More than 80 experts from across the UK materials community joined the Henry Royce Institute’s first UK–EU Materials Innovation Workshop, helping to shape a coordinated UK contribution to emerging European research and innovation programmes.
Held at the Royce Hub Building in Manchester and online on 27 July, the workshop brought together representatives from industry, academia, research and innovation organisations, and government.
The session focused on the Construction and Mobility themes of the Innovative Advanced Materials Initiative (IAM-I), exploring how the UK can contribute to, influence and benefit from future European priorities across structural, functional and energy materials.
Participants heard from Caroline France, representing the UK Government, and Eva-Kathrin Schillinger, Secretary General of IAM-I, who provided perspectives on the developing landscape for UK–European collaboration.
Discussions considered where UK and European priorities align, the research and industrial strengths the UK can bring to future programmes, and the practical requirements associated with materials application, scale-up, manufacturing, supply chains and commercialisation.
The workshop also explored opportunities connected to the Innovative Advanced Materials for Europe (IAM4EU) Partnership, a co-programmed European Partnership under Horizon Europe. The partnership is expected to bring together up to €500 million in public and private investment by 2030 to accelerate the design, development and industrial adoption of safe and sustainable advanced materials.
Insights gathered during the session will help inform a coordinated UK position and support the materials community’s engagement with IAM-I, IAM4EU, the next European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10), and the wider 2028–2034 European innovation framework. The engagement will build on work delivered through the National Materials Innovation Strategy.
Royce will continue this discussion through a second UK–EU Materials Innovation Workshop on 19 August 2026, focusing on the Energy, Electronics and Health themes.
Taking place in Birmingham and online, the workshop will explore UK strengths and shared priorities across areas including renewable energy, batteries and hydrogen; semiconductors, sensing and AI hardware; and biomaterials, medical devices and diagnostics.
Representatives from industry, academia, research and innovation organisations, and government are invited to participate and help shape the UK’s contribution to future European materials programmes.
Find out more and register your interest in the Energy, Electronics and Health workshop.
