The world's first antibacterial ambulance
Born between Prato and Florence, with the name of Pure Health ,was recently presented, the first antibacterial ambulance of the world.
The product was born from the research of Next Technology Tecnotessile, the research center of the textile sector which has developed new multi-functional nano-structured materials and catalytic processes, capable of a combined sterilizing activity. The prototype was produced by a partner of Next Technology, Orion Calenzano, which is specialized in emergency vehicles.
This initiative is a prelude to a series of strategic innovations that are expected in the coming years will revolutionize not only emergency vehicles and hospital environments, but the entire system of public transport (trains, buses, planes, ships) and handling of food, or areas where bacterial contamination is more frequent.
More

“Nantenna” Technology To Capture 90 Per Cent of Available Solar Energy
A University of Missouri research team, lead by Rick Pinhero, is taking a new approach in capturing solar energy. Traditional photovoltaic solar cells, which convert sunlight directly to electricity, only collect around 20 per cent of available light. The MU team has developed a thin, flexible sheet of small nano-antennas , called nantennas, which can currently harvest heat from industrial processes and convert it into electricity. Their goal is to develop this techn ology so it will be able to harvest over 90 per cent of the available energy that comes from the sun.
More

A web of graphene to capture magnetic molecules
Researchers at the Institute of Nanosciences of the National Research Council (CNR-Nano) of Modena have developed a device that can detect a single magnetic molecule with a sensitivity never reached before, using a sheet of graphene as a 'spider web' that can trap magnetic molecules. The result marks a breakthrough in the field of spintronics and could have applications in the production of high-density memories and molecular sensors.
The study was conducted by the S3 Center, along with colleagues at the CNRS in Grenoble and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and has been published in the Nano Letters journal.
More

Report on “Medical Textiles and Sport/Outdoor Textiles”
In the framework of the ObservatoryNANO FP7 Project a new Report on nanotechnology-enhanced technical textiles has been published by AIRI/Nanotec IT and B&W Consulting Venturing. The report is specifically devoted to the areas of outdoor/sport textiles and medical textiles, covering the technological aspects linked to the introduction of nanomaterials into textiles, some relevant examples of products already on the market, and the economic aspects related to the two sectors.
More

FramingNano Governance Platform available
FramingNano is a FP7 project, with six European partners and lead by AIRI/Nanotec IT. Objective of the two year support action, that end in March 2010, is the definition of a proposal to the European Commission and the Members States of a Governance Platform for the responsible development on nanotechnologies.
The final Governance Platform and the other reports published by the project are now available on the project website.
Download the Governance Platform
More

Nanochallenge and polymer challenge final contest
The final contest of the international business competition on nanotechnology and polymer-based materials will be held in Padua (Italy) on November 25th and 26th. The competition is organised by Veneto Nanotech (since 2005) and IMAST (since 2007), with the aim of financing and starting up new entrepreneurial realities in these fields.The competition, involving researchers, phd students, entrepreneurs, mentors, venture capitalists, business angel, offers a total amount of 600.000 euro: 300.000 euro for startups participating in the nanotechnology category and 300.000 euro for the polymer-based materials category.
Info

NNI Nanotechnology Innovation Summit
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the US National Nanotechnology Initiative, will be held in Washington D.C. in December, the Nanotechnology Innovation Summit . The NNI consists of the cooperative nanotech-related activities of 25 Federal agencies focused on producing revolutionary and transformative technological breakthroughs. NNI Nanotechnology Innovation Summit brings together the nation's leadership in nanotechnology research, development, implementation, policy and finance along with a showcase of the top nanotechnology technologies generated through the NNI support.
Info

FramingNano Governance Platform available
FramingNano is a FP7 project, with six European partners and lead by AIRI/Nanotec IT. Objective of the two year support action, that end in March 2010, is the definition of a proposal to the European Commission and the Members States of a Governance Platform for the responsible development on nanotechnologies.
The final Governance Platform and the other reports published by the project are now available on the project website.
Download the Governance Platform
Info

