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era talents for boosting and balancing brain circulation
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the overall objective of the tbrainboost is to boost international and intersectoral mobility and improve links between academia business and society in the field of healthy aging tbrainboost will achieve this through a series of secondments between academic institutions and businesses working in the field of healthy aging and a number of educational activities based on our methodology researchers from this multidisciplinary field will enhance their entrepreneurial skills and competences while bringing their valuable research expertise to the industry while ri talents will gain new insights and skills to create structural changes that are required to set strong foundations for academybusiness collaboration for the future all intersectoral secondments will also put emphasis on benefiting institutions from widening countries namely empowering talents from slovenia and malta with opportunities to learn from colleagues in germany the netherlands and belgium ultimately the tbrainboost project will create a reality where scientists and ri talents from all parts of the spectrum intuitively share knowledge experience and skills to boost their personal profiles work for the benefit of the aging society and drive our economies
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smart building sensitive to daily sentiment
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buildings are evolving into smart organisms through their unmatched concentration of distributed sensing actuation and intelligence indeed the regulatory decree 201031eu european parliament requires building automation control systems in tertiary buildings by 2025 still despite massively deployed sensors of all kind instead of actual awareness nowadays at most unconscious processing c0 is reachedsustain derives theoretical experimental underpinnings to combine novel distributed intelligence unprecedented sensing accuracy and reconfigurable hardware in a smart building context into a conscious organism that achieves selfawareness through probabilistic reasoning across its connected sustainable devices sustain constitutes the first concentrated effort to explore novel advances in distributed intelligence reconfigurable hardware and environmental sensing to establish awareness for smart buildings that reaches global availability of information c11 through data aggregation across connected reconfigurable hardware and selfmonitoring c21 via distributed probabilistic intelligence and the sensing of group sentiment we simplify intelligent building hardware and systems by exploiting electromagnetic signals jointly for backscatter communication energy harvesting physicallayer computation offloading and nonintrusive sensing reconfigurable intelligent surfaces are used to support each of these functionssustain achieves awareness along three highrisk complementary paths 1 reconfigurable intelligent circuits fit to awareness need by postinstallation hardware adaptation 2 distributed selforganizing global intelligence awareness through probabilistic reasoning 3 unprecedented selfawareness through ubiquitous radio sensing groupsentiment recognitionit achieves sustainability via demandtailored adaptive hardware energy and dataefficient ainonintrusive rfsensing energy harvesting multiparty encryption
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clayment clay cement for massive co2 reduction
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materrup developed lowcarbon claybased cement and concrete its economic model relies on sobriety thanks to a technological platform that uses raw clays to make performant cements 6 patents protect this breakthrough innovation an energyefficient industrial process that relies on electrical and solar energy a local distribution scheme to reduce transport between the extraction of the raw material ie clay and its transformation in to concretesince feb 2022 materrup pilot plant has produced 100 tons of cement for its customersmaterrup will deploy this model in large cities to turn their claybased waste into a valuable resources also materrup collaborates with eu universities through an industrial chairwith the eic support materrup will have the necessary financial resources to accelerate its gotomarket including the deployment of 10 smcps in the eu by 2030 contributing to reducing the co2 emissions generated by the cement industry by several mtonsyr
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understanding the consequences of major health crises for education learning from the covid19 pandemic learn
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health crises natural disasters and violent conflicts pose global threats to childrens educational development the frequency and severity of such disruptive events is intensifying due to climate change and the growing instability of the global security architecture yet we lack a systematic understanding of how major disruptive events affect childrens educational development largely because such events tend to also disrupt the collection of highquality data on childrens educationdue to the global scale of the covid19 pandemic and extensive data collection efforts as it unfolded the covid19 pandemic offers a unique opportunity to advance our understanding of the consequences of major health crises for childrens educational development learn will leverage this opportunity to reveal the principal pathways through which the pandemic has affected the educational development of children in different world regions as well as the key factors that reduce or exacerbate its adverse consequenceslearn will generate and apply highquality crossnational data and advanced quantitative and metaanalytical techniques to achieve five core objectives1 trace childrens recovery of covid19 learning deficits using a living metadataset and online tracker2 assess covid19 effects on childrens earlylife trajectories3 map the processes through which the pandemic affected childrens educational development4 reveal the factors that reduce or exacerbate covid19 effects5 identify the most effective remedial education interventions to promote childrens learning recoverythis ambitious and innovative research programme will substantially advance our understanding of how major health crises affect childrens educational development generate several new data resources and provide a basis for policy makers to futureproof education systems to meet the growing threats posed by major disruptive events
