PATRICIA COHEN2026年8月20日The shiny cylindrical tanks and slant-roofed control panels shoved against a wall in C3 Biotech’s laboratory have essentially been turned into a multimillion-dollar graveyard of high-grade stainless steel equipment.C3 Biotech的实验室里，闪亮的圆柱形罐体和斜顶控制面板被推到墙边，这些价值数百万美元的高等级不锈钢设备基本上已经变成了一座昂贵的废料场。All of this state-of-the art gear was discarded during the company’s quest to discover a cheap way to convert agricultural waste like potato peels or sugar beet pulp into acrylic glass, a material widely used in manufacturing.所有这些尖端设备都是在该公司探索如何将土豆皮或甜菜渣等农业废弃物低成本转化为亚克力玻璃（一种广泛应用于制造业的材料）的过程中被淘汰的。Nigel Scrutton, a co-founder of C3 Biotech in Stockport, England, makes a point of showing off these expensive failures before explaining that the eureka solution involved using discount plastic tubs — the kind you might find at Walmart.奈杰尔·斯克鲁顿是英格兰斯托克波C3 Biotech公司的联合创始人，他总是特意展示这些价格不菲的失败品，然后才解释说，他们最终找到的突破性方案竟然用的是便宜的塑料桶——就是你在沃尔玛可能会看到的那种。What is equally surprising is that this British company’s breakthrough has been funded by an unusual grant from the German government, part of a novel effort to support shoot-the-moon innovation throughout Europe.同样令人意外的是，这家英国公司的突破性进展是由德国政府一项不同寻常的拨款资助的。这是德国政府在全欧洲范围内支持高风险高回报创新所作出的一项新颖尝试。The pressure on Europe to better compete with Chinese and American technological and industrial advancements is peaking.在与中国和美国的科技与工业进步的竞争中，欧洲面临的压力达到了顶峰。Europe has been trailing the world’s two largest economies for more than a decade on several measures of competitiveness, including investment, research and development, and productivity growth.十多年来，在投资、研发和生产率增长等多项竞争力指标上，欧洲一直落后于世界两大经济体。奈杰尔·斯克鲁顿是C3 Biotech的联合创始人，这家英国初创公司正从事前沿研究。 Owen Richards for The New York Times该公司从食物垃圾中生产的化合物可用于制造包括玩具在内的数千种产品。 Owen Richards for The New York TimesAt stake is Europe’s “lead in many historic strongholds, including automotive, pharmaceuticals and machinery,” a report on competitiveness from McKinsey Global Institute concluded.麦肯锡全球研究院的一份竞争力报告指出，欧洲在“汽车、制药和机械等许多传统优势领域”的领导地位正面临威胁。The region would have to spend nearly $1 trillion more in investment annually just to keep up, according to estimates.据估算，欧洲每年需要额外增加近1万亿美元的投资，才能勉强跟上步伐。Soaring energy costs, aggravated by wars, relatively high labor costs and the European Union’s trademark slow decision-making process are also blamed for blunting Europe’s competitive edge.战争加剧的能源成本飙升、相对较高的劳动力成本以及欧盟一贯缓慢的决策过程也被认为是削弱欧洲竞争优势的原因。Amid the dire forecasts, Germany’s Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation — called SPRIND — offers a breath of optimism.在这些令人悲观的预测之中，德国的联邦飞跃式创新局(SPRIND)带来了一线乐观的希望。The office is determined to buck ingrained assumptions and prove that governments can fund ambitious, cutting-edge ventures quickly and across national borders.该机构决心打破固有观念，证明政府也可以快速资助雄心勃勃的前沿项目，而且这种资助不必局限于本国境内。SPRIND is hardly the first effort by the European Union or Britain aimed at jump-starting innovation and research. The European Union’s 95.5-billion-euro Horizon Europe program has been running since 2020, and a €175 billion budget had been proposed for the next phase, scheduled to commence in 2028.SPRIND并不是欧盟或英国为推动创新和科研而做出的首次尝试。欧盟规模达955亿欧元的“地平线欧洲”计划自2020年开始实施，下一阶段计划于2028年启动，目前拟议的预算规模为1750亿欧元。C3 Biotech已从德国政府机构SPRIND获得关键资金。Horizon’s track record has been mixed, with critics complaining about cumbersome applications, confusing rules and a preference for large corporations over disruptive enterprises.不过，“地平线”计划的表现褒贬不一。批评者抱怨其申请程序繁琐、规则令人费解，而且更偏向大型企业而非具有颠覆性创新能力的中小企业。