Innovative Biosensor
ClopHensor is the biosensor able to simultaneously detect two important cellular parameters, pH and chlorine concentration.
Reported by Nature Method, the new sensor is the result of research performed by the NEST Laboratory, belonging to the Italian CNR Nanoscience Institute, and by the Pisa Scuola Normale Superiore. The new device will find application both in the screening of new drugs and in neurologic pathologies diagnostics.
Info

Predicting nanoparticle toxicity
There is currently little experimental toxicity data on the vast range of available nanoparticles, and it is difficult to measure toxicity directly in any way that allows correlation with the properties of particular materials.
Judging nanoparticle toxicity could be made easier by a new theoretical model that predicts which materials will make nanoparticles that could damage living cells.
The model, put together by Enrico Burello and Andrew Worth (Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy), can predict the available electronic energy levels in the nanoparticle structure, and match them up with the oxidation potentials of reactions that would either remove antioxidants from cells or generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) like hydrogen peroxide or superoxide ions (O2-). Where these two values overlap, it means that the nanoparticles can accept electrons in these processes and cause oxidative stress in cells ..
The model should enable regulators to streamline and prioritise nanotoxicology testing.
Info

UK launches nanotechnology strategy
The UK Nanotechnologies Strategy: Small Technologies, Great Opportunities was launched on 18th March 2010, and sets out how Government will take action to ensure that everyone in the UK can safely benefit from the societal and economic opportunities that these technologies offer, whilst addressing the challenges that they might present. Some key actions included in the Strategy are: review of coordination of nanotechnologies research across Governments; a new website to inform the public on Government actions; a new Nanotechnologies Collaboration Group across Government, academia, industry and other interested parties ; A new Ministerially led Nanotechnologies Leadership Group to address barriers to commercial growth.
Info

Public debate on nanotechnologies
Is available on-line the recent publication from the European Commission (DG Research Science, Economy and Society), "Understanding Public Debate on Nanotechnologies: Options for Framing Public Policy", edited by René von Schomberg and Sarah Davies . The document consists of a series of research articles on the nature of public debate on nanosciences and nanotechnologies, and the ways in which deliberative approaches could lead to better governance of these technologies, from a number of Science in Society projects on these themes (DEEPEN, NANOCAP, NANOPLAT, FRAMINGNANO). AIRI/Nanotec IT contributed to the article on FramingNano, as coordinator of this project.
Download the publication

ICE Workshop for bio and nanotechnologies
On the 27th and 28th of May, The Italian Institute for Foreign Commerce (ICE) will organise, in its Rome headquarters, the "Italian-Mediterranean Workshop on bio and nanotechnology". This initiative expects to host several talks and meetings R2B B2B between Italian and foreign operators, mainly coming from the Mediterranean area. The aim of the Workshop is to ease the collaboration between industries, universities and research institutes involved in bio and nanotechnologies. The engaged countries are: Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt, France, Israel, Morocco, Republic of South Africa, Spain, Tunisia, and Turkey.

Three dimensional integration: evolution of flash memories
The combination of scaling to ever smaller feature size in electronic circuits and new architectures for NVMs (non-volatile memories), especially for flash memories, has brought the cost of these devices approaching 1$ per gigabyte, but they are rapidly reaching their scalability limit. At the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in Baltimore in December 2009, researcher from many of the world’s leading semiconductor companies presented a variety of new three-dimensional structure that may be able to provide a solution to these challenges. Although relying on different strategies, all these approaches stack several memory layers to increase the memory density per unit area of silicon and reduce the cost per bit. Some of the new generation NVMs, which not use the traditional flash structure, have been presented to the public. These include the phase-change memory, resistive random access memory based on metal oxides, charge-trap memories such as SONOS which traps electrons in a dielectric sandwich. A recent Nature Nanotechnology article shows a panoramic view on the developments of these devices.
Info