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superresolution fieldresolved stimulated raman microscopy
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the next generation of biological imaging will be a movement towards superresolution labelfree approaches to visualize subcellular structures in a nonperturbative noninvasive manner in this proposal a superresolution labelfree raman microscope based on a novel ambientair fielddetector is envisioned to fulfil the requirements of these exciting prospects essential for biomedical advancements by employing bright ultrabroadband femtosecond electromagnetic forces at petahertz frequencies raman molecular vibrations are driven coherently and efficiently temporal confinement of the excitation pulses to a few femtoseconds allows for temporal filtering of the molecular response and therefore a high signaltonoise ratio and high detection sensitivity is achieved the same laser provides optical pulses with ultrashort duration to directly access and detects the field oscillations of the emitted raman molecular response this novel detection metrology allows for simultaneous and broadband detection of the entire molecular fingerprint and beyond with high dynamic range and sensitivity down to quantum shot noise most importantly due to the nearfield imaging in this scheme superresolution chemically sensitive images can be constructed without the need for labeling molecules or using structured light the advanced nearinfrared femtosecond source in combination with the novel field detection technology will enable acquiring the complete fingerprint of complex biological molecules noninvasively with a spatial resolution and sensitivity exceeding that of any previously demonstrated method for the first time the next generation of laserdriven biological microscopy requires a dramatic leap in sensitivity dynamic range spatial resolution and noninvasiveness this proposal represents a coherent achievable approach to fulfilling this need opening up new horizons for fundamental studies in science to see beyond the visible
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pilot line for european production of perovskitesilicon tandem modules on industrial scale
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to prevent the worst outcomes of climate change and increase europes energy independence urgent and massive efforts are required to transform europes energy production to renewable and secure sources photovoltaics pv has emerged as a key technology in these efforts with projected annual growth rates of 3035 over the next years a strong base of pv industry across the entire value chain is therefore of strategic importance for europe to support this strong market growthsince the currently dominating silicon si pv technology is approaching its efficiency limit pepperoni aims to spice up costefficient industrial si cells with a thin perovskite top cell in a monolithic tandem device this technology promises the best ratio of performance over manufacturing costs and therefore enables to push solar module efficiencies beyond the limit of si at lowest co2 footprintthe key objective of pepperoni is to enable largescale production of such tandem pv modules in europe by i demonstrating 26efficient modules on industrial scale ii developing fabrication processes for highvolume manufacturing iii extending the operational stability of tandems to meet market expectations 30 yr and iv removing any human health or environmental riskto reach these objectives pepperoni capitalises on the worldleading tandem pv expertise of a strong and complementary consortium 4 equipment suppliers 2 material suppliers 1 service provider 9 rd institutes and universities that hold tandem efficiency world records and one of the worlds largest pv module manufacturers pepperoni coordinator q cells when joining forces their excellence puts pepperoni in the unique position to set up a tandem pilot line in europe by 2026 this will establish a robust and competitive european innovation base and pv supply chain putting all involved partners well on track towards gwscale production of solar modules in europe by 2030
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pregnancy and childbirthrelated media use to support maternal mental health
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this interdisciplinary research project is situated on the crossroads of womens health and media psychology the supervisor and the fellow will combine their expertise to study how exposure to pregnancy and childbirthrelated content on the popular social media platform youtube can affect pregnancyrelated anxiety pra we know from the womens health literature that pregnancyrelated anxiety is a serious issue and many pregnant women seek health information online and we know from the media psychology literature that seeking online health information can affect cognitions and behaviors but these two fields of research remain disconnected by bridging the two research fields the scattered research will be systematized and extended we set forth 2 objectives each comprising three research questions to improve our understanding of how pregnancy and childbirthrelated content on youtube can fulfill different needs for women with pra objective 1 and to elucidate the underlying processes of the association between exposure to pregnancy and childbirthrelated content and pra objective 2 to reach our objectives we will use a multimethodological approach in which we combine semistructured interviews work package 1 objective 1 and a longitudinal panel study following a cohort of women throughout their pregnancy wp2 objective 2 the longitudinal panel study will be incorporated in the large scale mobile applicationbased mom2b project currently running at the uppsala university which combines automatically collected digital phenotyping data selfreport questionnaires and objective information from national health registers this project will significantly improve our understanding of how social media can be strategically used by researchers and health workers to improve public health but also of how peers and influencers on social media can informally and often unintentionally play a role in their followers health behaviors and experiences
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model transfer and its challenges in science the case of economics
