Zeta Biopharma is a medium-sized Austrian company that manufactures high-tech plants used in the pharmaceutical industry. Zeta has recently taken advantage of the EU’s Risk Sharing Instrument (RSI) to finance the development of its business.
Ethanol is relatively easy to produce and can be used in existing engines. However, the so-called first-generation technology currently used to produce ethanol is energy-inefficient, offering slim carbon savings over gasoline, and it relies on edible crops such as maize and sugar beet, which some scientists argue could drive up global food prices.
It can take a long time for schizophrenia sufferers to receive the treatment they need – partly because diagnosis is not necessarily straightforward. Many of the symptoms could just as easily be caused by other disorders. A revolutionary blood test developed by EU-funded researchers helps doctors to make the right call.
European researchers have developed advanced energy harvesting technology that allows wireless sensor networks to power themselves from the sun, heat or vibrations. The innovation is a key enabler for smart cities, environmental and pollution monitoring, and effective disaster management, among many other applications.
An EU-funded project investigating how oxygen in the air millions of years ago might have affected the evolution of plants is making important discoveries that could inform our approach to climate change, space exploration and ensuring future food supplies.
Understanding the human brain is one of the greatest challenges facing 21st century science. If we can rise to this challenge, we will gain profound insights into what makes us human, develop new treatments for brain diseases, and build revolutionary new computing technologies that will have far reaching effects, not only in neuroscience.
Creaking joints, knotty hands, swollen knees… as we grow older, many of us will become acquainted with these symptoms of osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. EU funding has helped researchers at the TREAT-OA project add to our knowledge of the disease and opened up new avenues for prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
Concrete is used everywhere and particularly in critical areas such as high-rise buildings, bridges and industrial facilities. As a construction material concrete offers strength and versatility and its production materials – gravel, sand, cement, water and steel rods - are readily available. But the strength of concrete, particularly the foundation piles, can be damaged during or after installation or indeed over time if subjected to unforeseen stress.
The EU-funded CREST project is tackling the debilitating effects of age-related macular degeneration, a condition that affects a high proportion of older citizens. But the results could have far-reaching implications for the normally sighted as well, enabling what some have called ‘super-vision’.
Small means big business these days. Consumers are demanding ever smaller, more portable devices, with extra features, better performance and energy efficiency. But squeezing everything into smaller packages is a huge manufacturing challenge. To help, European researchers have developed ways to produce the micro components needed for these smaller devices.
Many children dream of becoming an astronaut, yet only a few ever see that dream realised. That may soon change, thanks to the European Union (EU)-funded project, Future High-Altitude High-Speed Transport 20XX (FAST20XX). Run by a European consortium, which was led by the European Space Agency (ESA), the project investigated and developed technologies to conquer the grey zone between aeronautics and space in Europe.
Although science is often seen as a discipline concerned with hard facts, it can be difficult to separate research from its ethical, social and political setting. Researchers struggling to balance science with ethics can now count on advice from a European project, EGAIS, that looked at how best to handle the wider ethical context.
In countries with well-developed healthcare systems, dying from complications brought on by pregnancy is a remote and shocking possibility. Nevertheless, one such condition, pre-eclampsia, affects 2% of all first-time mothers, and, moreover, to date no viable screening test has been developed.
The EU-funded NEXT project brought together manufacturers and machine-tool developers to develop a new, modern approach to production machinery. The project delivered new process automation concepts and machine designs for faster, greener manufacturing, allowing production lines to be more easily adapted to changing demand.
Researchers are embarking on an ambitious four-year project to explore some of the deepest, coldest and hottest places on the planet. The aim is to collect and screen samples of mud and sediment from huge, previously untapped, oceanic trenches, more than 8,000 metres deep.
Location-based services use information on the geographical position of mobile devices like smart phones and tablets. These services are expanding beyond consumer-facing products like the check-in applications (apps) one often sees on Facebook, and nowadays they are even powering advertisements, weather and travel apps.
A European research project, ALERT, has developed an asbestos detection device that could save thousands of lives. The project team is building the first real-time, portable detector of asbestos fibres in the air. The low-cost ALERT Rapid Asbestos Detection (ARAD) tool, which will be the size of a hand-held drill, is expected to enable construction workers and surveyors to test for the mineral's presence in building and demolition sites.
Today, some 24 million people worldwide are affected by dementia with more than 4 million new cases recorded every year. This equates to a new case every eight seconds. To address these staggering figures, EU-funded researchers have engineered tiny particles to trace and treat Alzheimer’s – the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease.
For thousands of years, underwater life has fascinated scientists’ minds and dreamers’ imagination alike. Countless mysteries lie hidden within those depths just waiting to be explored – most of all in the deep-sea.
Lower-back pain due to damaged spinal discs is a major cause of long-term disability for millions of people. Seeking a cure, EU-funded researchers have developed a new surgical approach and the materials to repair damaged spinal discs, potentially helping many sufferers enjoy better, more productive lives.