Italy partner country 2010 at the Hannover Messe
Technological innovation supporting sustainable mobility is the theme of the Italian participation to the Hannover Messe (April 19 – 23, 2010, in Hannover), likely the most important industrial exhibition worlwide. As partner country 2010, a large exhibition area will be devoted to Italy and the institutional stand, organised by the Italian Institute of Foreign Trade (ICE), will be divided in 5 thematic sub-areas: MobilTec, Industrial Automation, Industrial Supply, Research and Technology, Micronanotec .
AIRI/Nanotec IT is cooperating with ICE to promote Italian participation in the Micronanotec and R&T areas.
Info

Call for papers: workshop BONSAI on bioimaging
The FP6 Project BONSAI (Bio imaging with smart multifunctional nanoparticles) was funded by EC in the fall 2006 with the objective of contributing to the progress in this key research area and it is now approaching its conclusion. The project symposium “Breakthroughs in Nanoparticles for BioImaging” will be held in Frscati (Rome, Italy) on April 8 th and 9 th, 2010, aiming to gather the BONSAI Partners and scientists active in the field (chemists, material scien$sts, physicists, engineers, clinicians and biochemists) to discuss new ideas, experimental results and perspectives ranging from the preparation to the applications of functional nanoparticles for bioimaging and cell labelling. Leading experts from the field will give keynotes and invited talks. Contributed talks and posters will also be accepted.
Info

Italian participation at Nanotech 2010 Tokyo
The 9th edition of one of the largest conference & exhibition on nanotechnology, with more that 50000 expected visitors and about 650 exhibitors, wil take place in Tokyo from February 17 to February 19. The main theme of this year will be "green nanotechnology", the application of nanotechnologies to the energy and environment fields. As in past editions, the Italian Trade Commission (ICE), in collaboration with AIRI/Nanotec IT, has promoted the Itslian participation to the event, with a dedicated area in the exibition and the organisation of different networking and promotional activities.
More

High performance fiber solar cells
Dye-sensitized solar cells are flexible and cheap to make, but they tend to be inefficient at converting light into electricity. One way to boost the performance of any solar cell is to increase the surface area available to incoming light. So a group of researchers at Georgia Tech has made dye-sensitized solar cells with a much higher effective surface area by wrapping the cells around optical fibers. These fiber solar cells are six times more efficient than a zinc oxide solar cell with the same surface area, and if they can be built using cheap polymer fibers, they shouldn't be significantly more expensive to make.

High-Energy Batteries Coming to Market
The Swiss company ReVolt says it has developed rechargeable zinc-air batteries that can store three times the energy of lithium ion batteries, by volume, while costing only half as much.
The battery design is based on technology developed at SINTEF, a research institute in Trondheim, Norway
The company's CEO James McDougall, says that the technology overcomes the main problem with zinc-air rechargeable batteries--that they typically stop working after relatively few charges.
ReVolt plans to sell small "button cell" batteries for hearing aids starting next year and to incorporate its technology into ever larger batteries, introducing cell-phone and electric bicycle batteries in the next few years.
If the technology can be scaled up, zinc-air batteries could make electric vehicles more practical by lowering their costs and increasing their range.

Italy-China forum on bio and nano technologies
The Italian Trade Commission (ICE) in collaboration with the associations AIRI/Nanotec IT and Assobiotec organised in June 2009 (21st to 27th) a forum dedicated to strengthen the collaboration between Chinese and Italian players in the bio and nanotechnology fields. The delegation, composed by Italian Universities, research centres, companies and representatives of ICE and of the two Associations, participated to workshops, meetings and visits to laboratories and research centres in the districts of Shangai and Honk Kong. The programs of the workshops can be downloaded from this website, detailed information can be requested to AIRI/Nanotec IT office.
Workshops program

Italian participation to the Henix project on nanofluids
HENIX (Enhanced Nano-Fluid Heat Exchange), beginning in September 2009, is an FP7 integrated project hold by a consortium of 11 European partners and Israel, with a duration of 42 months and a total cost of more than 8 Meuro. The Consortium, lead by the UK company Thermacore, is composed of 4 SMEs (among them the Italian company ISIS), a large enteprise, 3 Universities/research centres. Among the latter ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Environment), with 3 research Departments actively involved in the project ((ACS, FIM, TER).
Henix objective is the implementation and technological transfer on pilot plants of the developments achieved at proto-type level in the use of nano-fluid (fluids with addition of specific nanoparticles) for heat exchange. The project will help the application at industrial level of a new generation of heat exchangers, with increased energy efficency and reduced total costs.
More

