Photonics and Microwaves Competitiveness Cluster in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Members page Publications/Press
FR | EN | CN | JP
Background header

EUROPE PASS

Home / EUROPE PASS

The cluster's support for Europe

In line with Phase IV, the cluster proposes a personalised offer of support for Europe, which is part of its members' research & development and innovation strategy. There is a plethora of European schemes that can meet each of your objectives, whether you are a researcher or the head of an SME, a start-up or a large group. However, identifying calls for projects, consortia and submitting a project proposal requires time and specific knowledge about funding programmes.

The services offered to participate in European projects

- Monitoring of funding opportunities in Europe
- Giving you visibility in Europe
- Build an optimal consortium for collaborative projects
- Identify and decipher the calls for projects that correspond to your objectives
- Reviewing your proposals to optimise your chances of success

A Europe team at your service

The Europe team is managed by Isabelle Tovena Pécault, with :

  • Romain Hérault, in charge of the NewSkin project in the field of surface nanotechnologies, which brings together 36 partners,
  • Xavier Alberola, PIMAP+ project manager, coordinated by ALPHA-RLH, which brings together six European clusters and aims to strengthen cross-sector cooperation in the fields of photonics, advanced manufacturing, metallurgy and the aerospace industry (United States, Canada, China and Japan).
  • Romain Montini, Mission Japan delegate, will be your contact to answer your needs and facilitate your access to the Japanese market or promote your collaborations with Japanese academics, companies or institutions.

The ALPHA-RLH cluster is developing an influence strategy through its active participation in several bodies: the European Clusters Alliance, the French Association of Competitive Clusters (AFPC), Photonics France, Photonics 21, EuMA and the European Cluster Collaboration Platform.

Networking

The cluster also works in a network with partners:

- The Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region and in particular its representation in Brussels,
- The ADI Nouvelle-Aquitaine,
- The Enterprise Europe Network,
- A pool of private firms that can assist you in writing, setting up and managing your project, for advice on industrial property or a market study...,
- Partnership agreements have been signed with other competitiveness clusters such as the European Ceramics Cluster, Systematic, Optitec and Aerospace Valley, as well as with the CCI France Japan, the Spanish research and technological development centre Tecnalia, the Greek photonics cluster HPhos, the Canadian cluster OPTONIQUE, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Chinese technology park ZGC Overseas Park.


Successful results

The cluster's actions in Europe have been successful with good results obtained in 2020:
- 55 European projects were submitted, 18 of which were financed, i.e. a success rate of 31%,
- the success of several members who obtained European funding:

  • Immersion in the EVOLVED-5G project: experimentation and validation opening for the long-term evolution of vertical industries in the 5G era and beyond,
  • ALPhANOV, GLOphotonics and the University of Limoges (XLIM) as part of the CRYST^3: ATOM-LIGHT CRYSTALS IN PHOTONIC CRYSTALS project, which envisions a future technology where the sensor head containing the atoms is significantly reduced in size and cost, and made more robust and better suited for industrialisation.

Isabelle's Europe Minute

Discover or find on the cluster's YouTube channel our 10-episode web series to encourage companies to go to Europe, presented by Isabelle Tovena Pécault, International and European Projects Manager.

Episode 1 : Don't be afraid to go for Europe

Episode 2 : Competitiveness clusters at your side

Episode 3 : Your partners for your European strategy

Episode 4 : The project-timing-partner match

Episode 5 : Build your name and create your network

Episode 6 :  Tips for drafting European projects

Episode 7 : Time to launch your project

Episode 8 : French businesses in Europe

Episode 9 : Seek guidance to understand and build projects

Episode 10 : The ALPHA-RLH offer

   

Official start of the European project PhotonHub Europe supporting the innovation of SMEs through the uptake of photonics technologies  


ALPHA-RLH cluster is one of the partners of PhotonHub Europe project, together with Photonics France and 4 other French clusters (Photonics France, Photonics Bretagne, Optitec and Systematic Paris-Région). Launched last 24th February 2021, it gathers 54 partners from 15 European countries for a total budget of 19M€ for 4 years. The main objective is to support « first time users » and « early adopters » SMEs of photonics to innovate thanks to these technologies. The support will be focused on the following development stages: Prototyping TRL 3-4, Upscaling TRL 5-6, Manufacturing TRL 7-8.

The initiative will help European SMEs and mid-caps become highly competitive digital businesses through faster & smarter deployment of photonics-based technologies, directly creating over 1.000 new high-tech EU jobs and nearly €1 billion in new revenues and venture capital by 2025.

European SMEs, start-ups, and scale-ups who have a vested interest in photonics - either as technology providers or as early users or potential adopters of photonics - can join the community and find business, technology, and investment support to innovate in any of the eight following domains: Agro-food, Energy, Digital infrastructure, Mobility, Health, Manufacturing, Safety/Security/Smart cities, Space/Defence.

In parallel and with the aim to sustain the project on the long-term perspective, the partners will work together to establish a European association, of which a part of the projects will be funded by the regional stakeholders. 

ALPHA-RLH will particularly be involved in the promotion of the supporting and funding services of the project, towards non photonics and early-adopters SMEs. The cluster will also boost the use of private funding thanks to events dedicated to investment such as INPHO Venture Summit. Finally, ALPHA-RLH will participate to the establishment of a European ecosystem of photonics local hubs by bringing its help to regions that would like to develop their own local representation.

Project's video presentation

Join the community

Contacts: x.alberola@alpha-rlh.com / a.durand@alpha-rlh.com
Find out more

Contacts