Polymeris, an ambassador for European innovation projects

The cluster dedicated to polymer and composite materials Polymeris was awarded the AFPC ‘Clusters for Europe’ prize in September in the ‘Success Story’ category. Awarded by the Association Française des Pôles de Compétitivité (AFPC), this prize recognises clusters capable of carrying out large-scale European projects.

This label will enable the cluster to share its best practices with other clusters, while working within the European ecosystem to promote innovation, facilitate access to European funding and help its members play an active part in future European initiatives.

“This award, for which we applied, validates our approach, because we were historically a cluster dedicated to plastics and composites, which merged with a rubber cluster, and we wanted to broaden the scope of our innovation sectors,” explains Annabelle Sion, Europe and International Director at Polymeris.

A dedicated team

Thanks to its high profile and its coordinating role in key projects, the cluster has been able to build up a strong Europe and International team of five experts, dedicated to supporting members in accessing European funding. Two members of the team have engineering backgrounds and are dedicated to project management, two others are trained in political science and international relations, and one is in charge of communications and marketing.

“Our department works to obtain European funding for companies, institutions and research centres with a focus on innovation. The team monitors and seeks out European funding to support the cluster’s own activities, its participation in European projects and its networking potential,” explains Annabelle Sion. “Finally, it supports our members by deciphering calls for projects, offering them missions, delegations, international partnerships and networking sessions in Europe,” she continues. The cluster also helps companies to respond to calls for expressions of interest (AMI) and to draft pitches and presentations.

Major European projects

The cluster has been particularly active in the Advanced Materials 2030 initiative. Launched in 2022, this initiative aims to accelerate the development of sustainable advanced materials as the backbone of the green and digital transition and a source of prosperity and sovereignty in Europe. “In this context, the European community has put in place a number of strategies, including the deployment of advanced materials with intelligent strength and properties. We have been invited to contribute to this inventory, to share our experiences and ideas for facilitating collaboration between research and industry, and to present our ideas for good practice. These discussions will then lead to calls for projects for which we have shared our needs and which will pave the way for participation by our members,” says Ms Sion.

Polymeris has also been involved in a number of large-scale projects, three of which have contributed to the cluster’s growth in skills: AMULET (2021), on the use of advanced lightweight materials in the automotive, aerospace and aeronautics, energy and construction industries; Eurocluster POLREC (2022), on the recycling of polymers, including textiles; and EDIH Polytronics (2022), on the digital transformation of polymer companies.

“The opportunity to coordinate AMULET (from 2021 to 2024) covered 3 materials: polymer composites, ceramic composites and light metal alloys. This represented a full-time commitment. It was this risk-taking that enabled us to expand the team and our skills“, explains Annabelle Sion.

The total amount of aid released for these three projects was €12 million.

Benefits for members

“In 2023, we succeeded in channelling 4.5 million euros in subsidies to around twenty members, giving us a success rate of 54%. This rate is usually around 15-20%, because there are so many applicants, and you have to put together the right consortium, find the right links and the right partners. By supporting them, we play the role of project manager, so there are fewer risks for the companies involved in putting together the application. A winning company will initially receive pre-financing of around 50% to enable it to implement the project properly,” explains Annabelle Sion.

European subsidies can represent 70-100% of the member’s budget. What’s more, this funding can usually be combined with French funding such as that offered by the BPI or France Relance.

“For example, we worked with ICAM in Nantes on an ongoing composites project with Politecnico Milano. The project received €8 million, with €490,000 going to ICAM,” says Annabelle Sion with satisfaction. Two other French partners are part of the consortium, APPLUS (RESCOLL) in Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the CNRS.

As a result, 16 of the cluster’s member companies have benefited from European funding via cascade financing schemes, and around ten members have joined European consortia as part of high-impact international collaborations.

“Either the members are interested in a project and we find them partners or, more generally, they share their skills catalogue with us and we position them on current projects. As we solicit members in advance, their profiles are already well qualified“, notes the Europe and International Director.
Of the 580 members, Polymeris has 140 in the composites sector. “We have worked on several occasions with the Canoe centre in New Aquitaine, which was involved in the Thermofire project on biosourced flame-retardant composites. We have also supported Lavoisier Composites in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on a sub-call for the Up2Circ project on the circular economy in composites, explains Ms Sion. She believes that France still has a great deal of progress to make if it is to secure more European funding. The country is represented more often by individual company applications than Italy, which usually involves entire partnership ecosystems. In the composites sector, Spain and Germany are very active, while Greece is increasingly present. “We invite companies in the composites sector to join us, especially as we are regularly approached for projects involving them,” concludes Annabelle Sion.

Photo: Annabelle Sion, Europe and International Director at Polymeris, holds the trophy awarded by the AFPC. (Polymeris)