Advanced materials (AM) play a crucial role for the EU’s industrial competitiveness and further progress in other key enabling technologies such as quantum technologies, microelectronics or battery research. Materials innovations are the key to achieving technological sovereignty and are indispensable for the twin transition within both industry and society as well as in supporting efforts to create a working circular economy. For this reason, the importance of AM in the R&I policies of leading industrial nations has increased significantly in recent years.

The Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) is supporting R&I in the area of AM with its programme “Material Innovations for Transforming Economy and Society” (Mat2Twin) which was presented to the public at the BMBF’s MatFo2025 conference to kick off the Materials Week.

Mat2Twin places particular emphasis on digitalized materials research (supported by the BMBF platform MaterialDigital); this theme is present across various parts of the programme and serves as a focal point for a future European digital infrastructure on AM (“materials commons”) to be established under the EU framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon Europe. Mat2Twin also ties in with the EU initiative “Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership” (AM4IL) which aims to establish a dynamic, secure and inclusive AM ecosystem in Europe by improving coordination between regional, national and EU funding bodies including academia and industry. For this purpose, a set of different funding instruments will be implemented under the five pillars of the AM4IL initiative that go far beyond classical R&I activities and which will be presented here. Together with the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the BMBF represents German interests in the initiative’s steering body (Technology Council for Advanced Materials), giving Germany a stronger voice in shaping the future European Research Area in the area of lightweighting and advanced materials.

References
[1] Homepage - Materialinnovationen für die Transformation von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (Mat2Twin) - BMBF.
[2] 0fcf06ea-c242-44a6-b2cb-daed39584996_en