The European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder Challenges built on cutting-edge directions in science and technology to create new market opportunities. For each Challenge, the EIC will support a carefully crafted portfolio of projects that jointly explore different perspectives, competing approaches or complementary aspects of the Challenge. With its five Pathfinder Challenges for the 2021 call, it calls for high-risk/high-gain research and development, venturing into new interdisciplinary areas.

List of 5 Challenges:

• Awareness inside
• Tools to measure and stimulate activity in brain tissue 
• Emerging technologies in cell and gene therapy (CGT)
• Novel routes to green hydrogen production 
• Engineered living materials

The deadline for submission of proposals is on 27 October 2021. 

For more information visit the EIC News. 

PHABULOuS and PHENOmenon came together to organize a joint workshop on advances in design, fabrication and applications of free-form micro-optics. The two day event gathered 100 registered participants and focused on available technologies for production of polymer and hybrid micro-optics, and the advances of direct laser writing, two-photon polymerization and microreplication technologies for industrial production of custom and freeform optical surfaces. If you missed the workshop and you would like to learn more, the video recordings can be accesses on the PHABULOuS YouTube channel.

PHABULOuS membership in Swissphotonics
In addition to becoming a part of EPIC-European Photonics Industry Consortium, the PHABULOuS Pilot Line Association has recently extended its membership to include Swissphotonics. As collaborations grow we see great potential and interest in the services the PHABULOuS project can offer in the field of free-form micro-optics!

On 8 July, the ORGANTRANS team has met to sum up the achievements for the last 18 months and to plan future actions in the ORGANTRANS project. The main building blocks of this ambitious project have already been completed, such as spheroids production, hydrogel stabilization, bioprinting, and construct formation. Currently, partners work on optimizing and combining together these building blocks into one standardized process. Altogether, they will allow assembling a novel 3D bioengineered liver construct towards transplantation for regenerative medicine. 

More information about the ORGANTRANS project.

On the 18^th of May 2021 the European Commission adopted a Communication on its Global Approach to Research and Innovation. The aim is to take a leading role in supporting international research and innovation partnership, and to deliver innovative solutions to make our societies green, digital and healthy.

The strategic priority for the European Union (EU) is to bring together the best minds from around the world. However, the EU as well pointed out that there are still geopolitical tensions rising as well as the human rights and fundamental values are questioned. The response to all mentioned is to lead by example, promoting multilateralism, openness and reciprocity together by cooperation with the rest of the world. The new Horizon Europe framework program remains open to cooperation with third countries, now offering the opportunity to join for non-European countries that share European values and have a strong scientific profile.

Two main aims of the strategy are:

1. it aims for a research and innovation environment that is based on rules and values, and it is also open by default, to help researchers and innovators around the world work together in multilateral partnerships and find solutions to global challenges
2. It aims to ensure reciprocity and a level-playing field in international cooperation in research and innovation.

To achieve its goals, the EU will support researchers and their organizations to help accelerate sustainable development in low and middle-income countries as well with a “African initiative” under Horizon Europe. The European Commission highlight that Horizon Europe, the next EU research and innovation framework programme 2021-2027 will be the main key for implementation of this strategy.

To read an original article click HERE.

Last week the EIC published on its twitter that they stopped new submissions from start-ups which were due on the 16th of June.

The official statement stated that they need to make several improvements to the Al-based platform which are expected to be introduced on 22^nd June.

Before 16^th June, the EIC has over 1,000 submissions to review. That is why it decided to stop new submissions for the first round of funding. Entrepreneurs who did not submit their pitches yet are left stranded as submissions closed without warning. Companies will now have to wait for reopening of the submission platform, with full proposal deadline on 6th October, to secure funding.

Based on the comments on official EIC twitter account, many people disagree with this decision and complain, because of the effort/budget investments done so far. One of the reasons is that start-up need a clear visibility of rules and timeline for funding.

Tumor-LN-oC aims to offer a comprehensive solution for a robust, automated tumor-lymph node-on-chip platform that will connect primary surgically removed human tumors and LN tissue from the same cancer patient. This will allow to study the interaction of primary tumors with lymph nodes, identify their chemical signature, and offer personalized treatment relying on molecular characterization of lymph node metastasizing cells.

