Bilat USA 2.0 is a project under the European Commission’s 7th Framework Program (7FP) that promotes cooperation in science, technology and innovation between Europe and the United States. In addition to Catalonia, eight other European countries and four prestigious American bodies are participating.
BILAT USA 2.0 focuses on marine and arctic research, health, transport and nanoscience, nanotechnology and new production technology.
In addition to Catalonia, the other European countries involved are Germany (International Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research), Austria (Austrian Research Promotion Agency), Finland (Academy of Finland), France (InnoTSD), Luxemburg (Intrasoft International), Norway (Research Council of Norway), Poland (Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences) and Turkey (Tubitak).
The consortium cooperates with prestigious American bodies like Johns Hopkins University, the National Council of University Research Administrators, Florida International University and the Diplomacy Matters Institute.
The main goals of the project are:
Under this framework, Biocat has participated in organizing several activities, including the NCI-NCL and EU-NCL Expert Meeting (Frederick, USA) in 2014, which brought together professionals from the US National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCI-NCL) and laboratories based in the US to improve transatlantic cooperation in the field of nanotechnology not only in scientific terms but also regarding regulatory and trade issues.
In 2015, Biocat also helped organize the workshop entitled Innovating in medtech. Experiences and collaborations from EU and USA (Barcelona), which focused on better understanding medtech innovation and identifying possible differences between how it is developed in the European Union and in the United States; the workshop Accelerating EU-US business collaboration in health/e-health Research & Innovation: Opportunities, Barriers and Best Practices (Boston, USA), which aimed to identify opportunities, good practices and bottlenecks in transatlantic cooperation; and the scientific debate Brain Health. From genes to behavior, improving our lives, within the B·Debate series of debates.