SPRIND is much smaller, but it thinks big. Its goal is innovations that “solve a massive technological, social or environmental problem,” create “a completely new market” or change an existing one.SPRIND的规模要小得多，但志向远大。它追求的是能够“解决巨大的技术、社会或环境问题”、创造“全新市场”或改变现有市场的创新。“SPRIND is completely different,” said Mr. Scrutton, who has applied for countless grants during nearly four decades of research at C3 Biotech and the University of Manchester, where he is a professor. Most have timelines that span several months or even years.“SPRIND完全不同，”斯克鲁顿说。他在C3 Biotech和曼彻斯特大学（他是该校教授）从事研究工作近40年，期间申请过无数资助。大多数资助项目的审批周期都长达数月甚至数年。The average time between the filing of a grant application at SPRIND and the signing of a contract is 14 days, according to the agency.SPRIND的数据显示，从提交资助申请到签署合同，平均只需14天。A seminal report on the competitiveness crisis commissioned by the European Union and headed by Mario Draghi, a former prime minister of Italy, singled out SPRIND’s approach as a model for innovation.欧盟委托、意大利前总理马里奥·德拉吉主持撰写了一份关于欧洲竞争力危机的重量级报告，报告将SPRIND的做法列为创新模式。One inspiration for SPRIND was the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the United States, or DARPA, which laid the foundation for the internet and backed projects like the Saturn rocket, armed drones and biofeedback systems.SPRIND的灵感之一来自美国的国防部高级研究计划局(DARPA)，该机构为互联网奠定了基础，还曾支持土星号火箭、武装无人机以及生物反馈系统等项目。C3 Biotech用于将农业废弃物转化为制造业可用化学品的设备。 Owen Richards for The New York Times Owen Richards for The New York TimesPublic research funding often steers clear of projects that may have a big payoff but also a big possibility of failure and could take a long time to develop. Groundbreaking innovations frequently perish in what’s known as the “valley of death” because they can’t get money to finance the leap between early-stage research and commercial production.公共研究资助通常回避那些开发周期漫长、失败风险高，即便成功也未必能保证回报的项目。开创性创新常常夭折在所谓的“死亡之谷”中，因为它们无法获得资金，跨越从早期研究走向商业化生产的那道鸿沟。Jano Costard, whose title at SPRIND is head of challenges, wants to give researchers the “freedom to really push the boundaries and do something that you wouldn’t get funding for probably through a conventional venture capital route.”SPRIND“挑战项目”负责人雅诺·科斯塔德希望给予研究人员“真正突破界限的自由，去做那些通过传统风险投资渠道很可能无法获得资金的事情”。The strategy is to offer challenges to develop pioneering products and technologies, and then to invite teams of entrepreneurs, academics and researchers to compete. A jury of experts screens the proposals. SPRIND also offers grants, investment and financing for innovative start-ups outside its own sponsored challenges.SPRIND的做法是提出开发开创性产品和技术的挑战，然后邀请企业家、学者和研究人员组成团队展开竞争。专家评审委员会负责筛选方案。除此之外，SPRIND也会向那些没有参与挑战的创新初创企业提供资助、投资和融资。Since it started in early 2020, SPRIND has received 4,740 submissions and funded 376 teams. To obtain the next round of funding, a team must demonstrate measurable progress. Failures are expected.自2020年初成立以来，SPRIND已收到4740份材料，资助了376个团队。要获得下一轮资助，团队就必须证明自己取得了可量化的进展。失败也在预期之中。The goal of C3 Biotech’s three-year biomanufacturing challenge was to create a way to cheaply convert waste streams into products that could ultimately be produced on an industrial scale.C3 Biotech参与的是为期三年的生物制造挑战，目标是开发一种低成本方法，把各种废物流转化为最终能够大规模工业化生产的产品。C3 Biotech在试验阶段废弃的昂贵设备。Other challenges funded by SPRIND involved the application of artificial intelligence to health data, the use of microgravity for drug development and more.SPRIND资助的其他挑战还包括将人工智能应用于健康数据、利用微重力环境开发药物等。One unusual feature of how SPRIND works is that while its funding comes from the German government, the organization is willing to spend it all over Europe, including the Manchester, England, suburb where C3 Biotech is located.SPRIND的运作方式有一个不同寻常之处：虽然资金来自德国政府，但这个机构愿意把钱投向整个欧洲，包括C3 Biotech所在的英国曼彻斯特郊区。