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Faster and smarter chemical R&D with accurate physical property predictions

Project description

New software to boost chemical research

Precise knowledge of properties of chemical compounds is required for all chemical research and is particularly important in cutting-edge research. Without such knowledge advanced research becomes difficult and expensive. However, accurate experiments are time-consuming and costly. What is more, existing computer models for chemical properties are not reliable because chemical interactions are multi-layered and complex. The EU-funded Hafnium project is developing a software instrument that systematically analyses the best computer models and experimental data providing accurate and fast forecasts and allowing scientists to avoid long time experiments and work on optimised processes. The solution offers a pioneering solution for property predictions across all stages of chemical Research & Development as well as of energy, pharma and chemical industries.

Objective

Accurate knowledge of properties of chemical compounds is essential for all chemical research. Without it, cutting-edge research becomes very expensive or impossible, and costly decisions to buy unnecessarily large or powerful equipment may be made. Experimentation is accurate but slow and very expensive. On the other hand, all computer models for chemical properties are inaccurate, because chemical interactions are too multi-layered and complex for us to model, even with the much-vaunted “power of AI”.
In a completely new approach, Hafnium Labs has developed a software tool that systematically analyses the best computer models and experimental data to provide predictions that are >10 times more accurate than current state-of-the-art models. This will allow scientists to short-circuit months of experimentation, to optimize processes and to investigate more molecules that could have breakthrough properties.
Q-props has been successfully used in three contracted projects with large customers and Hafnium Labs has five letters of support and verbal expressions of interest from over 20 other global oil & gas, chemicals and pharma companies. Hafnium Lab's strategic goal is to become the market leader for property predictions across all stages of chemical R&D, all industries, and ranging from large corporations to SME's and research institutions. The financial goal is to reach sales of €50m and EBITDA of €16m in 2025.
Hafnium Labs has a TRL6 prototype operating in its own cloud, but to address customers' need for confidentiality in their R&D work and enable revenue scale-up, the first objective of the Phase 2 project is to modify the prototype so that it can run on customers' own clouds. The second objective is to optimize and simplify how customers work with their own valuable data in Q-props and the third objective is to ensure that the software can be used by all chemical scientists and engineers, including those who lack specialist knowledge of chemical modelling.

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Keywords

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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SME - SME instrument

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

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Coordinator

HAFNIUM LABS APS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 555 750,00
Address
VESTERGADE 16, 3
1456 KOBENHAVN
Denmark

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 222 500,00
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