With the addition of 66 new partners, the Graphene Flagship, which is one of the largest-ever European research initiatives, doubled in size. This was the result of a €9 million competitive call which attracted 218 proposals from 738 organisations in 37 countries. There is growing enthusiasm in Europe about the possibilities that Graphene can provide for citizens. Graphene is a next generation material with limitless potential applications in various sectors such as energy, health, mobility and housing and many more.
In a recent EU communication, Vice-President Neelie Kroes said "this ‘wonder material’ has the potential to dramatically improve our lives: it stimulates new medical technologies, such as artificial retinas, and more sustainable transport with light and ultra-efficient batteries. The more we can unlock the potential of graphene, the better!”
With this expansion, six new countries (Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Israel) will be represented in the Flagship expanding the Pan-European and international outreach of the initiative. Italy and Germany have the highest number of partners organisations (23 each), followed by Spain (18), UK (17) and France (13). In total the Graphene Flagship will now reach approximately 140 organisations from 23 countries.
The mixt composition achieved by the consortium, as well as the tight competition are indicators of the growing interest in graphene coming from both research and economic actors.
A part of the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagships, the Graphene Flagship is a European investment of €1 billion unfolding over the next 10 years.