More information will be shortly available at https://tumor-ln-oc.eu/.

Are you passionate about research and technology innovation? Are you target oriented, responsible and flexible? If time management and team spirit are no strangers to you then we are looking for you!

Apply for our newly opened position by sending your CV and motivation letter (both in English) to Bajarova(at)amires.eu till May 19th, 2021.
Only candidates that will proceed to the next round of the job will be contacted by May 21st, 2021. For more information click HERE.

Ensuing step after announcement of funding opportunities the European Commission has opened the first EIC Accelerator calls with funding worth over €1 billion. Half of the funding are earmarked for European Green Deal and to the digital and health technologies.

Usually, projects which are under the bigger risk and need more time to fulfill the results are struggling to receive the financial support. Therefore, EIC Accelerator focuses on technological and scientific breakthroughs which need longer time frame before returns are generated as well as bigger funding. This together will help innovators to attract the full investment amounts.

Last but not least, the European Commission also opened the EIC Pathfinder programme, which is supporting daring ideas for new technologies. High risk, high gain, cutting-edge science – these concepts are more than welcome in EIC Pathfinder programme. For the full article click here.

Calls opened at this moment are:

• EIC Pathfinder (deadline 19.5)
• EIC Accelerator Open Call Challenge (deadline 9.6)
• The European Capital of Innovation Awards (deadline 15.7.)
• EU Prize for Women Innovators (deadline 30.6.)
• Facing Societal Challenges Award (deadline 29.7.)
• Innovation Procurement Strategy Award (deadline 29.7.)
• Procurement Leadership Award (deadline 29.7.)

More information about calls are available HERE. 

Roman recently celebrated two years with AMIRES. He started as a Project Manager in March 2019 and due to his hard work, excellent skills and mindset he became a Programme Manager soon after. Roman is currently leading our Deep Tech group. In AMIRES Roman is managing the OASIS project (Open Access Single entry point for scale-up of Innovative Smart lightweight composite materials and components), acts as Dissemination Manager of H2020 project MANUELA (additive MANUfacturing using mEtal pilot Line) and is responsible for H2020 project proposals preparation.

He is also helping companies in achieving their business goals via business innovation coaching, where he’s mostly been working with companies in the area of Internet of Things.

About his work he said:

“Working at AMIRES has been a blast so far! The scope of activities is diverse and so have been the opportunities for growth. The team is excellent, the working ethic is demanding, yet flexible, and the coffee machine produces a decent productivity booster.”

In addition to his work in AMIRES, since 2015 Roman has also been cooperating with the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic and is a member of three different programme Boards assessing a wide variety of R&D projects. Even though Roman is a family man with two children, he always finds some time to play his favorite guitar or read a book.

Horizon Europe is a funding programme for research and innovation with a budget of €95.5 billion. The programme is starting this year and will last until 2027.

The first plan for four years sets the strategic orientations for the targeting of investment. This secure that EU research and innovation actions participate to EU priorities.

Part of the strategic plan are also four strategic orientations:

• Promoting an open strategic autonomy by leading the development of key digital, enabling and emerging technologies, sectors and value chains;
• Restoring Europe’s ecosystems and biodiversity, and managing sustainably natural resources;
• Making Europe the first digitally enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy;
• Creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society.

Moreover, the European co-funded and co-programmed partnerships together with EU missions are identified and supported through Horizon Europe. The strategic plan addresses a several of horizontal issues, such as gender.

The first call for proposals will be published in late spring 2021 and will be presented in details at the European Research and Innovations Days which be held on 23-24 June 2021.

For original article and more information click HERE.

One of the standard methods of working under its research and innovation funding programmes is open science. ORE is supported by a Scientific Advisory Board, which provides guidance on publishing policies, therefore the researchers are assured that the policies and guidelines are of the highest standards. To learn more about advantages and platform itself click HERE. 

Project Manager of European R&D&I projects in Deep Tech domain
Project Manager of European R&D&I projects in New Materials and Flexible & Wearable Electronics domain

Are you passionate about Advanced Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Photonics or Flexible & Wearable Electronics? Are you target oriented, responsible and flexible? If time management and team spirit are no strangers to you then we are looking for you!

