Imagine you make cosmetics, paints, or food packaging — and you need to understand exactly how your materials behave at the tiniest scale. EUSMI built a network of 15 top European labs where companies can walk in and use advanced microscopes, chemical synthesis lines, and supercomputers to test and develop soft materials like polymers, gels, and colloids. Think of it as a shared workshop for materials science — instead of buying million-euro equipment yourself, you book time at a specialized facility and get expert guidance included. The network ran for over four years and served researchers and businesses across 12 countries.
Companies developing products based on soft materials — polymers, gels, colloids, emulsions — often lack the specialized and expensive equipment needed to properly characterize, synthesize, and simulate these materials. Building an in-house lab with spectroscopy, scattering, imaging, and supercomputing capabilities is prohibitively expensive for most SMEs and mid-size firms. Without proper materials analysis, product development cycles are longer, formulations fail in the field, and innovation stalls.
The solution
What was built
EUSMI built an open-access network of 15 top European research facilities offering advanced characterization (spectroscopy, scattering, imaging), chemical synthesis, upscaling of lab synthesis, and high-performance supercomputing for soft matter materials. They also delivered a fully deployed online Data Repository Platform with tools for dataset registration, validation, and data analysis, producing 54 deliverables over the project lifetime.
Audience
Who needs this
Cosmetics and personal care companies developing emulsions and formulationsPolymer and plastics manufacturers needing nanoscale material characterizationSpecialty chemical companies optimizing coatings, adhesives, or surfactantsFood ingredient companies working with colloids, gels, and bio-based materialsPackaging companies developing functional or biodegradable soft materials
Business applications
Who can put this to work
Cosmetics & Personal Care
SME
Target: Cosmetics manufacturers developing new formulations
If you are a cosmetics company struggling to understand why your emulsion breaks down on the shelf — EUSMI built an open-access network of 15 specialized labs across 12 countries where you can characterize your formulations using advanced scattering, spectroscopy, and imaging techniques. With 9 industry partners already in the consortium and 6 SMEs involved, the infrastructure was designed for commercial users, not just academics.
Specialty Chemicals & Coatings
mid-size
Target: Coatings and polymer manufacturers
If you are a coatings manufacturer needing to optimize polymer blends but lack in-house characterization equipment — EUSMI offered access to a full suite of tools from chemical synthesis to high-performance supercomputing for numerical simulation. The consortium included 24 partners with a 38% industry ratio, meaning the facilities were built to handle real product development challenges, not just pure research.
Advanced Packaging & Food Materials
any
Target: Packaging companies developing biodegradable or functional materials
If you are a packaging company developing next-generation biodegradable films and need to understand material properties at the nanoscale — EUSMI provided access to characterization infrastructure covering the full chain from material synthesis to upscaling of laboratory processes. The project also deployed a data repository platform where you can store, validate, and analyze your experimental datasets online.
Frequently asked
Quick answers
How much does it cost to access these facilities?+
EUSMI provided open-access infrastructure, meaning qualified users could apply for beam time and lab access, often funded through the project itself. Based on available project data, specific pricing for commercial access post-project is not detailed — contact the coordinator at Forschungszentrum Jülich for current rates.
Can this handle industrial-scale testing, not just lab samples?+
The objective explicitly mentions upscaling of laboratory synthesis as part of the infrastructure offering. With 9 industry partners and 6 SMEs in the consortium, the facilities were designed to bridge the gap between lab research and applied product development.
What about intellectual property if I use these labs?+
Based on available project data, specific IP arrangements are not detailed in the deliverables. As a research infrastructure project, IP typically stays with the user. You would need to negotiate terms directly with the host facility.
Is the data repository still available after the project ended?+
The project delivered a fully deployed Data Repository Platform (DRP) integrated into the EUSMI portal, with services for dataset registration, validation, organization, and online data analysis. The project website at eusmi-h2020.eu may still provide access to these tools.
What specific equipment can I access?+
The infrastructure covers advanced material characterization through spectroscopy, scattering, and imaging installations including large-scale facilities, chemical synthesis capabilities for the full set of soft-matter materials, and high-performance supercomputing for numerical modeling and simulation.
How long does it take to get access?+
Based on available project data, the specific application timeline is not detailed. Research infrastructure projects of this type typically operate on call-based access cycles. Contact the coordinator at Forschungszentrum Jülich for current access procedures.
Consortium
Who built it
The EUSMI consortium is notably industry-friendly for a research infrastructure project: 9 out of 24 partners are from industry, giving a 38% industry ratio — well above average for EU infrastructure grants. Six partners are SMEs, which signals that the facilities were designed with smaller companies in mind, not just large corporations. The 12-country spread across Europe (AT, BE, CH, DE, EL, ES, FR, IT, NL, PL, SE, UK) means there is likely a facility within reasonable travel distance for most European companies. The coordinator, Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany, is one of Europe's largest research centers with strong industry collaboration track record.
Want to find out if EUSMI's lab network can solve your materials testing challenge? SciTransfer can connect you with the right facility and research team — contact us for a tailored introduction.
