Nano-Science Center will coordinate EU-project

Posted on 3 December 2007

The Nano-Science Center at the University of Copenhagen has been chosen to coordinate research funding from the European Unions Seventh Framework Programme. The 2.5 million € appropriation will aim to maintain and develop Europe’s leading position in molecular electronics, and the Nano-Science Center is the first Danish research institution to be given this important role under the Seventh Programme.

The goal of the research project is to explore how single molecules can be used as the basic element in electronic circuits. This is the reason why IBM is one of the partners of the project.

- Once we know how to utilise single molecules we will be able to break down the ultimate physical barriers that exist in the development of new electronic products, says Professor Thomas Bjørnholm, head of the Nano-Science Center. He is coordinating the new international research project “SINGLE”.

- Molecules behave very differently from traditional electronics based on crystals of semiconducting silicon. In the long term we will be able to integrate electronics at a molecular level, which is a great prospect for the development of for example biological sensors, says Thomas Bjørnholm.

Danish scientists received more than 350 million € for their research from the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme.

- It is vital that Denmark is at the forefront when the EU research funding is appropriated. It has great impact on our global competitiveness, says Poul Petersen, EU-consultant at the University of Copenhagen.