Apply for our newly opened positions by sending your CV and motivation letter (both in English) to Bajarova(at)amires.eu till April 21^th, 2021.
Only candidates that will proceed to the next round of the job will be contacted by April 23^th, 2021.

For more information read HERE.  

LIGENTECH is a B2B company manufacturing Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) for customers in high-tech areas such as communication on ground and space, Quantum technologies, LiDAR and Biosensors.

Managing Director of LIGENTECH Michael Geiselmann shared:

“Coach Rudolf Frycek’s help focused on the business plan and fundraising, and more specifically the EIC Accelerator, a European scheme helping start-ups in the field of new technologies. “Thanks to the coaching, we won this grant, continues Michael Geiselmann. We are therefore very happy. It will allow us to finance the growth of our company for two years and also to be able to switch to large-scale manufacturing of our technology.”

We thank for the trust the LIGENTECH put in us.

AMIRES can help you identify new opportunities in the field of technology and in finding the most suitable solutions to your needs and technical challenges. For more information visit Our Services. 

For original article click HERE.

PHABULOuS announced a big milestone with the establishment of its independent PHABULOuS Pilot Line Association, moreover after the review process the pilot line is now the 20^th official partner of the projects in Public Private Partneship with Photonics21.

Check the official Press release HERE. 
 

Companies
Clinicians
Standardizers
Innovators
Researchers
Policy maker

Without our highly dedicated team our job and results will not be a success. Our team is our pride. To support growth, we are looking for highly motivated people to join our team in Prague for position of Project Manager of European R&D&I projects in Deep Tech domain.

Are you passionate about Advanced Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence and Photonics? Are you target oriented, responsible and flexible? If time management and team spirit are no strangers to you then we are looking for you!

Apply for our newly opened position of Project Manager of European R&D&I projects in Deep Tech domain by sending your CV and motivation letter (both in English) to Bajarova(at)amires.eu till April 6th, 2021. Only candidates that will proceed to the next round of the job will be contacted by April 7th, 2021. Read HERE for more.

SmartEES2 (Sustainable ecosysteM for the Adoption, Ramp-up and Transfer of Emerging Electronics Solutions) může nabídnout jak finanční podporu na vývoj a validaci prototypu nebo koncových produktů s využitím z dostupných technologii, tak i podporu při realizaci.

Nepromeškejte šanci se dozvědět důležité informace a možnost diskuse s našim CEO Rudolfem Fryčkem.

Seminář je určen jak pro zkušené, tak pro začínající podnikatele.

Více informací se dozvíte ZDE

Stay tuned for our latest news and keep yourself up-to-date with details on our dissemination activities. If further questions remain, an online Contact form is available to get in touch with us. We are looking forward to hearing from you!
 

New H2020 project INSPIRE will revolutionize photonic integrated circuit technology by combining highest optoelectronic efficiencies in InP photonics and lowest optical loss in SiN photonics, in a single platform through wafer-scale micro-transfer printing technology.

The project, coordinated by Eindhoven University of Technology, was launched on 1 January 2021. Partners in the project are IMEC (BE),  Smart photonics (NL), X-CELEPRINT (IE), Thales (FR), University of Cambridge (UK) and Amires (CZ). Further details are available in the project´s first press release here.

The Call is now open and applicants are able to apply anytime until 12 November 2021. Up to 15 selected Demonstrator Open Call applicants will receive pioneer funding of up to 50% in in-kind contributions. The Call encourages applications from eligible companies of any size, and addressing any market segment, who are ready to take their InP PIC-based products to piloting readiness level and are willing to share high-level information about their demonstrator cases.

Demonstrator Open Call participants will have the opportunity to receive support from experienced specialists from the JePPIX Pilot Line consortium covering design, test and characterization, consultancy, and software support, among others. Piloting fabrication runs will additionally further process robustness and reliability, and contribute to accelerating your time to market, and lowering your development costs.

Information on eligibility criteria and application guidelines can be found here. Further assistance is available through the Helpdesk by phone to +420 226 217 422 or by email to helpdesk@jeppix.eu (Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 17.00 p.m. CET).

The first work programme includes three main calls for proposals for frontier research actions for a total amount of €1.9 billion: Starting Grants, Consolidator Grants and Advanced Grants. The European Research Council (ERC), an EU public body for funding of scientific and technological research, will manage this Work programme. 

