Lars Montelius is the new director of INL - a "gemstone

In his presentation as the new Director of the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Lars Montelius, a Swedish physicist with over 20 years of work in the field of nanoscience, identified the challenge facing the center as that of "making the INL truly an international beacon, clearly visible not only to Portugal and Spain, but also to Europe, the USA and Asia.

To meet this challenge, the new director stressed the great opportunity that the INL has to start a closer regional cooperation, interact with society and make more local connections, but also in a European and international perspective. "It is a unique place for the development of nanotechnology science. It is a fantastic place to do fantastic research and, in the international context, it is like a rare hidden gem, very few know of its existence, but it can become very important for research and innovation, not only for Portugal and Spain, but also from a European perspective," he said.

The INL is the first international laboratory in Europe dedicated exclusively to nanoscience and nanotechnology. It was created in collaboration by the Portuguese and Spanish governments in 2005, operating since 2009. It develops research in nanotechnology with special emphasis on nanomedicine and food and environmental quality control. In the last three years, the Portuguese Government has sought to open the INL to international cooperation, either through links to European initiatives and networks in nanotechnology or by establishing bilateral scientific relations centered on the Laboratory. The agreements signed with China, Brazil, Argentina and Algeria are examples of international collaborations already established.

During the presentation of the new Director, the Secretary of State for Science, Leonor Parreira, thanked the dedication with which the previous Board of Directors had carried out excellent work in the creation and consolidation of the Laboratory, highlighting the "new cycle that we want to be, simultaneously, of opening to the outside and also of integration in the national and regional development policies of Portugal and Spain.

The governments of Portugal and Spain appointed a prestigious committee of four members of the international science and innovation community to select the person to lead the INL without any nationality restrictions. Lars Montelius was selected and took office on September 1, 2014, for a period of five years. He is Professor of Nanotechnology at Lund University, Sweden, with specific interests in the interaction of nanotechnology with the Life Sciences, especially in the area of neuronanosciences. He has more than 165 published scientific articles and 22 patent registrations, having also founded several technology-based companies in this area. Between 2009 and 2011 he was director of the Oresund Science Region, a cooperation initiative between Sweden and Denmark, which involves 12 universities, several regional entities, six science parks, two thousand companies and twelve thousand researchers.