Public consultation on the new Action Plan on Nanotechnologies
In february 2010 took place a public consultation inviting stakeholders to give their comment and views on the needs in nanotechnology in the next five years.The main objective of the future Action Plan (2010-2015) will be to address the technological and societal challenges of the next five years and to strengthen the research and innovation efforts,with increased emphasis on sustainable development, competitiveness, health, safety and environmental issues.
Details of the previous Action Plan can be found in the recent Commission Communication on the Implementation of the Nanotechnology Action Plan (COM(2009)607) and its accompanying Staff Working Document.
Public consultation

Inauguration of the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory
The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), inaugurated in July in Braga (Portugal), is a joint initiative of the Governments of Portugal and Spain , that is expected to be fully operational in 2010 reaching a total workforce of about 400 people (200 researchers) and a built area of about 20,000 m2, comprising advanced special installations and laboratories with state of the art equipments.
The objective is to join forces between the two Countries to improve the efforts and strengthen the competitive position. INL activities will be focused on four areas: Nanomedicine; Environment monitoring, Food quality control and security; Nanoelectronics and nanomanipulation. The centre has already established partnership with important research centres and universities in Europe, North America and Asia, such as the Max Planck Institute (Germany), the National Institute of Materials Science (Japan), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) and several others
International recruitment of researchers is currently open.
More

Presentation of the 4th Call of FP7- NMP
On September 21st APRE, on behalf of MIUR, will illustrate in Turin the 4th Calls of the FP7 NMP - Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials & New Production Technologies, presented on the 30th of July 2009. The call is referring to topics of interest in several fields of application. From heath care, to energy, various industrial sectors, the environments. Two of the calls will be devoted cooperation with Mexico and USA.
More

OECD database on safety of manufactured nanomaterials
As part of the activities to promote international co-operation in addressing human health and environmental safety aspects of manufactured nanomaterials, the OECD has developed a database on research into the safety of manufactured nanomaterials, which collects research projects that address environmental, human health and safety issues of manufactured nanomaterials. This database helps identify research gaps and assists researchers in future collaborative efforts.
More

EuroNanoForum 2009
The EuroNanoForum 2009 is the fourth conference in a set of nanotechnology conference organised within the framework of EU national presidencies, taking place from 2nd to 5th of June 2009 in Prague, organised under the Czech EU Presidency.
The event focus on “Nanotechnology for Sustainable development” with participation of top international speakers, an important exhibition area and several side events.
Last minute call for paper is opne until May 15.
More

Carbon nanotubes might improve neuronal performance
The NEURONANO is an advanced scientific multi-disciplinary project conducted by Maurizio Prato and Laura Ballerini (Univ. Trieste) in collaboration with University Antwerp (B) and Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (CH), to develop neuronal nano-engineering by integrating Neuroscience with Materials Science, Nano and Microtechnology. The NEURONANO network major aim is to integrate carbon nanotubes (CNT) with multielectrode array (MEA) technology to develop a new generation biochips to help repair damaged central nervous system (CNS) tissues.
(Nature Nanotechnology Vol.4, Feb. 2009)
More

BioInItaly 2009: The Italian Biotech Event
Assobiotec, the Italian biotech industry association, will organise BioInItaly 2009 from May 4 to May 5 in Milan, Italy. This event will bring together national and international venture capital and Italian companies from all sectors of the biotechnology industry. The event will provide a unique opportunity for investors to monitor the pulse of the dynamic biotech sector in Italy, giving the opportunity to discover some of the exciting developments in the Italian biotech sector in a single meeting.
Italian companies, ranging from start-ups and spin-offs to established companies, will present their new business ideas and projects in the fields of biotech and nanobiotech.
More

