One concrete example of the cluster’s work is the Polytos project, which was launched this year by six companies and three universities. The objective is to develop new concepts, materials, components, production processes, and software for what are known as smart labels. These are organic and printed electronic circuits complete with integrated memory and sensors. Together with an antenna, they are stuck onto packaging, from where they transmit by radio information on the contents and location of the product concerned.

Retailers are now considering whether to fit yogurt containers with smart labels so as to monitor the availability of this mass-produced item on the shelf and likewise prevent it overrunning its sell-by date. Smart labels can also be produced with conventional silicon-based technology, but not at a production cost of one cent per unit, which is what retailers want. "As a manufacturer of production materials, we're therefore looking for new ink formulas that are suitable for roll-to-roll printing," says Geelhaar of one of Merck's lines of research in the Polytos project. Conventional inks from paper printing are, of course, well known. "But for printed electronics, the inks have to meet particularly high specifications with respect to charge-carrier mobility, resolution, purity, and fault tolerance," Geelhaar explains. 

In June 2008 Merck teamed up with the Universities of Heidelberg and Mannheim as well as five other well-known companies from the chemical, mechanical engineering, and IT industries to establish the Heidelberg-based company InnovationLab GmbH. The aim of the company, in which Merck holds an 8.3 percent stake, is to promote research in this field by bringing together universities and companies from industry in the Rhine-Neckar region that cover the entire value chain for organic and printed electronics. "This way, we're sending out a clear message to other regions competing in this sector, both at home and abroad, and taking the idea of a research alliance to a completely new level," says Geelhaar. "What we have here are experts in materials, electronics design, printing technology, and applications, all working together in close proximity." 

This proximity is intended not only to promote the exchange of know-how between the partners, but also to limit research costs for example through the shared use of large-scale equipment. At the same time, it should also ensure that there will be no future shortage of skilled labor in the region. To this end, InnovationLab has collaborated with the Universities of Heidelberg and Karlsruhe to develop a masters program in Organic Electronics, which is scheduled to start running in the 2010/2011 winter semester. "That's really innovative," says Geelhaar. "There’s nothing like it anywhere else."