Seeking research & innovation centres of excellence in advanced functional materials

  • ERTRAC Global Competitiveness Working Group
  • From Belgium
  • Responsive
  • Project Size Range : Strategic project backed by large scale funding €
  • Deadline completed
    The submission process for new proposals is closed. Proposals submitted before the deadline will follow the standard evaluation process.

Desired outcome

In the context of sustainable mobility, research on environmental sustainable lightweight solutions must be continued in an integrated, systemic approach taking into account the application-oriented development of novel material systems.

We are seeking information from research centers-of-excellence capable of performing future material development respecting environmental sustainability and circular economy requirements, including:

• Natural and bio-based materials as well as recyclable & recycled materials
• Materials for energy storage
• Materials alternatives to rare and high demand materials
• Material repair, reuse and disposal

and offering specific functionalities including, for example:

• Conductive and piezoresistive polymers,
• New surface and coating solutions e.g. for self-cleaning, self-healing or anti-corrosion,
• Reversible adhesives and joints,
• Materials for noise abatement and aesthetical improvements.

Appropriate cost- and energy-efficient manufacturing and assembly strategies will need to be addressed.

ERTRAC Global Competitiveness Working Group
ERTRAC Global Competitiveness Working Group

Details of the Innovation Need

ERTRAC highlights the important opportunities for innovation in road transport, recognising that major transformations of the European Mobility system are ahead with respect to alternative energies, electrification, automation, digitalisation, and the sharing economy. Europe must act together in order to exploit the potential of these innovations: to develop Europe-wide solutions, get technology leadership, and keep research excellence, production and jobs in the European Union. Research efforts in the short and medium-term timeframe will focus on mass market introduction from 2030 onwards.

The research topic described has been prepared by experts from the ERTRAC Global Competitiveness group led by: Dr. David Storer, CRF-FCA and Prof. Thilo Bein, Fraunhofer-LBF

Related Keywords

  • Coatings
  • Surface treatment (painting, galvano, polishing, CVD, PVD)
  • Materials Technology
  • Adhesives
  • Composite materials
  • Biobased Materials related to Construction Technology
  • Nanomaterials
  • Conductive materials
  • Lightweight materials
  • Cleaning Technology
  • Energy Storage and Transport
  • Heat storage
  • Power to gas technology
  • Protecting Man and Environment
  • Noise Pollution
  • Recycling, Recovery
  • Disposable products
  • Coatings and adhesives manufactures
  • Pollution and Recycling Related
  • Chemical and solid material recycling

About ERTRAC Global Competitiveness Working Group

ERTRAC is the European Technology Platform bringing together all stakeholders of Road Transport Research. Its public-private multi-stakeholders nature involves industry, academia and research providers together with public authorities from the national and local levels. ERTRAC works in close cooperation with the European associations that represent the different components of road transport, while collaborating with other European Technology Platforms.

European pre-competitive collaborative research has a very high added-value by bringing together the many private and public stakeholders involved in transport: working together, developing partnerships, and implementing cross-sectoral collaboration are important assets to speed-up the innovation process in Europe.
In this context, the specific tasks of ERTRAC are to:
- Provide a strategic vision for road transport research and innovation in Europe.
- Define strategies and roadmaps to achieve this vision through the definition and update of a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) and implementation research roadmaps.
- Stimulate effective public and private investment in road transport research and innovation.
- Contribute to improving coordination between the European, national, regional public and private R&D activities on road transport.
- Enhance the networking and clustering of Europe's research and innovation capacities.
- Promote European commitment to Research and technological development, ensuring that Europe remains an attractive region for researchers, and enhancing the global competitiveness of the transport industries.
- Support the implementation of Horizon 2020, the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation

The new Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), published in April 2018, is a key document of ERTRAC with respect to preparing for 'Horizon Europe' (2021-2017), the forthcoming ninth European Research Framework Programme. The new ERTRAC SRA has the ambition to anchor the research work into the societal needs while looking more at the benefits of innovations for the end users. ERTRAC also wants to emphasize the importance of Road Transport and Mobility for the Society and the Economy, and hence consistently refers to the potential impact of the research topics.

ERTRAC Global Competitiveness Working Group

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