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how can a single model be used to study predatorprey interactions in biology the growth of cancer in medicine and the business cycle in economics and how is this practice supposed to contribute to progress in science to answer those questions we need to understand how models are transferred across domains while model transfer is one of the most pertinent phenomena in modern science philosophers have not yet given it due attention our project will fill this lacuna in a groundbreaking way we will provide a comprehensive philosophical investigation of model transfer its challenges and its implications for scientific progress by innovatively combining approaches from philosophy and history of science with computational methods that are themselves new to philosophy because the literature so far neglects model transfer in the social sciences we will focus on economics as an exemplary case that provides insights for the social and natural sciences alike the main objectives of this project are to 1 develop methodological and conceptual tools to study model transfer across scientific domains 2 apply those tools to philosophically investigate model transfer and its challenges in science 3 explore the implications of our results for the relationship between model transfer and scientific progress this project will place model transfer upfront on the philosophical agenda thereby our research will impact an extensive literature on scientific models and modelling in philosophy of science and the social sciences by applying computational methods to study model transfer it will push their use in empirical philosophy of science and integrated history and philosophy of science it will challenge established philosophical concepts of progress in light of such model transfers finally it will inform scientific and science policy debates about how to overcome challenges to model transfer so that progress in modelbased science can be ensured
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anodefree liion batteries aflibs investigating electrochemical performance and scalability for nextgeneration energy storage
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anodefree lithium batteries aflibs have emerged as a promising alternative to conventional lithiummetal batteries due to their potential for higher energy densities improved safety and simplified manufacturing processes however their rapid development is hindered by poor chargedischarge cycles this is due to the side reactions of the conventional battery electrolytes to form deadinactive lithium thereby leading to dendritic li plating i propose to investigate the use of high concentrated electrolytes hces and multisalt electrolytes mses as novel approaches to achieve a robust and efficient plating and stripping of li in aflibs the high concentration andor presence of additives in these proposed electrolytes can regulate the thermodynamics and kinetics of the li depositionstriping process thereby overcoming dendritic li growth to achieve this objective i will prepare novel hces and mses and use various insitu and operando structural and spectroscopic techniques to gain insights into the effects of the electrolyte types different types of anion and cation and composition on the lithium deposition and formation of sei in aflibs these fundamental insights will facilitate the development of aflibs which are among the nextgeneration advanced energy storage technologies that are pivotal to the realization of energy and environmental sustainability
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research initiative for enhancing and adapting workforce skills for implementing transport automation with employment growth
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reskilling envisions to implement a strategic approach which will empower the workforce and businesses of europes mobility of people and goods sector to effectively cope with the anticipated changes in the sector from ccam deployment but also to actively participate in advancing and refining the sector for this to be achieved reskilling will propose implement apply and validate a comprehensive approach guided by inclusivity cocreation and social innovation principles which will efficiently and sustainably coordinate a range of novel services and tools fostering optimal adaptation of the mobility sector covering both people and goods to the deployment of ccam solutions and services this will range from analysing the socioeconomic and employment impacts of ccam across the entire value chain to facilitate businesses and workers in mitigating drawbacks and leveraging opportunities brought about by ccam deployment it involves innovating business models and employing mechanisms and training tools for skill enhancement and adaptation with an emphasis on their replication and transferability potential and customized scalability for adoption throughout the eu reskilling aspires to create a ccam innovation system capable of not only generating innovation but also delivering solutions to societal challenges
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tailoring organicinorganic layered structures to build functional graded 2d nanomaterials for advanced nanointerfaces
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advanced functional devices require integration of distinct materials polymers ceramics metals with different properties to achieve high performance in aerospace biomedicine electronic and automotive a major structural challenge is associated with localized mechanical thermal electrical stresses due to property mismatch at different scales thus causing premature malfunction and failure research has focussed on compositional or structural material gradients in at least one spatial direction to enable fabrication of inone body parts mostly inorganics with exceptional properties examples at rather macroscale include algaas with graded bandgap for solar cells or al2o3ti with graded mechanical stiffness for bioimplants however in light of miniaturization technology there is a need to translate this concept to nanomaterials the eva project aims to establish scientific principles to design and fabricate pioneering organicinorganic 2d layered nanomaterials with functional gradients and continuous interfaces my approach to designing such innovative nanomaterials is based on their compositional engineering by using correlations to perform an extended mapping of combinations and properties i will explore selfassembly techniques in solution and translate them into automated processes to hierarchically build robust components with nmlayered thicknesses and mechanical and optoelectronic gradients eva will also demonstrate their use as advanced interfaces for soft biotissue coupling and flexible lighting nanosystems providing answers from the nanoscale to key drivers in these fields reliability robustness and durability through this interdisciplinary approach physics chemistry mechanics biology and materials science the envisioned atomically designed hybrids will be a hallmark for frontiers in fields such as energy health robotics and digital technologies