Three main Calls for Proposals:

1.  The first call is “Starting Grants”  which will support top researchers to start their own independent research team or programme. The call will be launched on 25 February, with a budget of €619 million and a deadline of 8 April.
2.  The second call, the “Consolidator Grants“, for researchers who are consolidating their own independent research team or programme will open, with a budget of €633 million. The deadline for applications is 20 April.
3. The third call, the “Advanced Grants”, will be launched on May 20, for leading advanced investigators, with a budget of €626 million and deadline on 31 August.

The European Research Council awards grants through open competitions to projects headed by starting and established researchers. As its sole selection criterion is scientific excellence, it strives to attract top researchers from anywhere in the world to come and stay in Europe.
The UK will be part of Horizon Europe. The UK government announced the UK will associate to Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation programme 2021-2027. Association will give UK scientists, researchers and businesses access to funding under the programme on equivalent terms as organisations in EU countries.

•    Read the ERC 2021 Work Programme

From 17 AMIRES team members, 10 are excellent female professionals in a high leadership position. Lenka Bajarova, AMIRES Managing Director, has outstanding scientific project management expertise and leads the AMIRES team. Moreover, from the other 9 women, 8 lead at least 1 EU funded project in STI (Science, Technology and Innovation). These incredible women share discussions, lead events and stir the outcomes of high-quality STI projects, whose consortia consist of companies, research centers, innovation centers, universities and even hospitals.

The Health Programme Manager, Martina Nesverova, is a senior team member with expertise in the Health and Biotech fields. With her thriving trajectory she has successfully led the preparation of proposals, which have been funded mainly by extremely competitive EU funding programmes. In addition, she had started long-standing partnerships with companies and research organisations not only in the Czech Republic.

A successful team is based on diversity and acknowledging the importance of a multidisciplinary approach. The AMIRES female team is a perfect example of this, bringing up a combination of skills and knowledge that encompasses different fields such as business, political sciences, international affairs, languages, biomedicine and even forensic entomology. Therefore, in AMIRES we have learned that by tackling situations from different angles provides more efficient and effective solutions from a multidisciplinary and enriched vision.

Science is not only found in a laboratory or in a university office, but is everywhere, and we need representation of women at all levels. At AMIRES we are showing it and we are making it our strength. Choosing AMIRES is choosing gender equality and empowerment of women in STEM.

Visit https://www.project-tinker.eu/ and take the journey with us. We will keep you updated about the project´s progress and latest news.
So keep your eyes open.

This is just a start! 

This is a big support for researchers and SMEs. 

Read more  https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_2345

You can see this event HERE

Discover more in-depth analysis of flexible electronics within the Horiozon 2020 Programme, created by John Kennedy Mwangi, AMIRES. The analysis includes:

• NUMBER OF PROJECTS OVER THE YEARS
• DISTRIBUTION OF PROJECTS AMONG THE FUNDING INSTRUMENTS
• PROJECT RANKING IN TERMS OF FUNDING
• THE KEY PERFORMERS
• THE DOMINANT PRIVATE FOR PROFIT ENTITIES
• NUMBER OF PROJECTS PER COUNTRY

Full report HERE

Due to the combination of the following: end of the year duties, the upcoming Christmas break and the difficult time of the sanitary situation, we need to postpone this event for Spring 2021. We apologize for the change of plans, however we want to assure you a high-quality experience through the newest trends in Regenerative Medicine. We thank you for your understanding and please stay tuned!

There were two main problems:  lack of intelligent lighting luminaires and low lighting comfort resulting in unhealthy solutions for lighting interiors, which disturb hormone production and thus prevent an undisturbed circadian rhythm. SmartEEs solution, with the service provider – Fraunhofer FEP was developing human-centric light by LED/OLED combination. Development of esthetically pleasing smart lights, utilizing both LED and OLED for their emission capabilities of required wavelengths. By combining two separate tuneable-white modules, the color temperature range of emitted light was expanded, which improves quality over standard human-centric lights. By adding smart control on top the resulting lights should offer a wide range of applications and features such as usage statistics which may lead to more effective use in the future and thus lower power consumption. AMIRES, as a SmartEEs business provider for this case, identified growth potentials by analyzing market segments and further business opportunities throughout the business coaching sessions.

