NRP 62 Smart Materials

The National Research Programme “Smart Materials“ (NRP 62) was a cooperation programme between the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the former Innovation Promotion Agency CTI (today Innosuisse).

The aim of NRP 62 was to explore the interaction of physical, chemical and biological properties of materials. The focus was on designing new systems that are able to react to changing external influences. In addition to the promotion of interdisciplinary and innovative projects at the interface between basic and applied research, the second phase focused on the development of new products for practical use.

The 21 research projects were divided into four thematic modules, which partially overlapped in content:

Module 1: Smart shape transformers for macroscopic use

Module 2: Stimuli-responsive materials for the microscopic range

Module 3: Smart drug delivery materials

Module 4: Exploratory research for smart materials

Facts & figures
Overall fundingCHF 11'000'000
​Period of research5 years
​​President of the Steering Committee​Louis Schlapbach, Muri b. Bern
​Head of Knowledge transfer​Niklaus Bühler
Programme co-ordinator​Stefan Husi, SNSF
Call for proposalsNovember 2008

Video: Overview of NRP 62 and its results

Executive Summaries covering the 21 research projects

Module 1

Module 2

Module 3

Module 4

Videos

In the second phase of NRP 62, 14 projects were given further funding that had particularly high potential for practical applications. These projects are presented in the following videos: