The Institut Catala de Nanociencia I Nanotecnologia (ICN2) is a flagship research institute within the CERCA network of centres created and supported by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia to raise Catalan science to the premier international level. The patrons of ICN2 are the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat), the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Its core activities are Frontier Basic and Applied Research in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Technology Transfer, and Public Outreach. Currently, ICN2 numbers some 200 staff from over 30 countries, of which about 170 are researchers. In addition to the theoretical and experimental groups involved in the project, ICN2´s activities in graphene include thermal management, photovoltaic, biosensors and energy applications, gathering about 40 researchers (permanent staff, postdoc and Ph.D. students). ICN2 achievements were recognised in 2014 with the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation, the most prestigious award targeting research centres in Spain.

ICN2 is strongly involved in Graphene and two-dimensional materials research. It includes the theoretical study and development of multiscale computational methodologies (combining ab-initio with tight-binding models) to simulate charge, spin and phonon transport in realistic models of structurally and chemically modified graphene (and two-dimensional)-based materials and devices. Additionally research is engaged in  the development and demonstration of novel graphene spintronic devices, or the use of graphene and other carbon materials in biosensing and bioelectronics applications, such as low cost and large scale technology for the fabrication of graphene solution-gated field effect transistors as well as graphene electrodes, and their characterization in aqueous environment and in cell cultures based on CVD graphene or the use of graphene derivatives for electrochemical biosensors. Finally, hybrid materials including graphene are also investigated for applications in energy (supercapacitors) and photovoltaics.

ICREA, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, is a foundation supported by the Catalan Government and guided by a Board of Trustees. ICREA was created in response to the need to seek new hiring formulas that would make it possible to compete with other research systems on a similar footing by focusing on hiring only the most talented and extraordinary scientists and academics.

AMOs mission as a research oriented company is to efficiently close the gap between university research and industrial application. For this purpose AMO identifies those topics from basic research that seem particularly suitable for industrial implementation and demonstrates these in application-oriented technology. In joint projects and bilateral cooperation, research and development results are transferred to industry for maintenance and creation of jobs. Thus nanotechnology is expected to provide considerable potential for application areas such as information technology, biotechnology and environmental technology. Headed by Prof. Max Lemme, AMO operates a high level 400 m² cleanroom. Furthermore AMO offers a range of services from consulting to prototype development.

RWTH Aachen University is one of the leading universities of technology in Germany with a tradition dating back to 1870 when it was founded as an institution to provide technological innovation. The university is divided into 9 faculties and approximately 45,000 students are enrolled in more than 150 courses of study. The number of foreign students (~10,000) substantiates the university’s international orientation. Every year about 7,000 graduates and doctoral graduates leave the university. Approximately 500 professors work at RWTH Aachen University and the university budget amounts to more than 900 million Euros of which about 350 million Euros are third-party expenditures. RWTH Aachen is also participating in the IDEA League, a network of the leading Universities of Technology in Europe, which defines standards for degree programs and academic training.

Founded in 1425, UCLouvain is one of Europe´s oldest universities, with more than 28,000 students. UCLouvain is a key player in fundamental research in Belgium, in Europe and worldwide and is also an official partner of the Graphene Flagship. The UCLouvain research group of Prof. J.-C. Charlier has well versed in fundamental aspects of ab initio, atomistic and property modelling and is strongly involved in the prediction of spin-dependent transport in graphene and other 2D systems (including vdW heterostructures), based on its expertise in first-principles simulations for more than twenty-five years.

Bedimensional is a spin-off of the Graphene Labs at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), which brings at the industrial level the cutting-edge know-how in production and exploitation of graphene and other two-dimensional crystals.

The cfaed is a research cluster at Technische Universität Dresden (TUD). As an interdisciplinary research center for perspectives in electronics, it is located at TUD as a Central Academic Unit and integrates members from extramural research institutions in Saxony and Saxon-Anhalt as well as TU Chemnitz. The Cluster is dedicated to the fundamentals of sustainable information technologies that would not be possible with the continuation of today’s silicon-based components. To achieve its goals, cfaed combines the thirst for knowledge in the natural sciences with the innovative power of the engineering sciences.
Website: www.cfaed.tu-dresden.de