About M-ERA.NET

WHAT IS M-ERA.NET?

M-ERA.NET is a strong European network of public funding organisations supporting and increasing coordination and convergence of national and regional funding programmes on research and innovation related to materials and battery technologies to support the European Green Deal.

M-ERA.NET MISSION

Technological innovation is the driving force behind M-ERA.NET’s contribution to achieve the environmental and growth objectives necessary for the green transition, supporting the circular economy and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the general assembly of the United Nations.

M-ERA.NET aims to strengthen the European Research Area (ERA) on advanced materials. With annual joint calls M-ERA.NET funds ground-breaking research, facilitates knowledge exchange, promotes sustainable solutions in the field of materials science, and fosters transnational collaboration among researchers, academia, industry and other stakeholders. In addition, efforts are directed towards consolidating strategic programming, reducing fragmentation of funding, engaging in international cooperation and facilitating the exploitation of knowledge along the entire innovation chain.

M-ERA.NET plays a pivotal role in aligning national and regional priorities with industry needs, European policy priorities and global challenges. The initiative emphasises a holistic approach to product development, addressing challenges at the design, materials and manufacturing levels. This includes improving durability, reducing energy and material consumption, substituting hazardous materials and developing products that are lighter, easier to maintain, repair, upgrade, remanufacture or recycle. The collaboration also extends to bio-degradable plastics and sustainable polymer design, aiming to mitigate health risks and reduce plastic waste. Furthermore, M-ERA.NET promotes digitalisation and materials modelling to tailor material properties, optimise production processes, and establish uniform data structures for seamless collaboration. Addressing climate challenges, the initiative supports research on efficient energy harvesting, storage devices, and high- performance, environmentally friendly batteries. Overall, M-ERA.NET catalyses progress in materials research, driving advancements in functional materials, composites, surfaces, coatings and interfaces to shape sustainability and competitiveness in key industrial sectors.

M-ERA.NET CONSORTIUM

M-ERA.NET started in 2012 under FP7 with 37 partners from 25 European countries. It continued as M-ERA.NET 2 from 2016 to 2022 with 43 partners from 29 countries and is now running in its third phase as M-ERA.NET 3 until 2026 under the Horizon 2020 ERA-NET COFUND scheme with currently 49 public funding organisations from 35 countries. The diverse and experienced network comprises national and regional funding programmes from 25 EU member states and 5 associated countries and includes 5 non-European organisations. Details are provided here.