Following an official visit to 10 Downing Street, Monsieur François Fillon, Prime Minister of France, visited the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) at UCL's Bloomsbury campus.
M. Fillon was accompanied on his visit by Monsieur Laurent Wauquiez, Minister for Europe. During a tour of the LCN's Cleanroom and other laboratories the pair met with Professor Gabriel Aeppli (LCN Director) and Professor Michael Worton (UCL Vice Provost, Academic & International) to discuss technology transfer and the economic value of cutting-edge research.
Following the visit, M. Fillon said it had been important for him to visit "a standard-bearer for European excellence" in the field of nanotechnology. "This is a good symbol of what we need to be doing to stimulate growth," he said. "The tough struggle for growth has to be fought with the weapons of innovation and research."
Professor Gabriel Aeppli said: "The visit shows that there is political recognition of the importance of scientific excellence for economic success."
The LCN is an interdisciplinary joint enterprise between UCL and Imperial College London. In bringing together world-class infrastructure and leading nanotechnology research activities, the Centre has the critical mass to compete with the best facilities world-wide. Research programmes are aligned to three key areas, namely Planet Care, Healthcare and Information Technology and exploit core competencies in the biomedical, physical and engineering sciences.
Image: Francois Fillon visits the LCN Cleanroom.