2D materials project receives ERC funding

Up to €150,000 funding for a one year project to bridge the gap between pioneering ‘blue sky’ research and marketable innovation has been awarded by the European Research Council to Professor Valeria Nicolosi, who is based at the nanoscience institute at Trinity College Dublin (CRANN).

On learning her project was selected for this prestigious EU funding, Nicolosi said: “I was indeed thrilled when I heard the news of this award. It will allow me to bring this project to the next level, from fundamental to more applied horizons. It will allow a full economic and technical feasibility study and ultimately will provide a platform to link my findings with industrial targets.”

Nicolosi’s project ‘Ultrasonic spray deposition: Enabling new 2D-based technologies (2D-USD)’ will determine the economic and technical feasibility of using one-atom-thick materials for the development of inexpensive and high performance ultrathin, flexible supercapacitors for energy storage. In all 33 top researchers across 15 countries were announced as grantees of this ‘Proof of Concept’ grant which will mean funding up to €150,000 for each of them to turn their frontier research into innovation.

These grants are open to scientists who already hold ERC grants. The funded projects cover topics in domains as varied as neurosciences, engineering, and architecture and human rights. One researcher, for instance, explores ways to develop a tablet PC, which could be used by both clinicians and family members to detect consciousness after coma in real time; another one aims to commercialise flexible and stretchable electronics to equip energy efficient and ecofriendly vehicles.

Speaking on the subject, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: “The European Research Council’s ‘Proof of Concept’ initiative has already helped over 140 researchers to test the market potential of their ERC-funded frontier research. Bringing the best ideas to market is what will keep Europe competitive, and that in turn means jobs.”