Background to why the PolyNano summer school is needed

In biotechnology research, the current trend goes toward using miniaturized and automated tools for screening (drug/environmental/food) and diagnostics, which calls for lab-on-chip solutions. However, the lack of lab-on-chip production standards gives rise to long development times and high cost for lab-on-chip devices, holding back the spreading of lab-on-chip systems. On the one hand biotechnology research lacks the supply of reproducible biochips required to harvest the potential of lab-on-chip technology, and on the other hand industry lacks a well-defined roadmap for commercial exploitation of lab-on-chip devices. This calls for further development of polymer mass fabrication techniques that enable patterning of polymer components on the micro- and nano-scale at low-cost and high-volumes.

Moreover, the World is rapidly changing with a need to rethink and adapt to these changes, whether it is to a more sustainable environment or to survive in a more competitive environment, emphasizing that the two are not mutually exclusive.

The PolyNano summer school is to our knowledge the first of its kind that address these issue.

Read more here.