Materials research in Europe: Mapping excellence and looking ahead

Abstract

The European Research Area has been established to coordinate national research policies and to encourage shared objectives, expertise, and resources throughout the European Union. To accomplish these goals, the European Research Area first needs knowledge of existing resources, fields of excellence, and potential for improvements as well as an idea of the direction of future research. This article describes the SMART project, established by the European Commission to identify important research topics for the future in the field of materials technology and to map materials research regions of excellence.