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regulation of acinetobacter baumannii biofilm formation by cdigmp signaling
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in recent years acinetobacter baumannii has been recognized as a serious threat to human health due to its high rates of infection and resistance to various antibiotics both the world health organization who and the centers for disease control and prevention cdc have announced a baumannii as an urgent threat with a priority to find novel antimicrobials against it various diseases have been attributed to biofilms of a baumannii and since biofilms are inherently tolerant to antibiotics the treatment procedures are challenged the nucleotide signaling molecule cdigmp has been shown to regulate biofilm formation in a variety of bacterial species previous studies have shown a role of cdigmp signaling in biofilm formation by a baumannii but the underlying mechanisms still remain unclear understanding the mechanisms of cdigmp signaling systems potentially contribute to identification of new drug targets therefore this research proposal intends to obtain knowledge on how cdigmp signaling regulates key components involved in biofilm formation by a baumannii through a multidisciplinary approach by employing biochemical molecular and microbiological techniques the project is in line with the organization for economic cooperation and development oecd request and eu action on antibacterial resistance the proposed project will establish a research platform based on a baumannii in the host institute the candidate will gain knowledge about cdigmp signaling system and the methods needed to elucidate the function of proteins which are associated with specific microbial traits the acquired techniques along with the transferable skills obtained during the implementation of this project will greatly increase the candidates competency to find a job in positions related to molecular and pharmaceutical microbiology
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powder is the only app offering a complete turnkey solution to automatically detect the best gaming moments earn rewards from quests and challenges and compete with other gamers
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powder is the only app offering a complete turnkey solution to automatically detect the best gaming moments earn rewards from quests and compete with other gamersas a deep tech company we invest in selfsupervised machine learning techniques for highlight detection surpassing stateoftheartin a market set to surpass three billion gamers by 2023 with steady yearly growth in the last seven years 56 powder brings disruptive innovation to the market by empowering every gamer to become a content creator and socialize with their peers through clips and challenges as their virtual lives get richer and lifestyle gaming becomes a daily activity gamers are increasingly looking for ways to make the most of their meaningful moments in the virtual worldspowder empowers every gamer with a platform that puts the users interests at his core challenging the existing social media models by proudly committing to delivering a stronger fairer more digital and more resilient europe
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hipflapp high precision flavoured particle production at the large hadron collider
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the project will develop and exploit theoretical calculations to study particle collisions that feature heavy flavours namely the charm quark and beauty quark at the large hadron collider identifying heavy quarks is critical to pinpoint specific scattering processes and reject backgrounds resulting in an unique opportunity to probe the structure of the proton to improve our understanding of the higgs mechanism and to possibly unveil the presence of new physics signals in the lhc data on the theoretical side the accuracy and the precision of phenomenological predictions must be increased to keep up with the progressively smaller uncertainty on experimental measurements so that reliable comparisons with experimental data can be performed more specifically the project will focus on very accurate computations in quantum chromodynamics to better describe the production of flavoured particles across a wide kinematic range so that no region of phasespace is left unexplored these theory predictions will require a combination of both fixedorder and allorder perturbative calculations in the strong coupling constant a public code with the implementation of the predictions for heavy hadron production at ultimate precision will be assembled hence providing other researchers in theoretical physics and the experimental collaborations with a valuable tool in the lhc precision era
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evolve where did life originate from and how does it evolve
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how did life get started on earth does life exist on other planets how lifethreatening are humaninduced phenomena such as climate change and virus pandemics these existential questions fascinate the general public and concern politicians recent advances in several fields of science have led to partial answers but only an interdisciplinary approach can fully address these questions our previous cofund programme olife has made important advances in understanding the origin and evolution of life and in the course of this exciting 3 year programme we realized that many more steps should be taken we therefore propose a new programme evolve which will appoint 17 doctoral students in biochemistry astrophysics and evolutionary ecology at the worldleading universities of groningen and leiden the students will carry out toplevel research on topics ranging from simulating celllike behaviour in the laboratory to the future evolution of life on earth and the suitability of extrasolar planets to host life besides their research the students will follow a training programme to learn how to interact with scientists from other fields and how to connect science to business and policy they will also learn to follow modern open science practices for maximum impact and to apply diversity inclusion standards to ensure a socially safe research environment secondments at commercial companies nonprofit governmental organisations and academic institutes will prepare them for careers inside and outside academia the evolve programme is committed to the eu green charter for a sustainable future of our planetwe will communicate the results of the program to the scientific community industry policy makers schools and the general public through a variety of targeted media channels
