The European project NANOPOLY (FETOPEN 2019 – 2022) that runs in the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL) of the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH) has been awarded a “Key innovator” distinction by the European “Innovation Radar” https://www.innoradar.eu/resultbykeyword/nanopoly). The “Innovation Radar” is a European Commission initiative to identify high potential innovations and innovators in EU-funded research and innovation framework programmes (https://www.innoradar.eu/), which have the potential to drastically change our society in the future.

The aim of NANOPOLY ( https://project-nanopoly.com ), a European project funded under the highly prestigious and competitive call FETOPEN, is to seek novel methods to create smaller, faster and more efficient electronic components that internally use meta-materials. The result is an unseen class of components and circuits that can provide improved wireless electronics in a way never systematically studied so far. Two groups of the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser participate in the project and are at the centre of the “Key innovator” award: The Micro/Nano electronics Research Group, with the activity of two dimensional (2D) electronics (https://www.iesl.forth.gr/en/research/MRG_flatland), and the group of Photonic, Phononic and Metamaterials (https://www.iesl.forth.gr/en/research/PPM). In fact, the project has been awarded three similar awards at the same time, the other two focusing on research performed in Italy and France by other consortium partners.

Further than the initial funding, the research activity has attracted a follow-up project named SMARTWAVE under the FET-PROACTIVE call that is about to start the coming September, which focuses on producing a commercial component based on the developed technology. Within SMARTWAVE, FORTH is in fact the only academic institution in the consortium that is led by THALES (FR) with three smaller technology intensive European companies participating.

The innovation award to NANOPOLY confirms once again the leading position of FORTH-IESL in the research and innovation arena in Europe and the World and proves that pioneering ideas and high quality research work can lead to innovation that have the potential to change our lives in the future.

Contact:
George Deligeorgis, PhD
Micro/Nano electronics Research Group, IESL
Tel: +30 2810 394112
email: deligeo@physics.uoc.gr