A modern, vertical, scientific structure
The principal domestic and international funding agencies identify the sectors in which scientific research must be developed following specific policies which have been instrumental in shaping INSTM's scientific network. Indeed, the Consortium has identified five general Fields of Research (FoRs) that correspond with the areas that the European Commission in particular has identified as being worthy of financial support, both for pure research projects, and for projects that integrate research with industry.
These FoRs, outlined below, include the exploration, study and development of the following:
- Materials and technologies for Made in Italy, advanced manufacturing and aerospace
- Materials and technologies for ecological transition: energy and sustainable mobility
- Materials and technologies for green economy and circular economy
- Materials and technologies for buildings and cultural heritage
- Materials and technologies for life and food sciences
The Scientific Council and the FoR network are supported by an ad hoc committee that provides specific additional capabilities via an unparalleled network of advanced skills, knowledge and tools in the following fields:
- Scientific and technological computation
Universally beneficial for all of the abovementioned FoRs, this is invaluable in enabling the research of computational calculus. In particular, it allows computational resources to be managed in such a way that the benefits of supercalculus can be shared across multiple sites to further materials science. This uses grid technologies and research into the development of molecular-level, mesoscopic and macroscopic modelling, as well as the use of innovative multiscale modelling approaches for technology applications.
The five FoRs and the ad hoc committees form a tightly-knit scientific network that forms the principal point of contact between the INSTM and the scientific, political and industrial worlds. This is because it is the all-important pool from which INSTM can quickly form multidisciplinary, highly vertically-focused R&D teams with all the expertise and resources necessary to work on the specific needs of INSTM's external clients/partners. It is this flexible and wide-ranging yet highly focused, efficient approach that makes the INSTM a force to be reckoned with at European level. For its competitive strength, speed, expertise, capabilities, methodology and resources, INSTM is an invaluable resource, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, for public organisations and for industrial partners alike.