The DTI has allocated £40m towards Capital Projects for
the MNT Network, which can be used for capital and operating costs.
More than £25 million has been allocated for 11
applicants from the first and second calls in the following areas
- Micro and nano device manufacture and integration
- Nano particles and novel materials
- Bionanotechnology
- Characterisation and metrology
What is the definition of Capital Projects?
In the context of the UK MNT
Network, Capital Projects are defined as projects which implement:
" Industry/market facing UK based facilities which provide
cost-effective open access for
organisations and individuals to capabilities, processes and associated
knowledge leading to marketable products, and services."
The objective of Capital Projects fund is to invest in the
development of UK technology infrastructure to:
- accelerate the commercialisation of MNT for the wider
benefit of the UK economy;
- provide open access on equitable commercial terms to
Microsystems and Nano Technology platforms and associated knowledge.
- develop a critical mass of capability whilst avoiding
duplication of provision.
The intention of these Capital Projects Calls is thus to
deliver open-access MNT facilities of national significance.
Third Call for Proposals
The Third Call for Capital Projects proposals is focused on
the following areas:
- Invitations to selected Expressions of Interest from the
Second Call to submit Detailed Applications. These organisations will be
informed by letter as to whether they have been selected to submit a full
proposal.
- An Open Call for Detailed Applications in the following
areas:
| |
| Bionanotechnology |
| Bids providing either broad
bionanotechnology product enabling centres or application specific centres will
be considered. Examples of product driven applications of bionanotechnology
include diagnostics, drug delivery and therapeutics, biological tools for drug
and target discovery, advanced cell manipulation through surface and material
properties, and imaging. |
| |
| Microfluidic
application centres |
| Facilitating the development of
microfluidic devices and products. Bids may wish to consider provision to any
of the potential application sectors of microfluidics; these include flow and
control systems, fluid manipulation and processing, synthesis, separation,
analysis, screening and diagnosis. Proposals would be expected to consider
prototyping of devices in suitable materials for the application area(s) of
focus. A facility may wish to provide open access to other capabilities such as
design, modelling, testing and linkages to production scale manufacturing
worldwide. |
| |
| Carbon based
electronics |
| Centres providing open access
facilities to enable development of products incorporating micro and
nanotechnological applications of carbon based electronics. This may include
plastic electronics, diamond and related carbon materials and carbon nanotube
based structures and components. |
The Third Call for these areas opened on 28th February and
closed 8 weeks later in April 2005.