Nanowire layout suits large-area single photon detection
Researchers in Italy are studying the extreme energy sensitivity of niobium nitride nanowires at cryogenic temperatures where they are superconducting. In these nanowires, the conduction electrons have the remarkable property that a phase transition, from a superconducting to a resistive state, can be induced by the absorption of an energy as low as 0.25 eV corresponding to a single photon with a 5 µm wavelength.
Superconducting nanowires can be used to realize high-performance broadband single photon detectors at infrared-visible wavelengths, which could be useful in many different applications such as quantum communication, quantum cryptography, biomedical and time-resolved fluorescence and 3D imaging.
The work was performed at CNR-Institute of Cybernetics, at CNR-Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnologies, at the University of Salerno and supported by the EU project "SINPHONIA" NMP4-CT-2005-016433.
More

Dialogue on regulation and governance of nanotechnology: the FramingNano project
The EU 7° Framework Program (FP7) project “Framing Nano”, coordinated by AIRI/Nanotec IT, is an International multi-stakeholder dialogue platform aimed to regulate the development of Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies (NS&T)” that started in May 2007 . This 2 years support action (SA) is funded under the Programme Capacities, in the area Science in Society, and includes 6 partners from 6 European Countries.
Objective of the project is to build a deliberative process involving Nanotechnology stakeholders aimed to regulate the development of nanotechnology to come up with a proposal of a Governance Plan assuring that this development takes place responsibly and to the benefit of the individuals and the society.

Research and Innovation Forum
The second edition of the event, organised by the University of Padova under the patronage of the President of the Republic, will be held in May 2009 (7-10, 14,22,29 May 2009).
Workshops, seminars, meetings to promote collaboration.AIRI/Nanotec IT is collaborating with the University of Padova for the organisation of the session: Nanotech: an emerging sector (May 29), with the participation of high tech SMEs active in the field of nanotechnologies.
Info and program

ObservatoryNano experts’ consultation on nanotechnologies development
The European Observatory of Nanotechnologies, invites the international community to take part in a review and discussion of ST and economic aspects of nanotechnology development.
The project is engaging with the expert community through a series of structured discussions (both on and offline) to map opinion on nanotechnology developments and implications. The process is iterative, allowing refinement and consensus taking.
To share your ideas and opinions, and help influence future policy decisions, please complete the online questionnaire for ST and/or economic aspects on the website: http://www.observatory-nano.eu.
AIRI/Nanotec IT is among the partners, its role mainly regarding technology assessment of nanotechnology in the textile sector and monitoring of development of regulation and standards related to nanotechnology.
More
Contact AIRI/NanotecIT

Nanomaterials impact on the immune systems
Within the FP7 (NMP area) a consortium from Sweden, Finland, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States have been awarded about €3.4Meuro to study the hazardous effects of engineered nanomaterials on the immune system. The NANOMMUNE project is coordinated by the Institute of Environmental Medicine ( Sweden), and will continue for 3 years.
Info

NanoItalTex 2008: nanotechnology for the Textile and Clothing sectors
The 26-27 of November 2008 in Milano has been held the 4th edition of the Conference NanoItalTex, organised by TexClubTec in collaboration with Airi/Nanotec IT. The event has become the Italian annual event to present the latest technical advances in the textile and clothing sectors and highlight the R&D activity in this field.
CDROM of the Conference presentations can be requested to our Office.
More

European Observatory on Nanotechnology
The FP7 project “observatoryNANO”, coordinated by the Institute of Nanotechnology (IoN), is a 4 years Support Action including 16 partners from 10 European States. Its mission is “to create a European Observatory on Nanotechnologies to present reliable, complete and responsible science-based and economic expert analysis, across different technology sectors, establish dialogue with decision makers and others regarding the benefits and opportunities, balanced against barriers and risks. AIRI/Nanotec IT is among the partners, its role mainly regarding technology assessment of nanotechnology in the textile sector and monitoring of development of regulation and standards related to nanotechnology.
More
Contact AIRI/NanotecIT

