The european Physical Society’s Technology and innovation Group (EPS-TIG) organized a workshop on Advanced radia- tion detectors for industrial use which brought experts involved in the research and development of advanced sensors, together with representatives from related spin-off companies. The event was organized in collaboration with CERN in conjunction with the department of physics and astronomy and the “Fondazione Flaminia” of Bologna University and took place in Ravenna on 11–12 November 2013. Carlos Granja, of the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics (IEAP) at the Czech Technical University (CTU) in Prague, described the research carried out with the european Space Agency (ESA) demonstrating the impressive development in detection and particle tracking of individual radiation quanta in space. This has used the Timepix hybrid semiconductor pixel-detector developed by the Medipix collaboration at cern. The Timepix-based space-qualifi ed payload, produced by IEAP CTU in collaboration with the CSRC space company of the Czech Republic, has been operating continuously on board eSA’s Proba-V satellite in low-Earth orbit at 820 km altitude, since being launched in May 2013. Highly miniaturized devices produced by IEAP CTU are also in orbit onboard the International Space Station for the university of Houston and nASA for high-sensitivity quantum dosimetry of the space-station crew