SYmbiosis for eNERGY harversting concepts for smart platforms on foils

Project Information

SYNERGY

Grant agreement ID: 952169

DOI

10.3030/952169

Project closed

EC signature date 2 July 2020

Start date 1 October 2020

End date 31 March 2024

Funded under

• Twinning of research institutions

Total cost

€ 897 000,00

EU contribution

€ 897 000,00

Coordinated by

UNINOVA-INSTITUTO DE DESENVOLVIMENTO DE NOVAS TECNOLOGIAS-ASSOCIACAO
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SYNERGY (SYmbiosis for eNERGY harversting concepts for smart platforms on foils)

Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2024-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

SYNERGY's main ambition is to leverage the research, innovation, development, and deployment capabilities of Portuguese widening beneficiaries (PT Cluster UNINOVA and CENIMAT/I3N) in the multidisciplinary area of energy harvesting/storage and autonomous systems on flexible substrates, which deeply involves the fields of nanotechnology and advanced functional materials.
Implementing this vision, through SYNERGY, the lead Portuguese institutions aimed:
• Create a top environment for international scientific talent attraction/retention in Portugal;
• Create strong multidisciplinary cohesion within the PT Cluster;
• Act as Portuguese leader and an international key player in nanotechnology, advanced materials, and advanced processing, targeting energy harvesting and storage for systems on flexible substrates.
This report provides a detailed description of the main project activities and achievements that are in line with the project targets. However, the project's original objectives were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which greatly restricted face-to-face meetings and the mobility of researchers, especially those from the Portuguese cluster, who were seeking to improve their technical and scientific knowledge and skills. As this was vital to the SYNERGY project, the six-month extension granted by the EC was extremely important in order to address the challenges caused by the pandemic.
The implementation of SYNERGY has led to significant achievements in promoting science and technology within Portuguese cluster institutions. These achievements are evident through the publications and newly funded projects. Moreover, SYNERGY has facilitated the establishment and strengthening of networks and collaborations, including new master's and PhD programs, and has increased visibility among various associations, academies, and industrial stakeholders. The implementation of SYNERGY has been a crucial moment in strengthening the R&D&I strategy of the PT Cluster and has positioned it as a key player in addressing European challenges related to sustainable energy sources and electronics.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

SYNERGY partners have worked closely with RTOs, Academies, and industries at national and European levels. They have promoted creativity and innovation to leverage the project's gains concerning the acquisition of expertise by the PT Cluster institutions.

The activities performed and actions implemented so far allowed the PT cluster to advance on the three components listed in the summary of the context.
According to the initially defined objectives, the following outputs were achieved:
• A draft of a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) and a Science & Technology Roadmap (STR) at the PT cluster
• Partnerships established with world-leading institutions in Europe (industry and scientific ones)
• Individual and joint proposals to several funding schemes
• Establishment of industry-driven initiatives at the PT cluster towards the establishment of a pilot line
• Preparation in collaboration with other initiatives of workshops and summer schools concerning advanced materials and sustainability.
• Organization of popularisation action involving high schools and civil society on nanotechnology and advanced materials toward energy-related applications
• Virtual training actions
• Strategic partnerships were established with science and technology dissemination players.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The implementation of the actions planned during SYNERGY, with a strong interaction between PT cluster research organisations (UNINOVA and CNMT/i3N) and the international leading organisations FhG-IKTS, UCC-Tyndall, POLITO and VTT, had already a positive impact in the:

• Scientific excellence and innovation capacity, nationally and internationally, translated by joint publications in high-impact journals and other approaches to outstanding European institutions, regional authorities, and other stakeholders.

• Enhance reputation nationally and internationally, translated mainly by the invitations of the key members to integrate several committees of reputed conferences, the set of awards gained, and the impact on social media.

• Attractiveness and networking channels, where one important vector is related to a joint master, PhD programmes, and Cost actions at the European level where the PT cluster has been included. Additionally, the PT Cluster has integrated several national and European clusters

• Improve capacity to compete successfully for national, EU and internationally competitive research funding, where one vector has been exploring novel concepts with outstanding research groups to prepare national and international research project proposals. One key output has been the success of the agendas included in the Portuguese Resilience and Recovery Plan.

Furthermore, the activities to be implemented are expected to contribute to an increase in the economic impact of the area of Advanced Functional Materials, Nanotechnologies, Biotechnology and Nanoscience, aligned with the Smart Specialization Strategies at a regional and national level, namely, concerning the exploitation of green technologies and green products, and so allowing a better perspective for the future aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals, grounded in scientific achievements.

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