Knowledge transfer and innovation

The creation of new knowledge and its transformation into disruptive innovations that generate value is not a linear process but a continuous cycle of interrelations needed to implement an efficient method of producing highly innovative and competitive products and services. The stepping stones in this cycle are SCIENCE >> KNOWLEDGE >> TECHNOLOGY >> APPLICATIONS >> PRODUCTS, thus without science, new knowledge and technological advances it is not possible to come up with innovative applications and products and then the value generating chain stops running and competitive capability is lost. It is therefore essential for governments worried about competiveness to invest in Science, in a coordinated manner with Industry, in order for the latter to benefit from the results of research.

With this spirit in mind, the Regional Government created the IMDEA Institutes and IMDEA Nanociencia, since then, has focused on generating knowledge, on providing R&D services, and on developing strategic R&D projects with highly innovative industries from Madrid, Spain and across the rest of Europe. The key element for our Foundation is to integrate the strategic needs of society and of industry right into the lab and the research programs in an interactive way, as opposed to waiting for results to start a linear sales approach, which hardly ever works.

The Science and Business relations model adopted by IMDEA Nanociencia provides a specialized framework for the development of new applications and products based on the understanding, analysis and manipulation of nanoscale physical, chemical and biological phenomena. This novel approach provides industry with a new tool to enhance its competitive edge and this is why at IMDEA Nanociencia we encourage companies to invest in nanotechnology. Our strategy enables us to offer our collaborators an extensive SERVICES AND APPLICATIONS CATALOGUE which is of great interest and quality as a result of our foundational commitments:

Carrying out international excellence research projects that generate new scientific and technological knowledge by focusing on understanding fundamental problems at the nanoscale that help industry develop new applications, services and products.

Linking scientific research to social and business demands and establishing flexible, efficient and adaptable programs of cooperation with other institutions and companies.

Supplying advanced services of nanoscale study, research, development and innovation to public sector and private sector users.

Each one of the 10 research programs embarked upon by IMDEA Nanociencia has the goal of bringing to the new developments and advanced applications of nanotechnology for key sectors of the economy. In each program we offer a series of ADVANCED RESEARCH SERVICES, as well as the possibility of directly developing for companies SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS focused on the challenges.

Some of the Spanish companies that are most interested in benefiting from the Institute’s activities have begun on joint projects or projects outsourced by companies. Among other applications we can mention the use of magnetic nanoparticles for medical diagnosis or as a hyper-thermal anti-tumour treatment, applications in nanostructured coating for the aerospace and defence industries, the use of nanoparticles in advanced graphic printing processes, in new bioclimatic buildings, in the development of instrumentation, in the administration of medicines, and in the development of new solar cells. IMDEA Nanociencia has already established collaboration relationships with the aerospace industry and, in fact, some of the research programs of the IMDEA Nanociencia Institute are very close to the demands of certain markets. Thus the automobile sector is interested in the mechanical and anti-reflective properties of nanoparticles, in the development of magnetic sensors and in the application of giant magneto-resistance. The biotechnology and healthcare industries are interested in nanoparticles as carriers of medicines, in their application in anti-cancer therapies, in the improvement of image diagnosis techniques and precocious detection systems using nanoscope systems, and in the use of nanoparticles and nanomaterials in the remediation of water and in the energy sector.

To facilitate relations with industrial sectors, IMDEA Nanociencia has an INDUSTRIAL ALLIANCES UNIT, which arranges bilateral and sector meetings. Currently IMDEA has programs with companies in the following sectors:

Healthcare
Aerospace
Clean Energy
Environment
Transport
Nanomaterials
Information technologies