More than 420 Israeli companies and researchers that won a European Union Horizon 2020 grant last year were recognized at a recent awards ceremony in Jaffa.
Horizon 2020 – the largest research and innovation program in the world – selected 423 Israeli participants in 2018. To date, the long-running funding project has awarded grants totaling over €742 million ($850 million) to 1,062 Israeli projects.
Israel has been a partner in the EU’s research and innovation program since 1996 and was the first non-European country to join it. Over the years, the EU-Israel partnership has strengthened Israeli academic and industrial excellence, led to investments in research infrastructure and enabled long-term research.
One Israeli company that received funding in 2018 was Tel Aviv-based Vectorious Medical Technologies, which is developing a miniature wireless heart implant that monitors heart function, measures left atrial pressure and sends all data directly to the HMO or hospital. This groundbreaking development will allow physicians to make informed decisions and provide patients with better treatment based on real-time clinical data.
Another healthcare company to receive funding was Triox Nano from Jerusalem, which is developing a drug-delivery platform that combines material and DNA techniques to provide breast-cancer treatment that injects the active chemotherapy ingredient directly into the tumor.
On the ag-tech front, a joint project of the Agricultural Research Organization –Volcani Center and the company Fluence also received a grant toward a decision support approach for sustainable water reuse applications in agriculture. It aims to find holistic solutions for wastewater irrigation while ensuring environmental safety and health with minimal energy investment.
Other companies that received grants included Optima Design Automation from Nazareth, which is developing a software platform for chip manufacturers to ensure functional safety of chips in autonomous cars.
Mellanox and IBM’s Haifa Lab also received funding to continue a joint project called PlaMOS, which is developing a powerful integrative platform that allows an eight-fold increase in the speed of optical transmitters and receivers used in datacenters.
Horizon 2020 enables Israeli companies and researchers to gain access to European partners, integrate into European research infrastructure, and participate in flagship projects across various fields.
[Photo: Israel21c]