MatVal Website is Online

Today the website of the FP7 Project “Alliance for Materials – A value chain approach to materials research and innovation” - MatVal for short - has gone online. The website is the roof of the Alliance for Materials “common house” where to bring together all the players of the Material community in Europe. It is the portal that can contribute to answer questions on materials in Europe as well as about the scope and goals of the MatVal projects.

The new website features relevant content on new EU policies on materials, on the ideas of innovation and value-chain are how deeply interconnected they are. The interactive design of the website will enable you to easily learn more: What are the priorities in the sector in the new EU Research and Innovation framework, Horizon 2020? What programs have been developed to tackle the challenges of new and innovative materials? All these and other queries are answered on the website.

On top of all these idea, the website explores the application of some of these key concepts in different fields: you can read about examples of good practices in the materials communities dedicated to energy and construction. More dossiers will come along.  

The MatVal website is also a portal for new initiatives! Have a look at the News on upcoming events and initiatives. And if you really want to delve in some issues or events, you can check the Focus On: where you can find extensive description of the most important initiatives, events and activities.

What is MatVal?

Materials research & development is a technology area that affects almost every industrial sector. The achievement of effective coordination between different sectors, while maintaining their relative autonomy, interests and strategies is an essential condition to achieve the best and most effective use of community resources.

Guided by this principle in 2010 a group of European Technology Platforms with strong materials agendas (EuMaT, Textiles and Clothing, SusChem, Manufuture, Steel Technology and Sustainable Mineral Resources) came together to create Alliance for Materials (A4M).

A4M intends to enter into its full implementation phase by creating the conditions for a significant enlargement of the network. Its goal is to include the other sector-oriented European Technology Platforms who are active along different value chains, while in parallel bringing together other relevant players in the European Materials Community to achieve a real integration of voices and visions.

To reach its goal, A4m has started the MatVal project. MatVal is part of the European Commission FP7projects. It targets materials innovation implementation through value chain collaboration and sharing ideas/visions from the European materials community.

The project brings together all key European Technology Platforms, including SusChem, involved in materials research and innovation as well as other key materials organisations representing research societies and networks of excellence. The project is also supported by more than 20 external partners with prominent reputations in materials.