine, Nanotoxicology and NanoSafety-research-communities, Austrian Microfluidics Initiative and the SusChem-AT platform.

Contributions to NanoFabNet

BNN’s contribution to NanoFabNet is together with the NanoFabNet project partners and stakeholders to develop and optimize the planning of the organisation and structure of the NanoFabNet Hub.

The Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC) is a unique research centre focusing primarily on the fields of advanced materials and nanotechnologies. Since its establishment in 2011, CEITEC has quickly developed into a cutting-edge infrastructure for research which performs highly alongside the best institutes in Europe.

The CEITEC Nano facilities for nanofabrication, nano-characterisation, structural analysis and X-ray tomography enable to carry out complete fabrication of nanostructures and nanodevices and their characterisation down to the sub-nanometre level in an entirely clean environment.

The nanofabrication laboratory is located in an ISO class 5 (US 100) cleanroom with an area of 356 m² and nano-characterisation laboratory is located in an ISO class 8 (US FS 100,000) cleanroom with an area of 1,337 m². The structural analysis laboratory occupies a further 300 m² of ISO class 8 (US FS 100,000) cleanroom.

Contributions to NanoFabNet

CEITEC’s close collaboration with industries internationally is a strength within the NanoFabNet project, and recognizes capabilities and expertise of the companies, and the needs on the other side. Linking those competences and needs together will be one of the major benefits of the NanoFabNet project.

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is a mission-driven Research and Technology Organisation (RTO) active in the fields of materials, environment, and ICT. By transferring technology to society as well as local companies, LIST contributes strongly to the building of tomorrow’s Luxembourg and Europe.

LIST’s mission is to conduct interdisciplinary, open-innovation and impact-driven research in a limited number of domains of high importance to business, industry, and society. LIST is active throughout the whole innovation chain by performing: fundamental and applied scientific research; knowledge and capability development; experimental development, incubation and transfer of knowledge, products and services co-development; scientific policy support for the Luxembourgish and European authorities, businesses and society and by doctoral and post-doctoral training.

Within the Environmental Research and Innovation (ERIN) Department, the Environmental Sustainability Assessment and Circularity (SUSTAIN) research unit aims at providing industrial innovation and policy decision-making with science-based quantification of the impacts and risks of production and consumption patterns, including energy systems solutions, to foster the transition towards a more sustainable society. The combination of different fields of expertise enables to improve the input data quality and to reinforce the robustness of the analyses. This finally provides sustainability indicators that are more reliable and targeted to each specific decision-making context.

Contributions to NanoFabNet

• Contribute to the environmental impact assessment and LCA analysis for nanofabrication processes
• Contribute to the definition of strategies for ensuring the safety (reduced toxicity) of nanofabrication processes and of the resulting products.
• Contribute to the analysis of regulatory requirements and ensuring that the nanofabrication processes are compliant with national and international regulations.

COPT Centre is a technology transfer institute for flexible and printed electronics. It was founded by the University of Cologne in 2015. COPT Centre hosts start-ups and SME active in the development of new (nano-scaled) materials, electronic components, solar cells, sensors, and medical technology. To enable the development of everyday products, COPT Centre offers an infrastructure specialised on innovative components. These comprise energy-saving components such as flexible organic light emitting diodes (OLED), (3rd generation) solar cells and printed components such as organic transistors, sensors, and actuators.

Its infrastructure consists of laboratories, office space, a cleanroom, and jointly used scientific equipment. The technical capabilities offered by the COPT Centre comprise the deposition of nano-scaled layers from the gas phase and from solution as well as analytical methods. From the gas phase layers are available from physical vapour deposition, chemical vapour deposition, and atomic layer deposition. Deposition from solution can be performed by coating and printing. Laser patterning, and analytical methods comprising the characterisation of optical, electrical, morphological, and long-term properties of deposited layers complete COPT Centre’s technical capabilities.

