nano.DE-Report 2011: Nanotechnology on Track for Growth

As a key technology, nanotechnology has a growing influence on research, business and society in Germany. This is shown by the ‘nano.DE Report 2011 – Status Quo of Nanotechnology in Germany’, which was recently published by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

1,000 Nanotech Companies in Germany

The nano.DE report has been describing the development of employment and sales figures, providing information on Germany’s competitive position at international level and analyzing social framework conditions for nanotechnology since 2009. According to the study, the number of players involved in research & development, production and services in nanotechnology in Germany has risen continuously in recent years to its current level of 1,800, including around 1,000 companies. Approx. 10,000 scientists work at around 600 universities and research institutions in publicly-financed research in the nanotechnology segment in Germany. At present, 64,000 employees are working on industrial applications of nanotechnology there. According to the participating companies, the number of jobs in this sector increased by around 3,000 in 2011.

Global Market: Huge Value Creation

Nanotechnology is becoming an increasingly important sector of the economy. Forecasts for 2011 by various market research firms estimate the global market in the nanomaterials, nanocoatings, nanoanalytics and nanostructuring segments at around USD 93 billion. Nanomaterials account for around USD 12 billion of this, nanocoatings USD 5 billion, nanoanalytics USD 2 billion and nanostructuring USD 74 billion. However, the economic importance of nanotechnology extends much further as a result of its leverage effect as an enabling technology. According to international market forecasts, nanotechnology is expected to be a key factor in the value creation of goods with a market value of up to USD 3 billion by 2015.

Nanotech Activities on the Rise in Russia

The emerging nanotechnology scene in Russia also features in the report. Nanotechnology activities there made significant progress in 2008 and 2009. In the words of the study, “The state-owned investment company RUSNANO, established in 2007, provides substantial funding to promote research and commercialization in the nanotechnology sector and thus strengthen the country’s economic power. As a direct consequence of this, assessments regarding nanotechnology research centers and the number of publications have been improved. However, advances in commercialization are only likely to occur in a few years’ time.”

The BMBF brochure “nano.DE Report 2011 – Status Quo of Nanotechnology in Germany” is available to download electronically via the link below:
http://www.bmbf.de/pub/nanoDE-Report_2011.pdf