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reliable durable high power hydrogen fueled pem fuel cell stack
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realhyfc gathers key actors of the whole pemfc value chain to overcome crucial hurdles towards industrial empowerment on heavyduty hd applications mainly for land transport while expecting benefits for ships trains or aircrafts the technical issues precluding a rapid and wide adoption of pemfc on hd applications are linked with reliability and versatility of the stacks realhyfc will bring knowledge and experimental feedback on two key levels stack design and stack operation regarding stack design carbon and metallic technologies will be investigated on efficiency and lifetime issues local degradation and mechanical properties unpreceded direct comparison will be possible thanks to the adaption of an opendesign made for metal to carboncomposite case with developments on bipolar plates and balance of stack realhyfc will eventually deliver a public opendesign platform with demonstrated high efficiency and durability under hd application conditions for longlasting operation the diagnostics and monitoring of stacks are crucial to preclude damages on performance or components realhyfc will bring new solutions based on improved physical degradation models allowing to develop virtual sensors algorithms to optimize fuel cell operating conditions and hybridization strategy final validation by demonstration of lifetime improvements thanks to an adjusted control chain will be done following systemrepresentative simulation and experimental approaches towards durabilityoriented operation in hd environmentthe outcomes of the project are strongly linked with the industrial world and settings carrying relevant pemfc use realhyfc will enable the development of costcompetitive reliable and durable fuel cell technology to this extend an exploitation strategy will foster industrial empowerment alongside dissemination and communication towards technical audience and large public
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preferableii personalised exerciseoncology for improvement of supportive care a super umbrella trial to demonstrate the costeffectiveness of liveremote exercise in cancer survivors
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with over 12 million cancer survivors relying on supportive care across the eu it is essential to provide them with costeffective interventions tailored to their specific needs many survivors suffer from longterm side effects that can lower their quality of life qol functioning and productivity exercise interventions have proven to be uniquely beneficial in managing both physical and psychological complaints however their effects are strongest when tailored to a patients specific burden eg fatigue low physical fitness anxiety and depressive symptoms or chemotherapyinduced peripheral neuropathy moreover the use of exercise interventions in supportive cancer care is still limited due to a lack of availability a lack of accessibility caused by time and travel constraints and low awareness to tackle these hurdles the preferableii consortium sets out to design and demonstrate the costeffectiveness of a novel exercise intervention that 1 will be tailored to the side effect that bothers the survivor the most by use of a modular design 2 can be implemented at home with liveremote supervision from a national broadcast centre 3 is available to all cancer survivors and 4 incorporates improved patientcentred communication and shared decision making results of our rct enrolling 350 cancer survivors will be translated into guideline recommendations for exerciseoncology extensive ethical legal and social impact components of the project will reveal barriers and facilitators of liveremote supervised exercise and provide policy recommendations to further support implementation finally we will create communication standards and an education module for healthcare professionals to train the future workforce as such preferableii contributes to improving the qol of cancer survivors by lowering the burden of side effects while also improving availability access and awareness off exercisebased supportive care interventions
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volatile dynamics and regolith interactions on solar system bodies
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over the recent decades several remote observations have provided evidence for water on the moon due to the lack of insitu measurements the nature of lunar water is not yet sufficiently understood open fundamental questions include the origin and form spatial distribution temporal variation transport processes and surface interactions in volaris i will employ a novel modelling and experimental approach to address these questions and characterise their main influencing factors i will specifically study the combined physical chemical and thermal processes across the exosphere surface and subsurface that govern the dynamic behaviour of volatile water these investigations will be similarly relevant to other species such as hydrogen hydroxyl and noble gases and will significantly advance our understanding of the volatile dynamics of many atmosphereless celestial bodies current models are not capable of simulating the complete volatile cycle with the respective source sink loss conversion and transport processes mainly due to the computational complexity and the different physical scales i will develop a unified model framework to enable more comprehensive simulations across different model domains and scales to systematically investigate the sensitivities to key parameters with a novel experimental setup i will reproduce coupled processes of the lunar water cycle in an analogue environment to investigate volatile transport and interactions emerging from a combination of multiple factors these include complex formation and release processes and temperaturedriven migration and redeposition of volatiles volaris will enable groundbreaking research on the volatile dynamics of atmosphereless celestial bodies and is highly relevant to fundamental solar system science future missions and instrument developments the preservation of volatiles in their natural environment as well as the potential utilisation of volatile resources
