Imagine having a super-powered magnifying glass that can spot tiny chemical or biological changes in the air or water from far away. This project finds the smartest scientists and gives them a jump-start to turn their lab discoveries into real-world tools. It's like a talent scout for technology that helps us watch how nature and humans interact in real-time.
Companies struggle to find high-sensitivity detection tools that are small and low-power enough for IoT use. There is often a gap between basic lab research and a usable commercial prototype.
A funding and validation mechanism that tested 30 breakthrough detection and imaging concepts for Earth observation.
If you are a climate tech firm dealing with imprecise air quality data — this project funded 30 concepts for sensors that provide high specificity and extreme sensitivity. This allows for better tracking of environmental changes and nature-human interaction.
If you are an IoT hardware manufacturer dealing with bulky, power-hungry sensors — this project focuses on technologies suitable for seamless integration into low-cost, low-power wearable and portable systems.
If you are a precision farming provider dealing with slow data collection — this project targets imaging tools with high spatial and temporal resolution. This enables massive parallelism in collecting biological and chemical data from fields.
Based on available project data, the project provided grants of €100,000 each to 30 different concepts to investigate feasibility; specific commercial pricing for the resulting tools is not listed.
The project aims for an end-TRL of 3-5, meaning the concepts are moving toward prototypes that can be tested in relevant environments, though full industrial scale is a future step.
Based on available project data, the project uses a co-innovation eco-system model to bridge basic science and market applications, but specific licensing terms are not provided.
Applicant consortia are given 12 months to investigate the scientific merits, technical feasibility, and applicability potential of their concept.
The project specifically targets technologies that allow for seamless integration into pervasive, low-cost, and low-power ICT systems, including wearables and IoT.
The consortium is heavily weighted toward research and academia, consisting of 9 partners from 6 countries. With 5 research organizations and 2 universities, and 0% industry representation in the core consortium, the project acts as a funding and scouting vehicle rather than a commercial development group. It leverages CERN as the coordinator to bridge the gap between basic science and potential industrial uptake.
Contact CERN (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire)
Contact us to identify which of the 30 funded D&I concepts align with your hardware roadmap.