Watch ESYST’s story to bring lighting comfort and healthier solutions to life with SmartEEs support.

CONDOR aims at developing a modular device for the production of fuels by using water and carbon dioxide as feedstock and sunlight as the sole energy source. The projects will develop a photosynthetic device made of two compartments: (a) a photoelectrochemical cell that splits water and CO2 and generates oxygen and syngas, a mixture of H2 and CO; (b) a (photo)reactor that converts syngas into methanol and dimethylether, via bi-functional heterogeneous catalysts. The final target is a full photosynthetic device with 8% solar-to-syngas and 6% solar-to-DME efficiencies with three-months continuous outdoor operation. CONDOR has the ambition to become a basis for the next generation of non-fossil fuel production technologies as it proposes an innovative approach that brings both techno-economic (cost reduction, higher efficiency, lower technological and manufacturing complexity) and environmental (reduced CO2 emission, reduced energy for production, reduced usage of rare materials) advantages in comparison to current solutions for renewable production of methanol and dimethylether.

The project’s innovation potential in terms of scientific and engineering activities is possible by combining the interdisciplinary approach, complementary competences and international collaboration. Coordinated by the University of Bologna and with AMIRES participation, the CONDOR consortium is unifying well reputed technology development teams and key industrial partners, specialised in nanomaterials preparation and characterisation by operando microscopy and spectroscopy, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, photochemistry/photoelectrochemistry, PEC engineering and assessment of the environmental and socio-economic impact of the proposed technology, including life cycle assessment.

Additional information about the CONDOR project can be found at: https://condor-h2020.eu/

Read more details and stay updated!

A European Green Deal
A Europe fit for the digital age
An economy that works for people
A stronger Europe in the world
Promoting our European way of life
A new push for European democracy

A full list of the 44 new policy objectives under the six headline ambitions are set out in Annex 1 of the 2021 work programme.

EU Datathon is an annual open data competition organized by the Publications Office of the EU since 2017. The main goal is to stimulate innovation and transform the interaction between citizens and the EU administration. There were four categories according to the challenge to be addressed:

1. A European Green Deal (Challenge 1),
2. An economy that works for people (Challenge 2),
3. A new push for European democracy (Challenge 3)
4. and a Europe fit for the digital age (Challenge 4).

Our team, consists of John Kennedy Mwangi, Rudolf Fryček, Roman Pašek and Lenka Bajarova, submitted the proposal for the competition by May 3, 2020, for the CHALLENGE 2 and we were selected as one of the 12 finalists from among 121 proposals on May 29th, 2020. Over the following months, we developed the EU4Regions platform and presented it on 15th October on the Digital event during the European Week of Regions and Cities.
Our platform EU4Regions emerged number 2 in challenge 2.  EU4Region, the application created by AMIRES helps identify unknown patterns, causal relations and changes resulting from the injection of EU funds in various regions. It maps the state of cohesiveness and inclusion of EU regions through funding.  The open data from EU CORDIS EU, RegioEvaluation and Eurostat were used to determine whether EU funding is helping our regions. The app should help policymakers adjust financial support. We are grateful to be part of creating new value for citizens through innovation and promoting the use of open data.

Visit our virtual stand addressing Cohesion & cooperation here or watch our final speech below.

The five mission proposals submitted by the Mission Boards, the independent experts advising the Commission, are:

1. Conquering Cancer: Mission Possible. Targets by 2030: more than 3 million lives saved, living longer and better: achieve a thorough understanding of cancer, prevent what is preventable, optimise diagnosis and treatment, support the quality of life of all people exposed to cancer, and ensure equitable access to the above across Europe.
2. A Climate Resilient Europe – Prepare Europe for climate disruptions and accelerate the transformation to a climate resilient and just Europe by 2030. Targets by 2030: prepare Europe to deal with climate disruptions, accelerate the transition to a healthy and prosperous future within safe planetary boundaries, and scale up solutions for resilience that will trigger transformations in society.
3. Mission Starfish 2030: Restore our Ocean and Waters. Targets by 2030: filling the knowledge and emotional gap, regenerating marine and freshwater ecosystems, zero pollution, decarbonising the blue economy, and revamping governance. These mutually supportive objectives will enable the regeneration of the water cycle as a whole.
4. 100 Climate-Neutral Cities by 2030 – by and for the citizens. Targets by 2030:  support, promote and showcase 100 European cities in their systemic transformation to climate neutrality by 2030 and turn these cities into innovation hubs for all cities, benefitting quality of life and sustainability in Europe.
5. Caring for Soil is Caring for Life. Targets by 2030: at least 75% of soils in the EU are healthy for food, people, nature and climate. The proposed mission combines research and innovation, education and training, investments and the demonstration of good practices using “Living labs” (experiments and innovation in a laboratory on the ground) and “Lighthouses” (places to showcase good practices).

