A clear mission drives our work: addressing society’s hardest problems, from tackling climate change to advancing healthcare.
Discovered at The University of Manchester, graphene has since catalysed a broader field of 2D and advanced materials that now underpins many emerging technologies.
To deliver this, over £100 million has been invested in research capability, world-class facilities, our people and in commercialisation programmes that build ecosystems that accelerate innovation, support economic growth, and enable real-world application, supporting products and scale-up activity across water, energy, healthcare and advanced manufacturing.
We have partnered with over 500 businesses, helping organisations gain competitive advantage by accessing our expertise and infrastructure.
2D materials are already delivering real-world impact, reshaping products and processes through their exceptional strength, flexibility, conductivity and atomic thinness.
Across sectors including aerospace, automotive, healthcare, electronics and construction, global organisations that include leading manufacturers and research agencies who are exploring and adopting 2D materials to enhance performance and enable new capabilities.
Clean water filtration
Molymem, a Manchester spin-out, has created a groundbreaking, low-cost membrane that filters water more efficiently, tackling global water poverty with a greener, cleaner solution. 80% of companies currently working with the GEIC are developing products with environmentally beneficial applications.
World-first graphene brain implant
A graphene-based neural implant was able to differentiate healthy from cancerous tissue with micrometre-scale precision. This major advance in cancer treatment was developed by INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, co-founded by Professor Kostas Kostarelos of The University of Manchester
World-first graphene brain implant
"This has huge potential to meet urgent clinical needs, such as enabling more precise and effective treatment of aggressive brain cancers."
Kostas KostarelosProfessor in Nanomedicine
Driving national growth
Through seed investment, advanced facilities, deep technical expertise and a shared ambition to innovate, we have supported over 500 companies in accelerating their journey from laboratory research towards market-ready technologies.
By providing the structures and support needed to retain intellectual property and talent in the UK, we are helping address long-standing innovation challenges and strengthening the national research and commercialisation ecosystem.
Stronger, faster, lighter, greener: what's next?
Building on achievements to date, the field of graphene and wider 2D materials continues to expand rapidly, with significant potential still to be realised.
Within the next five years, the global graphene market is projected to reach $2.94 billion (Markets and Markets, 2024), reflecting growing industrial adoption and investment.
Advances in 2D materials could enable longer-lasting infrastructure, lighter and more efficient vehicles and spacecraft, enhanced consumer electronics, and new approaches to sensing and diagnostics supporting progress across industry, sustainability and healthcare.
What is graphene? A sustainability story
Find out how 'wonder material' graphene - first discovered at The University of Manchester - is changing the present and future of science and engineering.
Partner with leading researchers and facilities at the home of graphene to turn research into real-world impact.
