EU-Call: Advanced Materials and Innovative Design for Improved Functionality and Aesthetics in High Added Value Consumer Goods

Specific challenge: Creative industries have been defined as one of the most active, significant and relevant new emerging industrial sectors in the European economy (Report on Emergency Industries, PwC, 2012). The creative industries linked to manufacturing (e.g. architecture, automotive, art, crafts, supports for cultural items, decoration, fashion, furniture, lighting, interior design materials and products, jewels, luxury, media supports, publishing, sport and toys) are generators of competitive advantages that cannot be reproduced elsewhere, promoters of local development and drivers of industrial change (COM(2012)537 ‘Promoting cultural and creative sectors for growth and jobs in the EU’).

Creative SMEs in particular can make use of design as a strategic tool to create innovative products and services addressing new consumers' standards and societal challenges while assuring competitive and sustainable development.

However, the future European exploitation of this rich sector depend on the EU ability to support high-growth creative SMEs and start-ups in exploiting highly innovative technological advances in materials for commercial, cultural and societal applications.

To promote design-driven innovation, a number of action lines have been endorsed by the Commission, including integrating design into research and development and promoting new collaborative innovation strategies (‘Implementing an Action Plan for Design-Driven Innovation’, SWD(2013)380).

Scope: Proposals should address the development of innovative advanced material solutions (e.g. superhydrophobic/superoleophobic nanomaterials and nanoscale systems, self-cleaning and self-healing systems, smart textile fabrics and papers, biomimetic, shape change/memory materials, self-assembling systems, energy harvesters) for use in the creative industry sectors defined above to make urban living significantly easier, more sustainable, more comfortable, more secure and more functional. Creativity, cultural and societal values, alongside specialist knowledge, should be driving the material innovation (e.g. increased performance, lightness, safety, sustainability, improved lifetime) to add value to products through the use of new intangible material functionalities (e.g. creative design, artistic expression, trend translation, enhanced sensations, cultural values).

Proof of concept in terms of product and/or process must be delivered within the project, excluding commercially usable prototypes (in compliance with European Commission Communication 2006/C323/01), but convincingly demonstrating scalability towards industrial needs.

In order to ensure the industrial relevance and impact of the research efforts, the key properties improvement and commercial potential of the innovative technologies compared to state-of-the-art solutions currently available on the market should be convincingly assessed in the proposal. Sustainability aspects in the whole life cycle of the final products should be taken into account. The active participation of designers, artists, societal stakeholders, material scientists, materials suppliers, researchers, manufacturers and end users of the resulting products represents an added value and this will be reflected in the second stage of the evaluation. As relevant, the proposed activities should address sex and gender specific aspects

Additional information can be found here.