Research and innovation on materials is one of the key drivers of Europe’s competitiveness, sustainability and industrial resilience. Technologies based on advanced materials underpin the major transitions now under way – energy, digital, industrial and security – and act as an enabler for numerous strategic value chains, from energy to mobility, from aerospace to the life sciences, through to digital technologies and advanced manufacturing.
2026 is shaping up to be a particularly significant year for the materials sector. The forthcoming publication of the Materials Act by the European Commission will be an important policy milestone in defining the role that advanced materials are expected to play in future European strategies for competitiveness, strategic autonomy and industrial resilience. This initiative forms part of a broader redefinition of European research and innovation policy, in which the debate on the future Framework Programme (2028-2034) and its relationship with the new European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) is still open.
Within this framework, a number of uncertainties remain: how enabling technologies such as advanced materials will be positioned and supported in the future European research and innovation architecture; the relationship between research, technological development, industrial scale-up and competitiveness; and the role that collaborative instruments will continue to play, in particular the future of the European partnerships. Among these, the fate of IAM-I, the European partnership dedicated to innovative and advanced materials, is of particular relevance, as in recent years it has provided an important space for coordination between industry, research and the European institutions.
Italy has high-quality scientific expertise, infrastructures, companies and production chains, and has significantly strengthened its materials ecosystem thanks to NRRP (PNRR) investments and growing participation in European programmes. There nonetheless remains a need to develop a more integrated and systemic vision, one able to overcome the existing fragmentation, create synergies between public and private actors and strengthen Italy’s positioning in the European debate.
The event aims to offer a space for dialogue between institutions, research and industry in order to examine the evolution of European policies and to position them as effectively as possible within the relevant national context.