The equipment available at the COPT Centre is maintained by the non-profit ZOEK gGmbH which is an integral part of the COPT Centre. ZOEK in parallel is active in several public funded projects. On the way to 3D-shaped OLED rear lights ZOEK has been part of projects with finally resulted in one of the first automobile having OLED rear light. Presently ZOEK is working on the integration of flexible OLED into injection moulded parts using ultrathin glass as well as innovative solar cells.

Contributions to NanoFabNet

The high-tech technology transfer institute and incubator of the University of Cologne will bring the high-tech start-up community into the NanoFabNet Project and supports the corresponding formulation of the NanoFabNet Niche & USP.

The Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) is composed of 6 sections, located in Milan, Bologna, Rome, Lecce and Catania. The Section of Bologna, whose staff comprises more than 60 people (researchers, technicians, administrative staff), is a multi-disciplinary research centre that has been working on the study of materials and devices for microelectronics and MEMS for over 30 years. Thanks to the synergy between physics, engineers and chemistry IMM-BO provides a global and flexible approach to the development of innovative technologies for application specific areas.

The institute can embrace a wide area of knowledge, spanning from material characterisation to the study of technological processes and from the design and fabrication of integrated devices to their integration in high TRL systems.

IMM-BO has one of the largest publicly funded facility for silicon micro-machining in Italy (located in a 500 m2 ISO 5-8 Clean Room). The facility is mainly dedicated to the research and manufacture of microelectronics and MEMS devices, with possibility of carrying out a small-scale production of customised devices. Dedicated technologies have been developed for the manufacture of IR emitters, silicon thermopiles, bolometers, micro-hot plates, Single Photon Avalanche Detectors (SPAD), SiC diodes and MOSFETs, Mach-Zender interferometers based on LiNbO3, innovative photovoltaic cells, CNT structures, graphene-based structures, Silicon Photonic for DataCom application, Power Harvesting based on silicon nanowires, all-silicon micro gas chromatographs.

Structural and electrical diagnostic techniques have always played a crucial role in the research activity of IMM-BO, and the laboratory raised as a European excellence in the development and use of electron, ion and X-ray characterisation techniques. The research activity in the structural characterisation of materials focuses on electron crystallography, dopant profiling or development of imaging techniques for the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) and the low-energy scanning microscope (SEM).

Contributions to NanoFabNet

As a EURONanoLAB-Synergy Partner CNR is responsible for demonstrating the NanoFabNet added value.

The Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation (VT-ARC) provides the contracting linkage between EU partners and Virginia Tech, namely Virginia Tech’s Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS) and National Centre for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NanoEarth).  VT-ARC’s technical representative on this project will be Dr. Matthew Hull. Dr. Hull will advise the NanoFabNet team regarding sustainable nanotechnology entrepreneurship and facilitate linkages with US partners.

VT-ARC. VT-ARC is a 501(c)(3), non-profit R&D organisation affiliated with Virginia Tech. VT-ARC specializes in applied research, translational research, technical services and commercialisation efforts that extend the brand and impact of Virginia Tech, while serving government and industry alike. 

Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech offers about 280 undergraduate and graduate majors to more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, and manages a research portfolio of more than $531 million. Virginia Tech has a 2,600-acre main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia; a significant presence across the commonwealth, including the Innovation Campus in Northern Virginia, the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke, and sites in Newport News and Richmond; educational and research facilities across the state; a study-abroad site in Switzerland; and a 1,800-acre agriculture research farm near the main campus.

ICTAS. The Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS) is one of six research institutes at Virginia Tech. ICTAS leverages strategic investments to forge partnerships across disciplinary boundaries and catalyse discovery at the intersections of engineering, the humanities, and the physical, life, and social sciences. ICTAS also helps build international research partnerships.

NanoEarth. The National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure is a node of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), an NSF-funded network of 16 centres spread throughout the United States serving as user facilities for cutting edge nanotechnology research. NanoEarth is part of Virginia Tech's ICTAS. 

Contributions to NanoFabNet

Home of the US National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure (VT-NanoEarth), Virginia Tech is responsible for establishing strong ties with the US Research Agenda in sustainable Nanofabrication. It will also assist in leveraging community support and funding a USA-launch of the NanoFabNet hub.