Nanochallenge and Polymer challenge 2008
Nanochallenge and Polymerchallenge 2008 is an international business plan competition that offers prizes for a total amountof €600.000. The goal of the contest is to attract the best start-up projects on nanotechnology and polymer-based materials and to turn them into a real business. This is a unique opportunity for anybody anywhere, who has developed a great invention in these two fields to start-up and found a real company in Italy.
The Competition has come to its 4 edition, and is supported by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo and PriceWaterHouseCoopers. Final contest event will be in November 2008.
More

Interuniversity Master in Nanotechnologies
It is open the enrolement to the 6th edition (2008/2009) of the Interuniversity Master in Nanotechnologies (IMN) organized by CIVEN (Coordinamento Interuniversitario Veneto per le Nanotecnologie), with the support of Veneto Nanotech, the Veneto Region and the Foundation Cassamarca. IMN, started in 2004, is one of the first European Masters on nanotechnology and its courses follow a highly multidisciplinary approach. The teachers are national (Italian) and international experts. The teaching tongue is English. The deadline for submitting the request to participate is November 21th 2008. Lessons and stage activities will take place from January to November 2009.
Info

Nanotec IT Newsletter
The June issue of Nanotec IT Newsletter is now available on-line (free download, text in Italian and partially in English). The newsletter, dedicated to present lates development of nanotechnology in Italy and worlwide, reports unpublished articles from industry, universities, research centres and institutions and general news (mainly from Italy) on nanotech.
In the June Newsletter articles from: Dep. for Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs - DEFRA (UK), ENI SpA, ENEA (Italian National Body for Energy and the Environment), The Innovation Society (Switzerland), ISPESL (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Prevention), Polytechnic of Torino, University of Perugia and ECNP (European Centre for Nanostructured Polymer), University of Firenze, Xeptagen SpA.
Info
Download latest issue

Italian participation at NSTI Nanotech 2008
The international conference/exhibition NSTI, one of the largest event related to nanotechnology, has been held from 1 to 5 of June in Boston. For the third year the Italian Trade Commission (ICE), in collaboration with AIRI/Nanotec IT, has promoted the Itslian participation , with a dedicated area in the exibition and the organisation of different networking and promotional activities. A large group of delegates from Italian industries, research centres and universities participated at the event.
More

NanoEurope Conference
The Sixth NanoEurope European exhibition for the transfer of nanotechnology know-how, will be held in St.Gallen, Switzerland from September 16 – 17, 2008.
The international congress will present commercial nanotechnology applications and introduce new scientific knowledge that can be commercialized. The exhibition, held concurrently with the congress, offers businesses from a wide range of technology sectors a platform to display solutions for commercializing nanotechnology research results.
Within the event will be also held the 4th edition of the International NanoRegulation Conference 2008, dedicated to regulation and governance of nanotechnology.
Info

Nanoforum 2008
The fourth edition of the congress/exhibition Nanoforum, a meeting point to promote the new possibilities offered by nanotechnologies and to encourage the process of technological transfer from the academic world to the entrepreneurial one, will be held the 17-18 September in Milano, Italy.
Info

COPENMIND 2008
AIRI/ Nanotec IT is partner of COPENMIND, global event dedicated to foster knowledge sharing on Research, Technology and Innovation. More than 100 university exhibitors and 4000 company representatives are expected. Main topic of the first edition of Copenmind, to be held from September 1 to 3 in Copenhagen, will be "Cleantech".
Info

Italia - India Forum on biotechnology & nanotechnology
From April 17 to 22 in New Delhi (17-18) and Bangalore (21-22) took place the Italy-India Forum, with the objective of exploring possible research and business opportunities between the two countries in the biotechnology and nanotechnology sector. The Italian participation has been supported by Italian Trade Commission (ICE), in collaboration with AIRI/Nanotec IT for nanotechnology and ASSOBIOTEC for biotechnology. Delegates from Italian research centres, technological park and industries participated at the meeting.
Info

