Belgrade "complex space", the Nano Sciences Center worth EUR 40 million is no longer a sci-fi story. A few days ago, the Ministry of Education announced this project would continue and eKapija found out in the Project Management Unit that the construction of the Nano Center will start at the end of this year.
It will hire some 300 scientists-researchers and the facility will occupy about 11,000 m2 while the whole complex will occupy 14,000 m2. Preparation works and essential terrain stabilization are in progress in Novi Beograd- based Block 39 for the future “Science Campus".
- Development of the main draft is nearing an end and we are getting ready to submit request for construction permits. An international tender for contractors is also in the preparation stage so that the site could start at the end of this year – our interlocutors said.
The Nano Center should both promote Serbia in the international scientific community and to become a recognized regional center for advanced microscopy and nano-fabrication. The fact that these institutions do not exist (or have not been completely developed) is favorable for our country.
The center is designed as a space laboratory, where capital research in interdisciplinary areas of micro fabrication and nano science, new materials will be carried out. It will also have supercomputing "Blue Danube."
The Nano Facility Center is split into two organizational units. The first one is designed for "difficult" and the other one for "easy" laboratories and offices. The ground floor will include a research "clean room" occupying 150-200 m2, which will have a 100 /1000 class. To make a comparison, only Hungary and Romania have this class so far in the region.
Garages and access traffic arteries are within the Nano Center.
Science “measured” by money
The construction of the Nano Center may sound "space-like", but the results of work of these institutions are very tangible. Simply put, science is here in the service of economy. What is, in fact, the importance of nanotechnology and materials?
Periods of rapid industrial development have always started with the discovery of new materials, primarily iron and steel, polymer, alloy, composite materials, semiconductors, ceramics, and at the end of nano materials.
Today, in most developed countries around the world, nano materials (with specific features which they owe to their small size), are considered to be the future of economic development. Their production has growing constantly in the fields of medicine, industry and science.
Support from abroad
The conceptual and technological solution for the Nano Center was generated in collaboration with local scientists, but also with the help of eight international experts in the field of new materials and nano sciences.
- The project team of the PMU developed conceptual design with the technical assistance of EPTISA - interlocutors explained.
The PMU representatives said that the project and technical documentation for the Nano Center was developed by the consortium comprising Elkoms, D.A. Dizajn arhitektura and Cowi while Grading, Minel Dinamo and Interklima are carrying out preparation works and stabilization of the field.
It is estimated that, if the deadline for construction is met, the Center will be completed in 2015. This scientific temple is supported by the European Investment Bank loans and the EU pre-accession instruments.
The long-awaited Center for Science Promotion should be near the Nano Center. Its fate is still uncertain.
Source: eKapija