“We need to create breakthroughs, and these might not just come from Germany,” Mr. Costard said. After all, if a significant advance could, say, reduce energy prices in Germany, then it’s money well spent.“我们需要创造突破，而这些突破未必只能来自德国，”科斯塔德说。毕竟，如果一项重大进展能够降低德国的能源价格，那么这笔钱就花得值。Last month, SPRIND awarded grants worth up to €26.5 million to 10 teams from five countries to develop frontier artificial intelligence systems. At the end of 2028, the agency plans to help three teams that emerge as winners to raise €1 billion each from public and private investors.上个月，SPRIND向来自五个国家的10个团队提供了总额高达2650万欧元的资助，用于开发前沿人工智能系统。到2028年底，该机构计划帮助最终胜出的三个团队各自从公共和私人投资者那里筹集10亿欧元。Vinnova, a Swedish government agency that similarly seeds innovative start-ups, is teaming up with SPRIND on a new technology challenge: how to destroy small drones while safeguarding civilians from fallout.瑞典政府机构Vinnova也以类似方式为创新初创企业提供种子资金，目前它正与SPRIND合作开展一项新的技术挑战：如何摧毁小型无人机，同时确保坠落物不会对平民造成伤害。Darja Isaksson, Vinnova’s director general, said that “we were really surprised” to learn that SPRIND was funding teams outside Germany. That was “one of the things that really caught my attention.”Vinnova总干事达尔娅·伊萨克松表示，当得知SPRIND资助德国以外的团队时，“我们真的很惊讶”。这“正是让我特别关注SPRIND的一点”。在C3 Biotech的实验室抽取样品。 Owen Richards for The New York Times一桶充满细菌的废弃物正在发酵。 Owen Richards for The New York TimesOther countries have taken notice. Last month, France announced plans to create its own breakthrough innovation agency that would work with SPRIND. The Netherlands, too, is eyeing proposals to set up its own version of the German incubator.其他国家也注意到了这一模式。上个月，法国宣布计划成立自己的突破性创新机构，并与SPRIND开展合作。荷兰也在考虑建立一个类似德国这一创新孵化机构的方案。At C3 Biotech, the team is tending to SPRIND’s investment. In the lab are plastic vats filled with hungry, salt-loving bacteria that are feeding on starch left over from the manufacture of potato chips.在C3 Biotech，团队正在精心培育SPRIND的这笔投资成果。实验室里摆满了塑料桶，里面装着饥饿的嗜盐细菌，它们正在以薯片制造过程中留下的淀粉为食。The biological compound that this fermentation produces can be processed into acrylic glass and used in a mold or 3-D printer to manufacture thousands of products, from automobile headlamps to children’s toys.这种发酵产生的生物化合物经过加工后，可以制成亚克力玻璃，用于模具或3D打印机，制造从汽车前灯到儿童玩具等数以千计的产品。A scientist cradled prized prototypes in his hand: a tiny black toy brick, a translucent blue heart and a yellow Lego-like figurine, all made from Citrasyn, the new chemical produced in their lab.一名科学家小心翼翼地捧着几件珍贵的样品：一块小小的黑色玩具积木、一个半透明的蓝色心形物，以及一个黄色乐高式小人偶。它们全都是用实验室生产的新型化学材料Citrasyn制成的。C3 Biotech刚刚迎来一个里程碑：已连续180多天利用废弃物生产化学品。Establishing a cheap process to make chemicals from waste streams “has been the holy grail of biomanufacturing for many, many years,” Mr. Scrutton said. This month, he and his team celebrated a landmark: 180 days of continuous production.斯克鲁顿说，找到一种廉价的方法把废弃物转化为化学品“多年来一直是生物制造领域的圣杯”。本月，他和团队庆祝了一个里程碑：连续生产已经持续了180天。C3 Biotech is now talking to corporations that are interested in commercializing the discovery.如今，C3 Biotech正在与一些有意将这项发现商业化的企业洽谈。Companies like C3 Biotech could provide the kind of innovations that undergird Europe’s future prosperity.C3 Biotech这样的公司或许正是支撑欧洲未来繁荣所需要的创新力量。“That is exactly kind of the background against which SPRIND was created,” Mr. Costard said. “Our job now is to make sure that we are able to create those new industries.”“这正是SPRIND诞生的背景，”科斯塔德说。“我们现在的任务就是确保我们能够创造出这些新的产业。”Patricia Cohen是时报全球经济记者，常驻伦敦。