Magnetic anisotropy of platinum nanowires
Researchers from the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), INFM Democritos National Simulation Center, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste (Italy) and other from research centers in Russia, Sweden and Argentina have published on the last issue of Nature Nanotechnology a theoretical study on the magnetic anisotropy exhibited by nanosystem, such as platinum nanowires, when they spontaneously magnetizes.
More

Italy-Turkey Workshop: Opportunities for Co-operation in Biotech &Nanotech
A two day workshop on bio and nano technologies has been concluded in Istanbul the 22nd of November 2007. The event, organised by ICE (Istituto Nazionale per il Commercio Estero) and ASSOBIOTEC, was aimed to promote the Made in Italy in Turkey in the above said fields, and has seen the participation of numerous Italian enterprises and research centres. About 100 one-to-one meeting between the Italian and Turkish have taken place to strengthen contacts and deepen possible cooperation.
More

Nanomedicine at the Italian Istitute of Technology
IIT is a foundation created in 2003 to promote excellence research in Italy, located in Genova.
It has been announced in January 2007 that Prof. D. Piomelli, director of the Center for Drug Discovery, University of California Irvine, will also join ITT as director of the new institute research area "Drug Discovery and Development".
Three other research areas complete the scientific program of the Institute: robotics, nanobiotechnology, neurosciences.
More

Cooperation in nanotechnology
On December 14th 2007 it has been unveiled in Los Angeles (USA), at the University od California los Angeles (UCLA), the California NanoSystem Institute (CNSI). The spectrum of the research activities at the Institute is very ample. In particular: removable energies; environmental nanotechnology and nanotoxicology; nanobiotechnology and biomaterials; nanomechanical and nanofluidic systems; nanoelectronics and photonics. One of the aims of the Institute is to promote cooperation between university and industry in order to favour the transfer to the market of the research results in nanoscience and nanotechnology. The cooperation is open also to companies outside the US and in spring time the director of the Institute, prof David Lundeberg, will visit some European countries to present CNSI and its activity. More informantion can be found in www.cnsi.ucla.edu and contacting losangeles@losangeles.ice.it, or info@nanotec.it.

Brokerage event on NMP and manufacturing
Euresearch, Swiss contact point for the FP7 NMP (“Nanotechnology, materials and production technologies”) priority, in cooperation with Manufuture-ch, the Swiss branch of the European Technology Platform Manufuture, is organising in Zurich, on January 17-18, an international partnering meeting event dedicated to manufacturing and nanotechnology.
The first day will comprise presentations on the second FP7 NMP call as well as presentations of potential projects (for coordinators) and of appropriate skills (for partners). The second day will comprise workshops on proposal writing, on IPR in FP7 and on Intelligent Manufacturing Systems IMS.
More

Research grants for industrial initiatives in Sardinia
Sardinia Research, the organism running the Technological Park of Sardinia, in collaboration with Porto Conte Research, is offering two research grants to industrial enterprises willing to locate their activities within its facilities in Alghero-Tramariglio (SS).
The aim is to attract initiatives in the fields of:
- Biotechnology (livestock health and food quality control, food packaging)
- Nanotechnology (biosensors, new materials for food packaging).
The dead line for presenting proposals is 21st of December, 2007.
More

Nanoforum Conference
The third edition of nanoforum conference has been held in Milano, 18 -19 Semptember. The event intends to be a first-rate meeting point for the spreading of the new opportunities offered by nanotechnologies, so favouring the process of technological transfer from the academic world to the entrepreneurial one.
Info

Nano-Net conference
The Nano-Net conference (Semptember 25-26, Catania, Italy) is related to the intersection of nano-technologies with the network/communication sector. It will provide a multi-disciplinary forum for the discussion of new techniques in modeling, design, simulation, and fabrication of network and communication systems at the nano-scale.
Info

