Electric energy storage and healthcare are the two major societal and economic challenges in this century. European Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan has identified battery as crucial to reach the ambitious goals of the integrated European energy and climate policy with a timescale of 2020 and beyond[1]. The lithium ion battery production is one of the future key industries with an estimated market potential of €250 billion by 2028[2]. In order to create a competitive manufacturing value chain for sustainable battery cells in Europe, reliable methods for measuring the quality and performance of batteries are of pivotal importance. Point-of-care medical diagnostics (POCMDs) and/or precision medicine play a dominate role for patient treatment, which as a global market close to $20 bn/annum (30% in Europe) and has the potential to revolutionise and improve healthcare[3]. Nevertheless, it has been highlighted that innovations in fundamental research are urgently needed to enable advances in these crucial areas, especially new experimental and analytical tools that will lead to the discovery of new phenomena. The ENSIGN project fully and creatively addresses this demand and will develop advanced nanoscopy to tackle these challenges.

[1] https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/research-technology-and-innovation/strategic-energy-technology-plan_en

[2] https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/lithium-ion-battery-market

[3] St John A, Price CP, Existing and emerging technologies for point-of-care testing, Clin Biochem Rev., 2014, 35: 155-167.