Headquartered in Leuven, imec is Europe’s largest independent research and training center and boasts highly specialized expertise in microelectronics and nanotechnology for applications in ICT, automotive, life sciences & health, food and more. The strategic research center’s nanotech activities include:

• nano-CMOS and novel devices for nanoelectronics, micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS);
• nanomaterials and nanopatterning; 
• nanoprobes, surface functionalization and self-assembly; 
• molecular interconnects for molecular electronics and bioelectronic circuits;
• … 

To top it all off, R&D at imec has a strong link with nanobiotech. One of its study areas is, for instance, the chemical and electronic nature of the interface between biospecimens and devices, as well as how signals can be transferred across that interface through self-assembled molecular layers.

Neuro-Electronics Research Flanders – NERF for short – is a non-profit academic research initiative powered by three world-class institutes: imec, VIB and KU Leuven. Combining cutting-edge technologies from biology, physics, engineering and computer science, NERF concentrates its research efforts on questions such as ‘How are neuronal circuits built?’, ‘How do they perform the computations that underlie perception, memory, thought and behavior?’ and ‘How does their dysfunction lead to disease?’. 

The application areas of microelectronics and nanotechnology are vast. In Flanders, various sectors can count on the support of research players that have nanotech as one of their focus areas. What’s more, Flanders opens up a network of R&D centers dedicated to some of the main micro- and nanotech application domains, ranging from textiles, coatings and materials to chemicals, biotech, health and photonics. Below, you can find just a handful of examples.

Innovative chemical applications abound in Flanders – and your nanotech business can capitalize on the region’s chemical R&D ecosystem, too! To highlight just one example of a research player that focuses on the cross-over between chemical and nanotech innovation, there’s Flamac. 

Short for ‘Flanders Materials Center’, Flamac is a major competence center in high-throughput methodologies that support the materials industry. Its research includes the synthesis and characterization of submicron metal-oxide coatings through chemical vapor deposition.

Flanders’ photonics innovation ecosystem is highly accessible and open for R&D collaboration. One example is research institute B-PHOT, which is the result of a close collaboration between VUB and imec. This dedicated team focuses, among other things, on the development and prototyping of novel applications – including micro-lasers, non-linear photonics, freeform optics, optical fiber sensors, labs-on-a-chip and more. 

Flanders offers access to several tax incentives that are particularly relevant to research-intensive activities such as micro- and nanotech. Examples include: 

• the innovation income deduction – up to 85% of a company’s net innovation income can be exempt from corporate tax. 
• the R&D investment deduction – 13.5% of the investment value (at once) or 20.5% of the annual depreciation (staggered).
• the R&D payroll tax exemption – 80% of the withholding tax on professional income for researchers and academic personnel.