The European Commission is to invest €700m ($664m) in nanotechnology research over the next four years in a move that further demonstrates the appeal of this sector despite the severe downturn in technology venture capital investing.
Philippe Busquin, the EU Research Commissioner, said that without EU funding nanotech research in Europe will not take off. "Enterprises cannot do everything on their own and the challenge is so big that it has to be faced by solid public-private partnerships," Busquin said.
