First year of Nano2Life
The largest European Network of Excellence in Nanobiotechnology celebrates its first birthday

Muenster, Germany, Feb 23rd, 2005. In March 2-3 2005, around 200 researchers from 12 European nations will get together for the Nano2Life first Annual Meeting in Muenster, Germany. The European Network of Excellence in Nanobiotechnology, was founded in February 2004 by 23 research institutes under the headline "A network bringing nanotechnologies to life”, abbreviated in Nano2Life. In order to foster the European economy, the network aims at gathering all the European know-how concerning Nanobiotechnology and enhancing the power of innovation of this interdisciplinary cluster.

Nano2Life has financial support for 4 years and should lead to the foundation of a virtual European Institute of Nanotechnology (EIN). The research focuses on the development of new nanobiotechnological instruments and materials in close cooperation with more than 35 European enterprises, 5 members from the new European member states and 4 international partners from Asia, Canada and Australia, which guarantees the market-orientation of the products developed. The
aim is, ultimately, to help the European industry becoming more competitive and a leader in the global market of High-Tech.

Within the first year of implementation, existing know-how within the field of nanobiotechnology has been exchanged among the network members, and the first research projects were initiated. At the Annual Meeting in Münster, researchers will plan further undertakings and discuss the performance of the current projects. The activities mainly concentrate on the investigation and development of applications in the field of medical diagnosis, therapy, and food and environmental monitoring.