Nanotechnologies: "Safety for Success" conference
The conference “Nanotechnologies: Safety for Success” organized by the Finnish Presidency on 14-15 September 2006 in Espoo, Finland, attracted some 200 participants, representatives of public administrations from within and outside the EU, a broad range of industries, the research community as well as citizens’, consumers’, and environmental organizations. The conference recognized progress to date as well as the need for making advances in science, test methods, instrumentation, definitions, standards etc. It highlighted coordination, a sustained conversation with all stakeholders and an agreed road-map within the EU and at the international level as priorities.
This innovation policy approach will be further elaborated during the informal European Council in October, in Lahti, Finland.
More

Nanoforum report on international collaboration
The european network Nanoforum has published in December the report "Funding and support for international nanotechnology collaborations", containing detailed information on institutions and organizations supporting international collaboration on nanotechnology.
More

Nanotechnology at Rich Mac 2007
RichMac (October 2-5, Milano, Italy) is an important Italian exhibition related to products, technologies, processes and instrumentation for analytical chemistry, biotechnology and physical sciences. The exhibition also displays new developments in nanotechnologies, innovative materials, opto- and microelectronics.
Three events has been devoted to nanotechnology, among them the 1st National Conference on the “N.I.C. - Nanotechnology Chemical Programme", promoted by FEDERCHIMICA and 35 Entities (among them also AIRI/NanotecIT) involved in the development of Nanotechnologies.
The aim of this initiative is to better integrate scientific competencies and industrial experience.
Info

Italy-Japan events in spring 2007
"Primavera italiana in Giappone" (Italian spring in Japan) represents a series of meetings, events and exhibitions organized in spring 2007 in Japan to promote collaboration between Italy and Japan. The meeting "From Micro to Nano Technologies", held in May 16, 17 2007 in Tokyo, has been dedicated to promote partnerships in nanotechnology among public and private organizations of the two countries. The event has been realized by the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs with the collaboration of CNR (National Research Council) and ENEA (National Body for New Technologies, Energy and Environment).
AIRI / Nanotec IT is in the Scientific Committee of the event.
Info

NSTI-Nanotech 2007
The 10th edition of Nanotech 2007 organized by the NanoScience and Technology Institute (NSTI), has been held in Santa Clara, California, in May 20, 24 - 2007. The exhibition, with more than 3000 delegates and 250 exhibitors expected, is one of the most important event on nanotechnology worldwide.
For the second year, the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) has organised an exhibit area dedicated to italian industries and public research institutes open to the public during all the conference. AIRI / Nanotec IT supported ICE in promoting and organizing the italian delegation.
Info

Nano2life Business Day at NanoMed 2006 conference
Nano2life is an European network on bionanotechnology, established in 2004 to promote collaboration and sharing of knowledge and expertise among the european players of this sector.
In the framework of NanoMed 2006 conference the network organizes "Nano2life Business Day", a dedicated meeting to bring together companies with an interest in the nano-bio sector.
More

EPA Nanotechnology white paper
Available online the final version of the white paper from the US Environmental Protection Agency - EPA on opportunities and challenges regarding nanotechnology and the environment. The report is focused on the understanding and addressing of the potential risks from exposure to "nanomaterials" and society benefits from advances in environmental protection that nanotechnology may offer.
More

NAoMITEC brokerage event at NTNE 2006 conference
Main objective is to facilitate SMEs participation in EU FP6 and FP7 R&D financing programmes. – The event is facilitating information exchange between nanotechnology SMEs, project coordinators coordinating running projects or projects under negotiation for FP6 EU financing and technology platforms being set-up for the operations and strategies in FP7.
More

ISO/TC 229, Nanotechnologies technical committee
On November 9-11 has been held in London the inaugural meeting of the ISO Technical Committee dedicated to nanotechnologies, organized by the British Standards Institution (BSI). Aim of the committee is the definition and introduction of standards for the classification, terminology and nomenclature, basic metrology, characterization, risk and environmental issues of nanotechnology.
UNI, the Italian National Standards Body, is a member of the ISO Technical Committee. In order to monitor the italian situation and disseminate information from and to the ISO Technical Committe, UNI has established an informal working group on standards and regulations themes, composed by representative of public and private research on nanotechnology in Italy. AIRI / Nanotec IT regularly partecipate at the working group activities.
More