18 February 2010, Republication. The original article was published in ENT Magazine, Issue 0/2010 pp 24-26. Published on 8 February 2010.

Supporting international cooperation in environmental nanotechnology

The ICPC-NanoNet project can support international research cooperation in environmental nanotechnology between the European Union and International Cooperation Partner Countries to the EU (emerging economies and developing countries). This article focuses on the case of nanotechnology for water purification.

Currently, potential and actual applications of nanotechnology in environmental technologies are receiving considerable attention worldwide. Relevant applications include environmental remediation (air, water and soil), monitoring, and resource saving (energy and materials). These technologies are not only intended for markets in wealthy countries, including in Europe, the USA and Japan, but may also be particularly useful for protecting consumers and the environment in emerging economies and developing countries. Furthermore, research groups and companies in emerging economies and developing countries are increasingly active in R&D and manufacturing environmental nanotechnologies, as part of a national knowledge economy. International cooperation in environmental nanotechnology research involving universities and companies from North and South is expected to bring benefits to both sides. The European Union fosters such research cooperation by opening up the current Seventh Framework Programme for RTD (FP7, 2007-2013) to participants from outside the EU. Research groups from emerging economies and developing countries can participate as additional partners in EU funded research projects and receive funding from the EU. The projects should always be coordinated by a European organisation. However, a bottleneck has been created by the lack of visibility of excellent research groups in emerging economies and developing countries to their European peers. The ICPC-NanoNet project www.icpc-nanonet.org is funded by the EU to help overcome this problem.


Researchers interested in international cooperation in environmental nanotechnology can use the information available on the ICPC-Nanonet website and the networking tools, including teleconferences, an online discussion forum and publishing their research interests in an online researchers’ database to establish contacts with peers in other world regions. The EU Seventh Framework programme for RTD offers funding in regular calls for proposals published once or twice a year at the CORDIS website http://cordis.europa.eu/.

More information:

http://www.entmagazine.com

http://www.icpc-nanonet.org

Downloads:

• ICPCNanonet and nanowater1.pdf (31496 Byte)

  Republication. The original article was published in ENT Magazine, Issue 01/2009 pp 24-26. Published 8 February 2009. www.entmagazine.com\"

  downloaded 4 times since 26 February 2010

Last changed: 02 July 2010

Comment on this news

Malsch, 26 February 2010

See the download for more information or check the powerpoint presentations from the ICPC-NanoNet online workshop on nanotechnology for water purification (after registering on the website for free). Of course nanotechnology is not the only solution for controlling diseases, but it may play a role in POC diagnostics, drug delivery and regenerative medicine.

Nanotech Guy, 19 February 2010

Given the current situation and the growth of environmental Nanotechnology, how will this affect third world countries in terms of water purification and is Nanotechnology the way of the future for controlling diseases?

http://www.zintro.com/area/nanotechnology