The successful exploration of new foundations for radically new future technologies requires supporting a large set of early stage, high risk visionary science and technology projects to investigate new ideas. Here agile, risk-friendly and highly interdisciplinary research approaches are needed with collaborations that are open to all sciences and disciplines and that dissolve the traditional boundaries between them. The renewal of ideas is complemented by the renewal of actors taking these new ideas forward. Therefore, this topic encourages the driving role of new high-potential actors in research and innovation, such as excellent young, both female and male, researchers and high-tech SMEs that may become the scientific and industrial leaders of the future.