Vilnius University Life Sciences Center has become one of the new test centers in NATO transatlantic network. Today DIANA’s network expanded from 11 to 23 accelerator sites and from 90 to 182 test centers in 28 allied countries.
DIANA is NATO’s innovation accelerator – a shared endeavor bringing together innovators from across the Alliance to help NATO maintain its technological edge, defend its one billion citizens, and preserve peace and security. DIANA works with start-up, scale-up, and spin-out companies from across the Alliance, supporting them with funding, training, and commercial advice as well as access to a wide network of investors and industry.
VU Life Sciences Center will act as a center for technology testing, evaluation, validation and verification and will provide services to accelerator start-ups in the life sciences.
"The establishment of the DIANA testing center at VU indicates the relevance of our research and openness to partnerships with new innovative companies from all NATO countries. Nowadays, the university has sufficient capacity to suggest R&D solutions to the market and accelerate high-tech businesses. We hope that start-up companies when participating in NATO innovation acceleration activities, will take advantage of such collaboration opportunities with our researchers and develop R&D-based solutions that contribute to the progress of society," says Vice-Rector of VU Prof. Edita Sužiedėlienė.
Prof. Daumantas Matulis, Director of the VU Life Sciences Center, is proud that the equipment and services available at the center will contribute to the development of new technologies: "We are proud that the competencies of our scientists and the capacity of our laboratories will enable faster and higher quality of the development of R&D solutions. We hope that our test center will be used by the start-up companies and entrepreneurial teams developing solutions in the fields of biotechnology, environmental engineering and novel materials."
The new accelerator sites and test centers will augment DIANA’s capacity to support innovators from across the Alliance as they develop their technologies. DIANA-affiliated accelerators deliver world-class programming to companies in the program, while the network of test centers provides access to cutting-edge testing facilities. These are available to DIANA’s current cohort of companies, as well as those DIANA will support in the future, giving them expert advice and access to test and try their technologies in specialized environments.
"Part of DIANA’s strength is our unique transatlantic network of talent centers and innovation leaders working toward a common purpose. The breadth and diversity of partners in DIANA’s network will accelerate the development and deployment of ground-breaking solutions for defense, security, and peace," says Prof. Deeph Chana, Managing Director of DIANA.
The expansion represents a significant milestone for DIANA. Last November, 44 companies were chosen from over 1,300 applicants to join DIANA’s accelerator program. The cohort of innovators was selected to tackle specific challenges on energy resilience, undersea sensing and surveillance, and secure information sharing. These sites have been selected by their home nation.
For more information – including to see an interactive map of the expanded network - visit DIANA’s website: www.diana.nato.int