MateriNex: facilitating and accelerating materials research in Flanders
Without materials, there is no industry. Materials are a source of wealth and form the backbone of an industrial society. They also play a key role in transformations such as climate change, energy transition and digitalisation. However, long-term research into the sustainability of materials often entails great risk for companies. That is why Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) and the Flemish Government's Department of Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI) commissioned VITO to facilitate and manage research into sustainable materials in Flanders. As a result, MateriNex was born: the specialised team within VITO that promotes cooperation between industrial and academic stakeholders. The aim is to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in the field of materials research in Flanders, and to support companies.
Three innovation themes
In consultation with industrial and academic stakeholders, three innovation themes were selected for the launch of MateriNex. These innovation themes are in line with both the EU research agenda and Flemish policy priorities:
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Materials for battery technology (mobility and storage)
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Materials for building and construction (low-carbon construction and resource efficiency)
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Strategic and critical raw materials (ensuring supply, sustainable and circular value chains)
On 18 June 2024, MateriNex was officially launched at a successful event with more than 150 attendees, strong keynote speakers and nearly 30 pitchers from both companies and research organisations active in those three innovation themes, with the aim to explore opportunities for collaborations right away.
One Common Interest Group (CIG) for each innovation theme
A Common Interest Group (CIG) was created for each MateriNex innovation theme to keep the associated demand-driven roadmap current, share information and present project results. All stakeholders from the innovation ecosystem related to one of the MateriNex innovation themes can participate in a CIG. In particular, representatives of Flemish companies (including large companies, SMEs and start-ups), relevant research groups, spearhead clusters and sector organisations are invited to participate in the CIGs of their choice. Together with the other stakeholders, CIG participants can drive innovation in their fields and increase the impact of MateriNex roadmaps and projects in those fields.
The kick-off meetings of the CIGs took place in Antwerp in September and attracted a great deal of interest.
Johan Vangrunderbeek, coördinator of MateriNex commented:
'It is a huge boost for the MateriNex team and for our clients, VLAIO and EWI, that the CIG kick-off meetings were so massively attended! Indeed, we were fortunate to welcome exceptional keynote speakers for each session, who captivated our stakeholders with their insightful and inspiring speeches. Because in addition, in this start-up phase, it was important that we outline the framework for the operation of these CIGs and explain the first full-fledged project call. Now that the groundwork has been laid, we can start working hard on networking and matchmaking to make the call a success. Because the survey showed that our stakeholders want, above all, to network and work out concrete proposals. In any case, the MateriNex team is ready to get to work on this.'
MateriNex as a facilitator
MateriNex will take on a facilitating role to accelerate materials research in Flanders and disseminate the results. Given that materials research is often complementary to application-oriented research, collaboration with spearhead clusters is an obvious choice. For broad dissemination of research findings, MateriNex will collaborate with various organisations from the stakeholder group, including collective centres and industry associations. There will also be regular consultations with academia. Ideas for innovations will be presented jointly to the stakeholder group. In this way, MateriNex wants to contribute to an accelerated and cross-cutting increase in the sustainability of materials use in our industry.
