This exchange programme brings together well established research teams from three European and three Australian Universities with complementary skills and knowledge, who have a clearly demonstrable commitment to research networking, and management of complex research programmes involving multiple partners. These teams together have extensive research experience ranging across fundamental materials science, sensor R&D, device prototyping and separation science – research areas that are in themselves inherently multidisciplinary. Perhaps even more importantly, their research impacts significantly in applications critical to the future of society, such as energy generation and storage, advanced microfluidics, biomimetic sensing platforms, biomedical implants, distributed environmental sensing (air/water), smart textiles and personal health monitoring. The team leaders are convinced that we are currently on the cusp of a tremendous opportunity for science and engineering together to realise a world of new devices and services in these application domains, based on fundamental knowledge of new materials, and the rapidly emerging demand of market driven by aging populations, unsustainable healthcare costs, concern for the environment, and the need for new technologies to replace fossil fuel energy sources. Furthermore, it is clear that progress must be rapid, and this will require a new type of researcher, experienced across disciplines, techniques and equipment, and with a network of established personal contacts already in place. Our central goal is a build a body of such researchers who will contribute significantly to future research and innovation, and who will appreciate the need for strong alignment between basic and applied research, and the need for close links between academia and industry in order to ensure that ideas are effectively translated into innovative devices and services.