The ˮJožef Stefan Instituteˮ (IJS), more specifically the Department of Nanostructured Materials, is developing new processes for the production and recycling of magnetic materials, in particular NdFeB permanent magnets. As part of their activities, they wanted to partner with a company that would put their research into practice and to obtain funding for this purpose. They also wanted support in the management of their intellectual property. The IJS Content Support, Technology Transfer and Innovation Service, a partner of the EEN network, assisted in the appropriate protection of intellectual property, notably by analysing the state of the art and filing patent applications with the European Patent Office. On the collaborating side, the German EEN partner Steinbeis 2i GmbH supported the German company HyProMag GmbH in finding a suitable tender. HyProMag GmbH is a young start-up company developing a complete recycling supply chain for NdFeB-based rare earth magnets. The joint application between IJS and HyProMag GmbH to the Horizon Europe call (HORIZON-CL4-2023- RESILIENCE-01-37) was successful and was in the final stage of signing the contract with the European Commission in April 2024. The aim of the resulting project, coordinated by IJS, is to redesign NdFeB permanent magnets to increase the sustainability and resilience of European magnet production. Through the project, IJS will establish the appropriate infrastructure to increase the technological maturity of its technologies and achieve better visibility in Europe and worldwide. In the future, the partners aim to strengthen their collaboration through European or commercial funding.
“With the help of the Enterprise Europe Network, we have properly protected our intellectual property, which will help us to exploit it.”
Prof. Dr. Kristina Žužek, Department of Nanostructured Materials, IJS