N°30 I quarterly I july 2013 CNRS Networks | 37 nations and identify the promising formulations. This translates into a real productivity gain,” explains EOR technical director Mikel Morvan. “The robots can work around the clock, ensuring a reliable process and accurate results.” Team spirit prevails among the LOF researchers, whose average age is 32. Academic research fuels industrial projects and vice versa. “You meet those involved in the lab’s ongoing work, but also other researchers from the Solvay group, visiting scientists, and clients who come to launch projects with the group’s Global Business Units (GBU),” Maestro says. In addition, the students and postgraduate fellows working at the LOF are regularly sent to other CNRS labs and to conferences. “It’s a real beehive of activity and an extraordinary place for learning.” The LOF’s research projects can last anywhere from a few months to five years. “We handle an average of about 40 projects a year,” Maestro reports. “The situation is always changing and we never get bogged down in routine, due to the very nature of the lab.” This way of doing things is particularly suited to students. “It lets me make an enlightened choice between academic and industrial research, as both are closely related,” explains 26-year-old Julien Beaumont, who has been working within the “hive” for three years while completing his thesis on the EOR project. "I like working towards concrete, well-defined goals.” 01. T he Solvay group became a member of the French stock market index (CAC 40) in September 2012. And more news... Cancer Research w MiR-TANGo, a new International Associated Laboratory (LIA) dedicated to cancer research has been set up for four years between CNRS and Poland's Jagiellonian University. MiR-TANGo stands for “MicroRNAs: Novel biomarkers of tumor angiogenesis.” The scientific teams will study the role of microRNA in tumor angiogenesis with a view to opening the way for innovative therapeutic strategies. The laboratory, the third of its kind between CNRS and the Polish university, is the result of the long-standing partnership between the two institutions. This cooperation came about through the backing of the CNRS Institute of Biological Sciences, initially as part of a European Research Network (2004-2007) and then as an international program co-funded by CNRS, the French National Cancer Institute, and the Polish Ministry of Science (2009-2011). q Signing of the MiR-TANG o LIA at Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland) with University Rector Wojciech Nowak (standing). International Network in Nanotechnology w The Mechanics of Nano-Objects (MECANO) Research Network, launched in 2008 for four years, recently became an International Research Network involving both academic1 and industrial2 French and foreign partners. The multidisciplinary structure brings together physicists, mechanical engineers, and chemists to investigate and solve the many issues surrounding the size effects of mechanical properties. More specifically, the network will study how the basic theories used at the macro- and meso-scale apply at the nanometer scale. T he scientific project was elaborated around four main themes: mechanics in small dimensions (elasticity, plasticity, and fracture); experimental methods (local field mapping and mechanical testing); modeling and simulation (from angstroms to microns); and coupling between growth, stress, and composition in nano-objects. 01. Some 28 French institutes as well as two Max Planck Institutes (Germany), the Universities of Leuwen (Belgium), Oxford (UK), Milano-Bicocca (Italy), and the Montanuniversität Leoben (Austria). 02. STMicroelectronics, Saint Gobain, and Arcelor Mittal. © J. Sawicz 01 The researchers at the LOF study specific chemical reactions in miniaturized systems, such as these microfluidic devices. 02 Outside view of the Laboratory of the Future. Contact information: LOF , Bordeaux. Patrick Maestro > patrick.maestro@eu.rhodia.com © pho tothèque Solvay 01 02
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