On Tuesday, May 25, the Secretary General for Research and Innovation, Mr. Athanasios Kyriazis, participated in the opening ceremony-launching of the EU-funded Centre of Excellence for Organic, Printed Electronics & Nanotechnologies (COPE-Nano) in Thessaloniki.
Mr. Kyriazis first congratulated Prof. Stergios Logothetidis, head of the Nanotechnology Lab LTFN at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), and his team for their tireless effort at promoting research and innovation in the field of Organic Electronics.
He then pointed out, among others, that the GSRI follows closely Horizon Europe and all its programme committees, and highlighted the quite satisfying performances of Greek candidates under the most recent calls as well as under the previous research programme “Horizon 2020”.
He pointed out that the «COPE-Nano» project proposal managed to secure a very ambitious grant following an intensely competitive procedure and a strict evaluation in the context of the two-stage Widening – Teaming for Excellence call, with a total budget of 30 million euros of which 15 million from national sources.
He also added that such projects, with applications in the fields of advanced materials, green energy, ICT, medicine and agri-food, bring us closer to our goal for a more competitive and smarter Europe, by promoting an innovative economic transformation based on knowledge and the Green Industry, Green Energy and Digital Transformation priorities. He stressed that our country participates for the first time in this action and that “COPE-Nano” is the first EU-funded Centre of Excellence to operate in Greece.
Mr. Kyriazis pointed out that, in this context, COPE-Nano is expected to act as the catalyst for a broader reform of the R&D and higher education systems in Greece, allowing the institutions concerned to upgrade their infrastructures and attract high-level human potential through the Teaming programme.
Then, Mr. Kyriazis highlighted the overall performance of Greek teams under the various Horizon Europe calls observing that it is truly remarkable, since our country ranks 7th among the EU27, in terms of both participations and resources, having received more than 500 million euros under Horizon Europe.
He also expressed his confidence about Greek achievements under the Horizon Europe Widening programme, where Greece was selected for the first time, securing more than 43 million euros under the various programme actions.
Finally, Mr. Kyriazis indicated that the GSRI will continue to support the research and innovation ecosystem, a cornerstone of sustainable development and citizen well-being.
