General Meeting Nanonetz Bayern e.V.

The annual general meeting of Nanonetz Bayern e.V. took place on June 28, 2023 at 10 am again as an online event to allow as many members as possible to participate. With 24 members and three guests, the event was well attended.

The chairman of the board Prof Dr. Alfred Forchel welcomed the attendees and looked forward to the annual exchange of information. He referred to the challenges posed by the Corona pandemic and the war in Europe, which create a difficult overall environment for nanotechnology development, while technically things are progressing very well. He hopes that the cluster and its new developments will come through this period well.

Dr.-Ing Peter Grambow then presented the highlights of the last year and gave an overview of the events held by the cluster in the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023, including a network day for all networks, the annual international conference of the NanoCarbon network, joint stands of the cluster and its partners at LOPEC and the European Coatings Show, and presentations by the cluster and its partners at the Hannover Messe and the GeoTherm trade fair for near-surface geothermal energy.

Mr. Grambow briefly introduced all the cluster's networks and explained their core topics, developments, and current activities. He emphasised that, in contrast to many other network management institutions, the cluster has succeeded very well in continuing the networks beyond the funding phase, which speaks for the sustainable work of the cluster. Newly founded is the planned international ZIM network Nano4Filter (CZ-G-NanoHub). In addition, funding was applied in March 2023 for the NanoVET project as a continuation of the Erasmus+ funded completed project NanoNOW! The projects, which build on each other, aim to make information on nanotechnology widely available to laypersons as a free online learning platform and its further development.

Mr. Gerhard from the association Initiative junge Forscherinnen und Forscher (Initiative for Young Researchers) presented the activities of the association to strengthen the interest of students from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in STEM subjects at all types of secondary schools. The association also offers two- to three-day project days in the field of IT and nano on behalf of the nanotechnology cluster at secondary schools and grammar schools as well as one-day teacher training courses, e.g. at the University of Augsburg.

Mr. Grambow then presented the cluster's successful 2022 school competition on the topic of filtration with FFP2 and surgical masks and its creative prize winners with their projects. More than 140 students from 20 different secondary schools from all Bavarian districts enthusiastically participated with their project contributions.

The association members voted on some innovations: on amendments to the statutes regarding the simplification of conducting the general meeting digitally and the simplification of determining the voting capacity at general meetings as well as on the creation of the new contribution rate for premium members.

The auditors Klaus Walther and Dr. Marcus Weth were confirmed as auditors for further two years, as was the Executive Board, except the long-standing Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Dr. Herbert Friedmann, who unfortunately resigned from the Executive Board. Newly elected to the board was Dr. Verena Herrmann, Managing Director of GMP - Geotechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Consulting Engineers and Geologists. Board member Prof Jochen Seufert was elected as the new Deputy Chairman of the Board.

The general meeting ended at 12:30 pm. Members were invited to meet again online for a virtual coffee break to exchange information informally if interested.