The mission of the Regional Laboratory (RL) LiCryL is to continue and strengthen the Italian activity in the field of soft matter and soft materials. As a RL, LiCryL is not only exclusively devoted to pure “fundamental” research and the related training but also to applied research and related technology transfer, in addition to the supply of scientific and technological services.

Of course, in our opinion these aspects are interdependent and functional to each other, funding and related activities at LiCryL will be structured approximately according to this scheme:

• fundamental research and training

The research will be devoted to the preparation and the characterisation of new soft materials, and to the study of their properties and of their interactions with external fields. The word soft matter, in our case is to be intended as partially disordered materials or, better, partially ordered fluids, with different properties depending on the length scale: polymers, liquid crystals, colloids, soft biological materials, in pure or mixed forms, and soft materials formed by, or including, nanoparticles. We will also study the interfaces of these materials with solid or fluid surfaces (organic-organic, organic-inorganic,biological-syntetic).Finally we will study the complex nature of these materials their complex interactions with electromagnetic and optical fields, as well as the complexity of systems in other related fields. The educational aspect will reinforce the involvement into the Ph.D international school.

In this field, LiCryL is a real coordination point for researchers from other organizations, such as CNISM and INSTM, as well as from many European partner institutions.

• applied research and technological transfer

The applied research, strictly related to the fundamental one, will go deeply in the possible applicative aspects of the fundamental results, particularly in the electrooptics, photonics and energetic problems. In order to maximize the possible potential results we intend to reinforce the technology transfer area, by promoting stronger links with the companies which are already partners, but also by creating new collaborations. We will continue supporting start-up and development of hi-tech spin off companies, for which LiCryL can act as the reference research center.

• facilities

In order to provide technical-scientific facilities for soft matter and related nanotechnologies we will devote a quota of the human resources to strengthen the technological services beyond today’s capabilities: they are services in the clean room (preparation and analysis of samples) and nano and microanalysis of materials: these facilities will be implemented both by using the possible PON funds.

The variability in the formula of the mission is strongly dependent on the amount and the effectiveness of the PON financement. In this respect, respect it is worth to mention that on the conference “Stato-Regioni”, again in the frame of the PON funds but a different chapter with respect to the previous one we are discussing the possibility and the opportunity of the creation in Calabria of a small-medium facility devoted to the study of soft matter and bio-medical issues: a “mini-syncrothron “ source essentially releasing photons in the IR region. If this project will go through, the weight of the facilities would increase.