"SYNABCO will increase the efficiency and lifetime of organic solar cells (OSCs) by creating a highly original and industrially viable polymer layer which will bind critical components together within the device. Finding an inexpensive, clean and completely renewable energy source is the most pressing challenge of current times. OSCs offer superb potential to meet this challenge but are currently not able to do so because they are inefficient and lack long term stability. It is critical that the technological break-through required to bring solar energy to every household across the world is explored while we are still in a position to do so. The scientific goal of SYNABCO is to provide just such a step-change technology platform. SYNABCOs multidisciplinary solution will exploit polymer nanotechnology and so although it will be ‘smart’ it will also be cheap and readily scaleable. Moreover, as it will be developed in concert with Konarka, the largest manufacturer of OSCs in the world, it will be immediately applicable in a global marketplace. The IP, papers and seminars that result from SYNABCO will also help maintain the EU as a leading centre for both academic and industrial research into OSCs. SYNABCO will also provide a unique training opportunity to develop a highly skilled fellow with broad OSC-relevant scientific skill and knowledge sets. The SYNABCO fellow will additionally receive training in a broad range of complementary skills. The training, skills and knowledge base with which SYNABCO will imbue the fellow will ensure that upon successfully completing the project he will be capable of becoming a leading research figure in OSCs within the EU. The ERA will thus reap considerable benefit from the development of an independent and mature researcher with a truly transnational background who will be able to contribute a significant and long term research effort into a pivotal area of research in which it is vital that the EU remains at the forefront."