EUROMAT 2015 and the Materials Weekend

The EUROMAT 2015 conference took place in Warsaw, Poland, with Scientific Conference Chair being Professor Lindsay Greer, former Head of Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy at University of Cambridge and member of the Energy - Cambridge Strategic Advisory Board. The Polish Materials Society (President Prof. Piotr Kula) was in charge of organising the event together with the Warsaw University of Technology (WUT). The WUT Professor Malgorzata Lewandowska was vice chair of the Scientific Commitee and Wojciech Swieszkowski, also Professor at the WUT, was chair of the management committee.

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See photo gallery from EUROMAT 2015

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Materials for Europe

The Materials Weekend in Warsaw also included the “Materials for Europe” meeting on 19 September 2015. “Materials for Europe” – an event organized by the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) and the Federation of European Materials Societies (FEMS), under the umbrella of the European Materials Forum (EMF) and the Alliance for Materials (A4M), was held in Poland’s capital Warsaw on 19 September 2015.  “Materials for Europe” was established as integral part of a “Materials Weekend”, bridging the two largest materials conferences ever held in Central Europe, the E-MRS Fall Meeting and the FEMS EUROMAT conference. Both conferences and the “Materials Weekend” aimed at strengthening materials science and engineering in Europe and increasing its visibility. The goal was to demonstrate that the development and the application of new materials are essential to meet societal needs associated with energy, health, transport and climate change. The “Materials for Europe” programme provided an important platform for material researchers from academia as well as industry and politicians to attain a consensus on the road to the future. More than 70 invited VIP participants discussed with Clara de la Torre, the European Commission’s Director DG Research and Innovation of the Directorate for Key Enabling Technologies. Mrs. Torre presented her strategic view “Vision about the new challenges in the materials field”.  She focused on the vital role of materials for a highly competitive European industry and explained the Commission’s effective approaches to coordinate research and innovation within the framework of the present and future European research programs and initiatives.

The major issues discussed were:

  1. The innovation policy in Europe and the role of materials in this context. The concept of the European Innovation Council to complement the well-established European Research Council was highlighted. Emphasis was put on the need to follow-up and evaluate projects ensuring that technological breakthroughs relevant to European industry are identified and market uptake is facilitated..
  2. The need to strengthen the new concept of a “Common House of Materials”. It should aim at discussing and integrating cross-cutting fields where materials are key prerequisites for development and progress.
  3. Smart infrastructures and how to empower them/link them to regional cluster.
  4. The connection between The European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme and the allocated national structural funds, focussing on various strategies and policies to gain the maximum benefit.

The “Materials Weekend” consisted of many more parts than the “Materials for Europe” event.  180 scientists and engineers from all over the world attended six tutorial courses on leading edge materials developments such as graphene, biomaterials, materials for energy and computer modelling of materials.  A topic as well was the materials value and innovation chain. During a 2-day “Young Scientists Workshop”, 55 participants presented their latest research results complemented by an intensive exchange of experiences and expectations. The importance of this event was underlined by the support of the German and French Embassy in Poland as well as the Warsaw University of Technology. The Warsaw “Festival of Science” was opened at Warsaw University of Technology, the venue of the two materials conferences. In this framework scientists and students presented numerous activities related to advanced materials. . They demonstrated materials-based innovations particularly for the Warsaw community at large with a special focus on stimulating the interest of children youngsters.

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