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INL filed the largest number of requests from Portugal for patents in 2015

The INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory filed 8 requests for Patents in 2015 to the EPO – European Patent Office. That makes INL the organisation in Portugal that filed the largest number of requests in 2015. “We have submitted several patents for the development of novel sensors, comprising different technologies, involving microfluidics and magnetoresistive sensors. We have also submitted four patents in the area of energy-related to batteries and solar cells”, advised Lars Montelius, Director-general of INL. The patent requests filed are technology patents. “They will be of value for companies that we engage with to strengthen and increase their competitiveness. One of INL’s most important business strategies is to license patents to companies. Some technologies may be explored by INL supported start-ups”, explained the director-general of INL. In 2016 INL expects to continue its strategy to license Intellectual Property and plans to file between 5 and 10 new requests for patents. The INL is an international research organisation dedicated to applied research in Nanotechnology, founded by the governments of Portugal and Spain. INL provides science and innovation and is key to translate knowledge into social and economic benefits through the exploration, deployment and articulation of nanotechnology. INL has […]

Decisions from the first “INL Summit – Scale Travels”

After two days of presentations and parallel sessions filled with interesting discussions the first INL Summit – Scale Travels ended with important decisions and the signing of three cooperation agreements. Soon, INL will initiate the setting up of a new regional coordination body between Galicia and Northern Portugal. The goal is to enable efficient coordination of strategic research and innovation activities among universities, research and technology organisations and regional authorities, including the Municipality of Braga. Company stakeholders and research institutes representatives invited to participate in round table discussion INL agreed to establish a cluster incorporating a novel and innovative methodology to foster the uptake of nanotechnology along the industrial value chains, in order to increase competitiveness and create a new job. On the first day, INL signed three agreements with regional entities, with the purpose to establish close cooperation regarding the promotion, identification, implementation, management and monitoring of actions in the field of nanotechnology and key enabling technologies in the Galician/Northern Region of Portugal.

INL Annual Report 2014

The INL Annual Report for 2014 is available online. The document details the main activities of INL, including scientific results and pubilcations.

European Sharc25 project aims to achieve 25 percent efficiency with thin-film solar cells

A new European research project that goes by the name Sharc25 is setting out to make an extremely efficient thin-film solar cell for the next generation of more cost-effective solar modules. Its objective is to achieve up to 25 percent efficiency in thin-film solar cells made by the co-evaporation of copper indium gallium (di)selenide, or CIGS for short. That kind of performance would top the previous best mark by just over three percentage points. The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) in Braga is a partner in this project, which is coordinated by the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW). Altogether, eleven research partners from eight countries are on board. The list of partner also includes EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology), the universities of Luxembourg (LU), Rouen (F), Parma (I) and Aalto (FIN), the IMEC (Interuniversitair Micro-Elektronica Centrum VZW in B), the HZB (Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie in D), Flisom AG (CH), and Manz CIGS Technology GmbH (D). Launched in May, the project will run for 3.5 years and get €4.6 million in EU funding sourced from the research framework program Horizon 2020. The Swiss government is providing another €1.6 million. The […]

INL signed Letter of Intent to strengthen collaboration with Argentina

March 13 – The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) signed a Letter of Intent to strengthen scientific collaboration with Argentina, in the area of Nanotechnology and Nanoscience. The agreement was signed in Buenos Aires by the Argentine Minister of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation (MINCYT), Lino Barañao, and INL’s Director-General, Lars Montelius. The signing ceremony took place during the EU-Argentina Conference 10 years of Cooperation in Science, Technology and Productive Innovation. The agreement joins the Argentine Ministry of Science and Technical Research, the – National Council for Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina (CONICET) and INL with the goal is to “promote joint activities to strengthen the scientific and technical cooperation” and “facilitate access to institutions of science, technology and innovation, researchers, students and companies” to INL facilities, in Braga (Portugal) and CIBION (Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias – Research Center for Bionanosciences), Buenos Aires (Argentina), for the development of highly qualified human resources. The planned activities comprise joint research and development projects of common interest in Nanotechnology; exchange programs for researchers, doctoral and postdoctoral candidates in Nanotechnology; organization of the scientific meeting, use of equipment and facilities for joint development, exchange of scientific, and technical information in the field, […]

