Thessaloniki opens Europe’s first green nano and OE centre

“The COPE-Nano Center of Excellence in Thessaloniki enjoys the full support of the government, particularly the Ministry of Education and Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis,” stated the General Secretary for Higher Education at the Ministry of Education, Prof. N. Papaioannou, during the Official Meeting of the project. He emphasised that the COPE-Nano CoE aligns perfectly with the Ministry’s primary objective in Higher Education: bridging research with the job market and entrepreneurship.

With the establishment of COPE-Nano, the only centre in Europe dedicated to Nanotechnology and Organic Electronics, the region of Thessaloniki, is being transformed into a high tech and innovation hub. This was highlighted by the speakers at the official ceremony held at the Hyatt Hotel in Thessaloniki on 27^th January, as part of a two-day Review Meeting of COPE-Nano by the European Commission’s European Research Executive Agency.

Also present at the event was Th. Papadopoulos, Mayor of Thermi, who highlighted the national importance of the innovation developed in the area, as well as M. Mittas, General Secretary of the Municipality of Thessaloniki as representative of the Mayor of Thessaloniki. Other notable attendees included Dr. Panagiotis Ketikidis, Chairman of the Board of the Alexander Innovation Zone, and Mr. Ioannis Roukas, Deputy Secretary for Productive Sectors of New Democracy, Prof. St. Stilianidis member of the AUTh Board of Directors, and Chair of Chemistry Dept Prof. Th. Karapantios, and Chair of  Medicine School Prof.  St. Triaridis at AUTh.

Experts from the EU overseeing the project had the opportunity to tour the existing and new facilities of the CoE COPE-Nano and the Nanotechnology Laboratory LTFN, which is regarded as one of the most advanced laboratories worldwide in terms of its technology and equipment.

As Professor Stergios Logothetidis, Founder and Director of the Nanotechnology Laboratory LTFN and Coordinator of the Cope-Nano project, stated: “More than 30 international academic, research, and industrial institutions from Europe and the Middle East have already expressed interest in collaborating and utilising the infrastructure and research outcomes of the centre in Thessaloniki. The progress of the unique COPE-Nano CoE is assessed every 18 months by European Commission experts, with the first evaluation already completed successfully. The operation of COPE-Nano will elevate not just the country, but Europe Union and beyond acting as a lighthouse of excellence.”

Key objectives and international collaborations of COPE-Nano

The COPE-Nano Center of Excellence commenced operations on 1^st May 2023. The project has a budget of €30 million and will be funded until 2029, with 50% co-financing from the EU under the HORIZON Europe – WIDERA programme for the establishment of Modern Centers of Excellence and the Greek government.

Cope-Nano aspires to modernise the Nanotechnology Laboratory LTFN of AUTH as an independent and sustainable Center of Excellence, positioning it as a global leader in green organic electronics and nanotechnology, bioelectronics, and nanomedicine. With the contribution of the Advanced Partners, the University of Cambridge and the University of Bordeaux, the project seeks to enhance Greece’s scientific and technological capabilities, foster a new generation of scientists and enterprises, develop partnerships with high-tech industries, and transform brain drain into brain gain by attracting specialised human capital and high tech investments to Greece.

It is noteworthy that the COPE-Nano was selected for implementation by the European Union among many competitive proposals, marking the first EU-funded initiative for the creation of Centers of Excellence in Greece and the only one in Europe focused on Organic Electronics and Nanotechnology. Currently, 40 Centers of Excellence operate across the EU funded by the ‘Teaming for Excellence’ action of the Horizon Europe Research and innovation funding programme.