Application for Phase 2, Year 4-6, of the Controlled Delivery and Release Centre, CODIRECT

Important results from the project

The main goals of CODIRECT are: *To create a Centre of excellence for the strategic area of controlled delivery and release, that is recognised for both scientific excellence and industrial importance. *To create a forum where industry and academia join the institute to tackle fundamental issues and specific industrial problems within the field. *To create new knowledge and competence that result in new and enhanced products and stimulate patent applications and publications. *To create an efficient organisation for transfer of knowledge that fosters rapid exchange of ideas and results and encourages commercialisation. *To attract external funding from e.g. EU and national sources to strengthen and broaden the scope of the centre.

Expected long term effects

CODIRECT focus on further developing a suite of state-of-the-art technology platforms available at YKI, cross-fertilizing them through interdisciplinary academic collaborations, applying these platforms to a broad range of industrial problems, and thus creating a world-class competence centre for enhancing the competitiveness of the participating companies. The platforms created in the Centre are not limited in application to narrow industrial branches, but are instead tailored to a range of applications in a number of industrial sectors, thus maximizing the total potential for commercialization of results from the program. The result should be new knowledge and competence that generates new and enhanced products and stimulates patent applications and publications. An efficient organization for transfer of knowledge will foster rapid exchange of ideas and results and encourage commercialization. The Centre has partners with capacity to scale up most of the delivery vehicles produced. This enables the projects to have a focus towards solutions that are likely to be commercialized.

Approach and implementation

The Research Program (Appendix 1 in Centre Agreement) describes the visions, aims and scientific program of CODIRECT. The research during Phase 2 is divided into four different focus areas, Carrier materials, Triggered release, Perception delivery, and Loading and Release strategies. Base block projects are open within the consortium whereas applied projects are open only to the partners active in the project. The Research Program is accompanied by an Operational plan that is updated each year. This plan gives a detailed description of the current partners in the Centre and the people active in the Centre management, e.g. managers, board members, and base block leaders. It also defines the base block projects and applied projects that will be performed during the year including their budgets. Short project descriptions are given for the base block projects whereas descriptions and plans for the applied projects are available only to the Board.