The Commission will announce its final selected missions at the end of 2020. The missions will launch in 2021 as part of Horizon Europe, the next EU research and innovation programme. 
More information HERE. 

PhotonHub will provide a broad range of services and capabilities covering:
•    training and upskilling supports
•    “test before invest” innovation support
•    supports to find investment

PhotonHub Europe will commence operations from early 2021 and will be operating a continuous open call for companies to apply for its support services. Applications for support will be facilitated online through the PhotonHub website located at www.photonhub.eu.

Read first PhotonHub Europe press release highlighting the essence of photonics in traditional industrial base HERE

The virtual event was opened by Rudolf Frycek, CEO of Amires, and John Fahlteich, Group Leader at the Division: Plasma Technology at Fraunhofer-FEP and also coordinator of FlexFunction2Sustian project. The topic on sustainable and smart packaging was presented by the speakers Jakub Pedzinski (Capri Sun), Marlos Silva (Sonae MC), Wolfgang Lohwasser (AMCOR Flexibles). They shared interesting insights on the development of the industry by addressing the new challenges for reducing the environmental impact of the packaging and undertaken approaches to move to a more “circular” world. High-impact future innovative solutions for smart plastic films for design, optics and security were presented by Jaakko Raukola (ISCENT), Rafael Michalczuk (Swarovski), Tomáš Těthal (IQ Structures), Stephan Trassl (Hueck Folien) and André Kalio (Schreiner Group). Apart from the company profile, each speaker provided information on the in-house machines and process developments. Examples for the application of smart plastic films as well as thriving innovations and ideas for the products of tomorrow were also provided during the presentations. In addition, Alexander Schmidt (Sonnenberg Harrison Partners mbB) presented an overview of the intellectual property landscape of the nanofunctionalised surfaces.

At the end, John Fahlteich had the pleasure to introduce the new Horizon 2020 funded project FlexFunction2Sustain as the latest European initiative for enabling novel solutions and products for plastic and paper-based flexible materials and films. Apart from providing more details on the concept of the Open Innovation Test Bed, he informed the participants about the future possibilities and EU support offered for innovative SMEs and industries in the framework of the project. Learn more about FlexFunction2Sustain here.

The workshop represented a perfect opportunity to learn about the latest developments and industrial applications in the field of sustainable packaging and smart plastic films and possibilities to integrate polymer films, paper and membranes in existing or new products. With the motivation from speakers and a chance to interact with key industry stakeholders, it was truly an event to remember. Stay tuned for the next events organised in the framework of FlexFunction2Sustian project by checking the project website. 

On October 14-15th, 2020, TINKER project was officially kicked-off via online meeting and coordinated by scientist Leo Schranzhofer at PROFACTOR GmbH with AMIRES participation.

In the period of 3 years, starting from 1st of October 2020, European Union´s H2020 funded TINKER project is set to develop a new reliable, accurate, functional, cost- and resource efficient pathway for RADAR and LIDAR sensor package fabrication, using “key enabling technologies, especially inkjet printing and nanoimprint llithography”. The main aim is to establish the TINKER platform based on Additive Manufacturing and Fabrication of RADAR and LIDAR sensors packages as use cases.

The TINKER consortium consists of 10 the most excellent industrial companies, 3 research specialists, one consultancy and a service association, who are major players in the field of semiconductor and microelectronic manufacturing, as well as in the fields of material and process development and industrial fields applying or interested in applying AM for their needs.

More information will be shortly available at www.project-tinker.eu.