Manchester conference showcases graphene

Graphene Week 2015 has been announced as a “homecoming” by the head of the EU Flagship.

Professor Jari Kinaret, director of the Graphene Flagship, made the statement during the opening plenary of the five-day conference taking place at the University of Manchester, UK, and attended by Pan European Networks and Horizon 2020 Projects. The event will showcase the breakthroughs of the Graphene Flagship, part-funded by the European Commission, and related nanotechnologies.

Also in the opening plenary, Thomas Skordas, head of the Flagships Unit, DG CONNECT in the European Commission, emphasised the importance of “basic science and industry” and moving from “lab to fab” and industrial leadership. Skordas also focused on the international collaborative nature of graphene research.

Adding his thoughts during the first session, Professor Vladimir Fal’ko, programme committee member of Graphene Week 2015 and academic at Lancaster University, UK, also drew attention to the importance of collaboration, particularly between science and technology and 2D materials. He also spoke about the importance of the National Graphene Institute, which is located at the University of Manchester, and was opened by UK Finance Minister George Osborne in March.

This week’s conference is the 10th edition of the event, and is the second to be organised by the Graphene Flagship. The opening plenary has also seen addresses by Harvard University’s Philip Kim, Shu-Jen Han from IBM, and Rodney S Ruoff from UNIST, South Korea.