Overview

The European Polysaccharide Network Of Excellence called EPNOE is a research and education network connecting 16 European laboratories from 9 countries and 22 companies from 4 continents focusing on polysaccharide science.

Location of the academic / research institutions:

EPNOE is a research and education network connecting 16 academic and research institutions and a large number of companies focusing on polysaccharide and polysaccharide-related business.

Polysaccharides e.g. cellulose and chitin are the planet's most important natural structural polymers. As concern increases about the environment and the limited lifetime of fossil fuels, polysaccharides will become a major source of products in the next decades.

The 16 institutions are composed of top-ranked universities and research centres, which have developed expertise and state-of-the-art technologies in polysaccharide-related disciplines and environmental assessment.

EPNOE's main missions, in the fields of materials, food and pharmacy/medicine, are to organise education in polysaccharide science and to perform basic and applied research for the development of new products based on or containing polysaccharides.

EPNOE has a permanent legal structure called EPNOE Association. The structure in which the 16 academic and research institutions collaborate with the industrial members of EPNOE is called the Business and Industry Club.

EPNOE is headed by Patrick Navard (President, France), Pedro Fardim (Vice-President in charge of education, Finland) and Karin Stana-Kleinschek (Vice-President in charge of research, Slovenia).