14 DAY TRIAL // The European Union did not create the Graphene Flagship. The members of the consortium, like Nokia and the University of Cambridge, actually gravitated towards one another due to similar interests.
The EU does have every intention of encouraging the research of this material though.
As a perceived key to everything from better semiconductors to storage units and full gadgets small enough to be stuffed in a bag by the dozen, graphene has many supporters.
That said, the EU has chosen the Graphene Flagship consortium for an investment program whereby the members will receive 1 billion Euro / $1.35 billion over a period of 10 years.
The first 30 months of the program will involve 126 academic and industrial research groups from 17 European Countries.
Time will tell if the money really helps hasten development of material and component manufacturing processes for the carbon-based compound.