Investors look for a number of things before betting on a company or product in the bioeconomy sector: prestigious and experienced team, economic sustainability, competitive advantage, and potential users.

For innovation managers and startup advisors it is clear: scientists and researchers are not business people . "Much is dependent on the personality of the founder. A pure scientist will not be able to proceed.

Efforts to make buildings environmentally sustainable often focus on the technical side, such as energy efficiency. But there is more to sustainability than just energy efficiency.

Quantum mechanics is about to fundamentally change the way we can transmit and sense information. The idea is that information—represented by physical quantities such as the spin or the polarisation of an individual photon—can be transmitted with the help of so-called quantum entanglement.

When a ship runs aground, or two vessels crash into each other, the damaged one may lose its stability, or worse, sink. But imagine if after a ship accident, balloons popped up like car airbags to keep the disabled vessel upright and afloat .

Wherever fires occur, they strongly affect the air we breathe. They even affect the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale.

Around the world more and more babies are born preterm, according to a WHO report from 2012. Despite medical advances, very small preterm infants may suffer from various complications and diseases, or even die .

The intensive care of neonates has advanced considerably in the last decades. But very early preterm infants are still at risk of dying. Artificial ventilation or additional oxygen is often needed to support the lungs of the premature babies.

Talking or reading. Texting a message or listening. The dilemma of choosing between various tasks is not an invention of the modern information age. Humans and all vertebrates have to prioritise their actions.

The children of prisoners are one of the largest vulnerable groups of children in Europe. They carry the stigma of their parents’ deeds. And some of them are exposed to social exclusion.

It is estimated that 800,000 children throughout the European Union have an imprisoned parent. The real number is not known, because in no country do prisons systematically record data about the children of offenders.

Paul Lukowicz is head of the embedded intelligence research group at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence in Kaiserslautern.

Multiple disasters can have a cumulative impact leading to great human and financial loss. The awareness of all possible risks is of fundamental importance.

The German village of Cappel is home to one of the greatest historical music instruments. The ornate baroque organ here is the work of Arp Schnitger, the grand master of German organ construction who built it in around 1680 for Hamburg.

How can policymakers change the way people think? This is what the InContext project, funded by the EU, hopes to answer. Leading European research institutions in the fields of transition, behaviour and sustainable development are trying to create a manual for change.

CyberCar, who's going to drive? It travels at around 30 km/h. No driver. No fuel. You might call it a ‘CyberCar’ - an automated vehicle, guided by three computers installed in the chassis.

A new range of garments will soon be out. Gucci? Prada? - Not this time. The emphasis here is not fashion but prevention of chronic disease.

In Germany, the unequal position of men and women in the workplace is mainly due to obstacles of a cultural nature, such as the widespread negative perception of a working mother.

In 1997 Karlsruhe, in the South West of Germany, made the headlines when the first museum for interactive multimedia art was opened. The museum is part of the Centre for Art and Media (ZKM), which also comprises five research institutions.

It is the ultimate viewing tool for designers and engineers: virtual reality. Models can be examined and tested thoroughly in three dimensions, before they are built in the workshops.