Europe struggles to turn scientific discoveries into commercial production despite maintaining a strong reputation for research excellence, according to an analysis published in Nature Materials. The authors warned that European scale-up and industrialization efforts remain significantly less successful than the region's laboratory science.
Authors Paula Maria Vilarinho of the University of Aveiro and S. Kelly of the Nanotechnology Industries Association pointed to the 2026 Advanced Materials Act. They framed the legislation as an opportunity to structurally reposition Europe in the global materials economy. Both authors confirmed they have no competing interests.
The University of Aveiro hosted the underlying evidence-gathering session during the Future of Advanced Materials in Europe workshop on November 26 and 27, 2025, in Portugal. Working alongside co-author W. Hogenhout and the European Commission, the researchers compiled a 2025 workshop report examining barriers to uptake, deployment, and industrial scale-up.
Policymakers across the European Commission, the OECD, and independent advisory groups have repeatedly flagged these bottlenecks in recent years. The paper links its assessment to Mario Draghi’s 2024 European competitiveness report, Enrico Letta’s single-market evaluation, and the Commission’s 2024 strategy titled Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership. It also cites the 2022 Materials 2030 Manifesto, the European Innovation Council’s 2025 deep-tech scaling report, and safety testing guidelines from the Malta Initiative.
Reviewers Nicole Grobert and Luis Liz-Marzan assessed the submission ahead of its August 28, 2026 publication date. Springer Nature priced individual PDF downloads of the paper at $39.95, alongside thirty-day digital subscriptions for $32.99 and annual twelve-issue print packages for $259.00.
