§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many EU funded networks in nanotechnology are based(a) inside and (b) outside the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [14969]
§ Mr. Ian Taylor[holding answer 7 February 1997]: The European Commission's research and development information service database—CORDIS—indicates that there are at least 33 current (1997) nanotechnology projects, established with EU funding under the EC research and development framework programme. Of these 33 project consortia, three are networks. Organisations from the United Kingdom lead four of the projects and participate in 16. The data provided cover the areas of micro-submicro electronics and systems, nano-structures, nano-processing and high precision engineering.
In addition, a UK lead consortium, with partners in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Denmark is currently preparing a proposal for a nano-engineering network in response to already existing—and equivalent—networks in Japan and the US.