SPACE will develop the fundamental science required to underpin the development of continuous production processes for turning the most abundant natural material, cellulose, into high value nanostructured materials with well defined pore structures and pore functionality. It is based on my recent discovery that aerogels can be prepared by assembling cellulose nanowhiskers at low energy and without the use of toxic solvents or precursors. Cellulose nanowhiskers are monocrystalline rod-like nanoparticles made from plant material by a two-day multi-step acid hydrolysis batch process. Their self-assembly and surface modification is also performed in multi-step batch processes. SPACE will convert existing batch processes for nanoparticle production, surface modification and self-assembly into scalable continuous processes, through the development of a fundamental scientific understanding of different continuous nanomaterial processing techniques. This, in turn, will open up small and large scale production of multi-functional porous materials with a wide range of potential applications, including insulation, gas and liquid adsorption and separations, organic catalysis and sensing while increasing product quality, improving consistency, and greatly lowering the economic and environmental cost. The demonstrators will be designed to produce around 220 g of nanomaterials per hour (~5 kg per day).

In PlantHUB will capture the academic, industrial and regulatory expertise from 5 world-class universities, 1 governmental organization, 7 enterprises including 4 SMEs to train 10 ESRs in skills and competencies necessary to apply responsible research and innovation (RRI) in the area of plant breeding and production. We wish to address the demand of RRI leadership in plant science related research and diffusion of innovation. The individual research projects are demand-driven, responding to the needs of companies - particular SMEs - to increase R&I capacities. The outcomes are new molecular tools for plant breeding, new forage, cereal and oil crop varieties, non-invasive imaging and phenotyping technologies, intelligent lighting systems for plant growth, new software and services for complex genomic analyses, and plant product quality. PlantHUB industrial doctoral programme is ground-breaking in a number of respects: (i) doctoral training is placed into an entrepreneurial environment of leading public and private organisations (ii) it combines practical hands-on R&D and technology transfer in plant breeding and production with RRI training and practise. On completion of the training, graduates will have deep interdisciplinary knowledge of plant breeding, crop improvement, high-throughput technologies, isotope and big data analysis. In combination with a portfolio of transferable skills they will be able to take a lead in stakeholder & public engagement, innovation management, technology transfer and entrepreneurship. Our programme will become a flagship example at the forefront of intersectoral research, underpinned with a carefully created training curriculum to foster awareness, know-how, expertise and competence in RRI.

PRODUCTIVE4.0 - AMBITIOUS PROJECT WITH A UNIQUE MAIN OBJECTIVE The main objective of Productive4.0 is to achieve improvement of digitising the European industry by electronics and ICT. Ultimately, the project aims at suitability for everyday application across all industrial sectors – up to TRL8. It addresses various industrial domains with one single approach of digitalisation. What makes the project unique is the holistic system approach of consistently focusing on the three main pillars: digital automation, supply chain networks and product lifecycle management, all of which interact and influence each other. This is part of the new concept of introducing seamless automation and network solutions as well as enhancing the transparency of data, their consistence and overall efficiency. Currently, such a complex project can only be realised in ECSEL. The consortium consists of 45% AENEAS, 30% ARTEMIS-IA, 25% EPOSS partners, thus bringing together all ECSEL communities. Representing over 100 partners from 19 EU and other associated countries, it is a European project, indeed. HANDS-ON SOLUTIONS FOR THE EUROPEAN DIGITAL INDUSTRY • Productive4.0 tackles technological and conceptual approaches in the field of Industry 4.0. The term comprises IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), CPS (Cyber Physical Systems) and Automation. • The innovation project takes a step further towards hands-on solutions. In the process, practical reference implementations such as 3D printerfarms, customised production or self-learning robot systems will benefit in fields like service-oriented architecture (SOA), IOT components & infrastructures, process virtualisation or standardisation. These fields are addressed in the work packages WP1 through WP6. • In addition to furnishing the industry with tailor-made digital solutions, the Productive4.0 Framework will be provided. • Productive4.0 is a brain pool initiated to strengthen the international leadership of the European industry.