Research, from the Region 19 million to the Beyond Nano project of the CNR of Catania

PALERMO – Funded with 19 million euros by the Musumeci government for the project to upgrade the “Beyond-Nano” research infrastructure of the National Research Council in the microelectronic pole of Catania. The contribution identified by the regional department of productive activities will go to the research funds of the Po-Fesr 2014/2020 for the creation and development of the site of scientific-technological excellence in the Etna Valley.

This is the third Sicilian research infrastructure of a national strategic nature, together with the Idmar laboratory of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics and the Ismett research laboratories and diagnostic and therapeutic services.

The financial intervention of the Sicilian Region – which is added to that of the Ministry of University and Research which in 2020 allocated 15 million euros and the investment of 6 million by the CNR – will make it possible to acquire the scientific and complete the work to implement the two new equipment: one for research on new materials and processes for microelectronics and the other for the development of advanced solutions for photovoltaics.

“The CNR project has a double strategic value for Sicily – says the regional councilor for productive activities, Mimmo Turano – not only allows you to take a step forward on the competitiveness of the national industrial sector interested in microelectronics, aerospace or energy, but it also has important economic and social repercussions on the territory of the Sicilian microelectronic pole which will allow us, thanks also to collaboration with universities, to ensure that many of our young graduates remain in Sicily to use energy and skills ».

«Through these interventions – explains Massimo Inguscio, Cnr president – the Beyond-Nano research infrastructure will be equipped with advanced instruments. The activities will be designed to create a ‘continuum’ between materials science and device technology to reduce transfer times from research to market applications. The objective of the CNR is to put the industrial realities operating in the regional territory in the conditions to successfully face the challenges within markets where competition is played on the advancement of scientific knowledge and on the capacity for innovation ».