Acceleration Program for Start-ups

INL is a partner in the 2nd edition of the Startup Braga Acceleration. This program is a local initiative designed to help start-ups build, execute and validate their business model, access international markets and obtain funding. This year’s program will run for 3 months with a limited number of teams. The current edition is focused on Mobile/eCommerce, MedTech and Nanotechnology. For more information about the program read here To apply, click here

INL hosted workshop on research and development of photovoltaics

European projections show that in 2050, 15% to 30% of all generated electricity will come from photovoltaics, making it a field of strategic interest for Portugal and Europe. Among others, this was one of the motivations for the workshop that took place Monday (9th of February) at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), in Braga. “Portugal has a very significant number of researchers working in different aspects of photovoltaics and this workshop was used to identify synergy opportunities between the groups. There is no doubt that this is a strategic sector for Portugal and for Europe”, said Pedro Salomé, a researcher from INL and co-organizer of the workshop that gathered over 40 photovoltaic specialists in Braga, Portugal. Along with researchers from INL and Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia (LNEG), the other co-organising partner, the following institutions also participated: Universidade do Minho, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Universidade de Aveiro, Universidade de Coimbra, Faculdade de Ciências e Instituto Superior Técnico da Universidade de Lisboa and Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa. There were also observers from the industry taking part in the meeting, namely Martifer Solar, Open Renewables and Edp Inovação. In total, 42 […]

INL researchers at NanoPT in Porto

A significant delegation of INL researchers will participate in this year’s edition of NanoPT. The international conference takes place in Porto from February 11th-13th. The 3rd edition will be held with the purpose of strengthening ties nationally and internationally in Nanotechnology and, intends to be a reference event in Portugal in forthcoming years. INL’s Director-Geral, Lars Montelius, (Bridging the materials gap through radical Innovations) and research fellow, Inês Pinto (Epithelial Tumor Dynamics: Nanocharacterization of force-generating structures), are keynote speakers. The programme includes oral presentations from Jérôme Bórme, Wafer-scale fabrication of solution-gated graphene field-effect transistors for biosensing applications; Lifeng Liu, Extraordinarily Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Achieved by Amorphous MoOxSy Catalysts Electrodeposited on Crystalline TiO2 Nanotube Arrays; Ana Vila, Designed Nanocomposite Magnetic Beads for isolation of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC); Yury Kolen’ko, p-Type Cu2O colloids optimized for photoelectrochemistry and electronics; Jana Berit Nieder, Presentation of the New “Ultrafast Bio- and Nanophotonics” Laboratory at INL; and Xiaoguang Wang, Direct Growth of Nickel Phosphoride Nanoneedles on Nickel Foam for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution. The programme also includes oral presentations from two PhD students: Mohammad Tareqzzaman will talk about Large power emission in MTJ based spin torque nano-oscillators using a free layer near the in-plane […]

INL COFUND Fellowship Program for International Postdocs – NanoTRAINforGrowth

The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) opened a 4th call for its COFUND fellowship program for Postdocs– The NanoTRAINforGrowth Program. INL´s international postdoctoral fellowship offers successful applicants the opportunity to perform their innovative scientific project in one of the four attractive Scientific fields pursued at INL: Nanomedicine, Environmental and food control, Nanoelectronics and Nanomanipulation. i) Nanomedicine: point of care diagnostics (lab on chip microsystems, microfluidic platforms), DNA, protein and cell chips, biomolecular labels, drug delivery solutions, imaging, neuroelectronics. ii) Environmental and food control: Nanotechnology applied to Food industry, food safety and environmental control. Water and Soil control, air pollution monitoring. Lab-on-a-chip technologies, Smart Packaging and labels, biosensing technologies, food process control. iii) Nanomanipulation: Single molecule/atom manipulation, molecular motors, nanotweezers, controlled self-assemby of building blocks for nanodevices. iv) Nanoelectronics: NEMS/MEMS, Spintronics, Photonics, Micro and Nanofluidics, integration of new technologies on CMOS. Development of support platforms for the health, environmental and food control, and energy areas. Researchers will have access our new state‐of‐the‐art facility and the opportunity to enhance their expertise via a research project, in a scientific topic of their choice that falls within INL´s strategic research and technological development areas. Eligibility_- INL´s NanoTRAINforGrowth Fellowships are available to researchers who have […]