The brewing industry is a strong pillar of the European economy with more than 2.3 million jobs linked with this industry. Today it is facing unprecedented challenges as the competition increases and the consumers are more demanding than ever. To remain competitive, breweries need to invest in solutions that may increase their productivity, cut costs and adapt quickly to what the market desire. HYDRACTFLEX vision is to introduce a new production paradigm concept – Flex Supply – that will enable for the first time integrated: High Gravity brewing, Just-In-Time production and inline mixing of beers, directly from the bright beer tanks, increasing productivity and decreasing costs for the end-user. HYDRACTFLEX will leverage a technological synergy between complementary innovations of technology providers (water-based actuators/valves (KMR), control software (ProLeiT) and monitoring sensors (ACM)) to offer a full package capable of regulate/control the new process with unprecedented precision, which is indispensable to unlock the full potential of Flex Supply. The overall aim is to mature and prove full functionality and benefits of the integration of the three core technologies that together will enable the Flex Supply concept, in the context of a full-scale demonstration, at Carlsberg (Fredericia, DK). The full-scale demonstration will overcome the remaining market barriers, while prove: reductions in costs, materials usage, energy demand, CO2 footprint, product losses; increases in flexibility and productivity; and enhanced beverage safety. HYDRACTFLEX will have a significant impact on the partners competitiveness and visibility. The partnering with a leading player is already a tremendous validation of the potential of our solutions and will be the definitive leverage for the market uptake, primary in the brewing industry, and later in other sanitary industries where precise regulation is fundamental, e.g. dairies, soft drinks, etc.

Nanotechnology has been identified as a key enabling technology of economic growth and the value of nanomaterials in the global market is forecast to grow to €2 trillion by 2015. In order to be a market leader in this area, it is imperative that Europe invest in research where the gap between knowledge creation and successful commercialisation is bridged, and in training the next generation of highly skilled researchers in nanotechnology. This ETN will increase innovation capacity and strengthen doctoral training in nanotechnology on a European level. The ETN will push research into applications at the cutting-edge of nanotechnology by uniting leading experts from both the academic and non-academic sectors under the theme “Multi-Stimuli Responsive Molecular Systems and Materials.” The objective of the research programme is to prepare new “smart” molecular systems and materials in a bottom-up approach from low molecular weight building blocks by exploiting dynamic covalent chemistry and supramolecular interactions. Close collaboration between the academic and industrial members in this ETN will ensure immediate commercialisation of any new technology or materials developed by the network. This ETN provides a highly structured and comprehensive training programme in nanotechnology, a subject not specifically taught in many European universities. Early-stage researchers will be recruited and trained so they are equipped with a balance of research-related and transferable skills to enhance their career perspectives in both the academic and non-academic sectors. Thus, the network will produce highly skilled, creative, innovative and entrepreneurial researchers who will contribute to European innovation capacity in nanotechnology.

In PlantHUB will capture the academic, industrial and regulatory expertise from 5 world-class universities, 1 governmental organization, 7 enterprises including 4 SMEs to train 10 ESRs in skills and competencies necessary to apply responsible research and innovation (RRI) in the area of plant breeding and production. We wish to address the demand of RRI leadership in plant science related research and diffusion of innovation. The individual research projects are demand-driven, responding to the needs of companies - particular SMEs - to increase R&I capacities. The outcomes are new molecular tools for plant breeding, new forage, cereal and oil crop varieties, non-invasive imaging and phenotyping technologies, intelligent lighting systems for plant growth, new software and services for complex genomic analyses, and plant product quality. PlantHUB industrial doctoral programme is ground-breaking in a number of respects: (i) doctoral training is placed into an entrepreneurial environment of leading public and private organisations (ii) it combines practical hands-on R&D and technology transfer in plant breeding and production with RRI training and practise. On completion of the training, graduates will have deep interdisciplinary knowledge of plant breeding, crop improvement, high-throughput technologies, isotope and big data analysis. In combination with a portfolio of transferable skills they will be able to take a lead in stakeholder & public engagement, innovation management, technology transfer and entrepreneurship. Our programme will become a flagship example at the forefront of intersectoral research, underpinned with a carefully created training curriculum to foster awareness, know-how, expertise and competence in RRI.

Seaweed is a valuable and underutilised resource that has large potential for exploitation in a variety of markets. Seaweed cultivation is a natural solution for mitigating climate change. The European seaweed industry remains in its infancy and requires significant growth in order to become commercially viable. Seamark will utilise recent ground-breaking selective breeding technologies within EU seaweed crop genetics to increase biomass yield. SeaMark aims to upscale circular ocean seaweed cultivation and land-based integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) systems and develop novel processing methods involving fermentation and biotransformation into twelve innovative seaweed-based products. The entire value chain will be analysed for techno-economic feasibility and socio-economic impact. SeaMark will also identify and quantify ecosystem services provided by seaweed cultivation. This will feed into a strategic development plan for upscaling seaweed production, and addressing the carrying capacity of seaweed cultivation in Europe. Due to the need to build more resilient food systems and decrease reliance on fossil-based products, it is necessary to grow the blue bio-economy through seaweed cultivation and product innovation. SeaMark will help fulfil the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (3, 8, 9, 12, 13 & 14) by developing this industry and, simultaneously, providing a positive impact on people and the planet.

The overarching objective of OPEN-INNO-Train is to form an international and inter-sectoral network of organisations collaboratively working on the joint research field of Open Innovation, University-Industry Cooperation and Research Translation. To facilitate Knowledge Development and Sharing in four contemporary areas - FinTech, Industry 4.0, CleanTech, FoodTech. For globally interconnected societies, scientific research has the potential to foster yet unrealised economic growth, competitiveness, and wellbeing. The conversion of research outputs into tangible outcomes, and, ultimately, sustainable impact is critically important and needs optimising. The process of converting research findings into economic and social benefits appears increasingly complex at a time when researchers often work in multidisciplinary teams, in a context of Open Innovation when cooperating with industry and other stakeholders. Illuminating it from the perspective of Research Translation, an approach increasingly gaining traction in the specific setting of University-Industry Collaboration, OPEN-INNO-TRAIN aims at opening the black box of knowledge conversion processes to generate and apply new insights from those four industry areas. Furthermore, OPEN-INNO-TRAIN encapsulates the development of robust Research Translation tools capable of facilitating the translation process of multidisciplinary research findings for the generation of impact. Combining scientific excellence from European and international universities, Research and Technology Organisations with hands on expertise from pioneering companies, OPEN-INNO-TRAIN will spearhead this sustainable venture using digital innovation hubs, co-tutelle, industrial PhDs, PPPs and training measures to encourage international cooperation among researchers and industry practitioners across disciplines whose final aim is to holistically foster, enhance and sustain over time the application of good research translation practices.