The scope of the project is the upgrade of existing Centre of excellence for ceramics, glass, and cement, to an internationally recognized Centre for functional and surface-functionalized glasses. The new Centre will be specialized to cutting edge research in the area of glasses with special functional properties (luminescence, electric), and to functionalization of conventional glasses with the aim of modification of their properties, and adding new functionalities. These would comprise reflection, and anti-reflection coatings for solar energy production and optoelectronic applications, increase of glass strength, enhancing the corrosion and leaching resistance of commercially produced glasses, self cleaning/antibacterial coatings of glasses for medical applications, including modification/enhancement of bioactivity. The research topics would include also utilization of waste materials for production of glasses and glass-ceramic materials with high added value. The project will be aimed at establishment of the Centre as a joint venture of all participating institutions, creation and formalizing the coordination and management structures, upgrading the research infrastructure, expansion of personal capacity of the existing center to the level facilitating achievement of the critical mass for R&D activities, with special attention paid to hiring high quality researchers and engineers from abroad, in order to create creative international environment, and formation of close ties with regional and European glass industries for efficient knowledge transfer.

BiCeps aims to revolutionize mechanical motion generation by designing, developing, and fabricating muscle-inspired actuators. These innovative microscale devices will be based on active cellular metamaterials capable of contracting in response of a stimuli, emulating the functional mechanisms of a remarkable biological actuator. This objective will be realized through the continuous integration of stiff structural materials with active stimuli-responsive counterparts. Multi-material additive manufacturing and allied technologies will allow the fabrication of artificial sarcomere, incorporating into 2D and 3D actuator arrays, and enabling macroscopic-scale contraction generating force through collective unit cell deformation. This groundbreaking approach overcomes the limitations associated with current active polymeric materials in soft robots, particularly their lack of structural stability. BiCeps aims to produce robust, enduring, and reliable actuators suitable for various technical applications, potentially replacing conventional electric motors and combustion engines in diverse sectors such as industrial, residential, and transportation. A critical priority for BiCeps is addressing the challenges associated with fabricating micro-architected cellular materials using high-strength materials. The risk involves uncovering optimal additive manufacturing, post-processing conditions and elucidate the principals of the actuator. The consortium's expertise in multi-material additive manufacturing will play a crucial role in ensuring precision and performance of muscle-inspired actuators. The potential market opportunities for these new actuators are immense. Even capturing a modest 1% of the global motor market could represent a significant investment opportunity, given the projected growth and value of the sector.

The project aims at upgrading the existing Centre of excellence for ceramics, glass and silicate materials (CEKSiM) in Trenčín, Slovakia, to internationally recognized Centre for Functional and Surface-functionalized Glasses (FunGlass) focusing on cutting edge research in the area of glasses with special functional properties and functionalization of conventional glasses to modify their properties and add new functionalities. Key activities of the project include training and applied research to tap into a local know-how in development of the competitive advantage of the region by training skilled research personnel and by pursuing opportunities to establish partnership with regional and EU glass industries and international networking to form creative international environment and close ties with project partners from leading institutes in the field of research interest in EU.The role of the Centre is seen in all stages of R&D activities – solving the fundamental questions, developing new concepts and strategies, identification of their business potential, and developing laboratory-scale verified technologies (TRL 4) to technologies validated and demonstrated in relevant environments (TRL 5 and 6) in close cooperation with industrial partners including SMEs. Multidisciplinary character of the research and links for industrial cooperation are also anticipated. Detailed financial analysis and perspective of the Centre is supported by a business and revenue model presented from short/medium term as well as the long term perspective explaining the current status, trends/development and medium/long term funding strategy of the Centre long term self-sustainability aiming at financing and functioning of the Centre beyond the Horizon 2020 funding period. It also stresses the strategic significance of the Centre that rests in its on market-oriented inventions, facilitating research/innovation activities , and contribution to conversion of research to commercial success.

Glass recycling uses mature technology limited by high energy consumption to melt tons of glass and the inflexibility of a heavy-duty system. Current technology only allows the recycling of certain glasses and a very small amount of waste generated. A new technology is required to allow the integral recycling of all types of glass, drastically reducing the carbon footprint. EverGLASS proposes to develop a radically new technology called "glass laser transformation" for on-site glass recycling and the generation of customized or technical products. Users will feed waste into a new machine and select which new product to get. The vision is ambitious, as it aims to bring to the consumer market a novel technology to enable virtually infinite reuse of glass. It is also radical since, through a multipurpose system capable of being located on any site, it proposes an alternative approach to the traditional centralized recycling process (particularly where this model is not possible, generating thousands of tons of glass waste annually taken to landfills). The new technology goes beyond the current limitations of the systems (high energy use, expensive and rigid process, strong logistical requirement), adopting a highly environmentally friendly model that will allow flexibility in the use of the material and in the process. Therefore, EverGLASS has the potential to revolutionize recycling as a concept. It also addresses one of the main problems with recycling, user participation, in an innovative way by allowing the personalization of recycled items of different use. Finally, it aims to encourage the use and reuse of glass as a quality material, displacing more environmentally problematic materials, such as plastics. This project brings together experts from advanced laser technologies (UVIGO), glass and ceramics science (ICV-CSIC), glass processing and engineering (TnUAD), risk and impact assessment (ACTALIA), Social Sciences (ESCI) and numerical simulation (ITWM).

Productivity, competitiveness, and economic growth stem from innovation and are vital in collaborative research projects. However, given the heterogeneity of economic and industrial frameworks between North/Western Europe and South/Eastern Europe, open calls for European funded research projects often exacerbate the knowledge gap between more and less developed regions. This in turn, limits the economic impact of this funding on areas that often need it the most. Czechia and Slovakia have been growing their gross domestic expenditure on R&D, almost doubling it since 2005. However, this growth does not directly equal innovation, with patent applications per million of the population not reaching 15% of the EU benchmark. The GlaCerHub project will strive to support the virtuous innovation and economic cycle by capitalizing on the present-day competitive advantage of the advanced glass and ceramics industry to create a place-based innovation ecosystem in the border region between South Moravia (Czechia), and Trenčín (Slovakia), a region with long tradition in these areas. The GlaCerHub consortium will create a dynamic, specialist innovation ecosystem for the advanced glass and ceramics sector by stimulating new synergies between industry, academia, government, society and other European innovation Ecosystems. In the long term GlaCerHub will become a self-sustaining entity, supporting the creation, development, piloting and protection of strategic technologies, training of all stakeholders from the quadruple helix, and creating and supporting technology transfer. The long term impact will be to increase: - investment in glass and ceramics R&D - IP protection and patent applications - spin-off creation - intersectoral PhDs (and international PhDs) - licensing transactions - national, regional and European recognition of GlaCerHub as a centre of excellence