El Laboratorio Ibérico Internacional de Nanotecnología (INL), inaugurado en 2009 en Portugal, es un organismo internacional de I+D+I creado por España y Portugal. The INL aims to act as a basis for scientific and technological cooperation of excellence between the two promoter countries and other countries in the field of nanosciences and nanotechnologies.
In 2006, an international agreement was signed between Spain and Portugal, establishing the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory and its statute. The planned construction budget for the INL was initially set at 106 million euros. The INL has ERDF funding for construction, through the Spain-Portugal Cross-Border Cooperation Program 2014-2020 (soon to be approved 2021-2027), and for scientific equipment, through the Regional Operational Program of Northern Portugal (ON.2).
The activities of the INL are aimed at ensuring research excellence at an international level in its fields of activity. Its main objectives are:
To create solid scientific communities between Spain and Portugal in the field of nanosciences and nanotechnologies, in close cooperation with other laboratories of international scope in Europe, America and Asia, with special attention to the European area, Latin America and the Mediterranean.
To strengthen the infrastructure and technological capabilities of public-private research and training institutions in the Member States.
Actively contribute to the recruitment and retention of talent through their training and integration in universities, industries and/or other research centers.
Create a research area with an offer of action that allows to strengthen and optimize the added value of scientific research of excellence in the strategic industrial sectors of the Member States.
Implement technology transfer models that generate economies of scale in the acquisition of private funds for public research in the field of nanotechnology in centers of the Iberian Peninsula and other countries that collaborate with the INL.