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political polarisation and communist past czech and german case
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political polarization populism and illiberal tendencies in postcommunist countries stem among other sources from their communist heritage whose bearers are paradoxically also organizations of political prisoners who unintentionally transformed the political polarisation characteristic of the socialist dictatorship into a strong current of anticommunism and a polarized view of history the research objectives are to 1 study the roots of the narrative of polarisation among the politically persecuted 2 analyse the value system the formation of values and their transfer within associations of political prisoners 3 study the transfer of their polarised narrative and value system to society and the degree of their success although there is a large body of literature focusing on the politics of memory survivor trauma and anticommunism none of them has addressed the link between political polarization and coping with the communist past the project combines the historical research methodology of data gathering with the concepts of psychology political polarisation and narrative the germanczech comparative project is expected to 1 contribute to the emerging literature on political polarisation 2 bring a better understanding of the links between the success of the democratization process and radical forms of anticommunism and populism while contributing to the ever growing debate on the need to use a nonpolarized approach towards the communist past in education politics and history 3 initiate discussions on the role of political bodies with respect to victim organisations and their members and the necessity of various forms of help for persecuted persons financial psychological etc the project seeks to transfer best practices from germany where a more balanced view of the past seems to be prevalent and analyse which historical cultural social and political factors have contributed to it
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european action for social entrepreneurship support
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through events summits gathering of existing tools for best practice and a digital ecosystem for social entrepreneurs we will strengthen the ecosystem for social innovation in europe we will create a european peertopeer academy for social impact entrepreneurship support coowned by european support organizations we will endeavor to increase the capacities of social entrepreneurship support organizations in europe the academy aims to sustainably boost the impact of the european ecosystem for social impactdriven entrepreneurshipwe will gather and promote tools and facilitate locally based events and facilitate summits where knowledge methods best practices and tools are disseminated in addition we will build on existing digital platforms to create a social innovation ecosystem where best practices knowledge and tools will be granted free of charge for social entrepreneurskey output from the projectregistration of best practice out before and after intervention the registration forms from the first registration will be used to select relevant tools to be included in the digital ecosystem two social innovation policy summits and a final conference for actors in the social innovation ecosystem collection of tools from actors working with social innovation the tools may come from relevant accelerators investors incubators and public entities such as universities and government all activities and tools will be free accessible at the digital ecosystem the digital ecosystem will be built on existing software systemsthe digital ecosystem will be a strong european network with various actors within different branches and knowledge from professionals within the field
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highthroughput hyperspectral imaging across the visswir spectrum in a single device
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building on the findings from our previous erc poc project fluo the hyperia project will develop a hyperspectral imaging hsi camera that uses fourier transform ft interferometry to capture a detailed light spectrum across its wavelength range for each pixel in the 2d fieldofvision this constitutes a novel detection approach that will dramatically expand the wavelength range and sensitivity at low light intensities for hsi camera with its visswir range 4001700nm the camera will be able to capture visible features key swir fingerprints for physiochemical analysis and fluorescence signals from nonvisible features the hyperia camera will have a wide range of possible applications and we will demonstrate it to trl6 in monitoring of food freshness and composition plastic waste separation analysis of fine arts and remote sensinginspection of building materials current hsi cameras are limited to narrow wavelength ranges so these forms of applications require two or more costly devices and difficult and timeconsuming integration of different data sources the hyperia camera will accomplish the task in one device yielding a single hyperspectral datacube at a hitherto inaccessible level of sensitivity and at a lower total cost in parallel to this we will obtain market competitor and regulatory intelligence to establish our business model price and cost model and potential positioning within the market for our prioritised application area food production and safety monitoring this will place us in an advantageous position to advance the hyperia camera to trl9 and market readiness after the end of the proposed project
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constraints on nonequilibrium fluctuations
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equilibrium statistical mechanics has provided a suitable setting to explain the thermodynamic behavior of macroscopic physical systems instead much less is known about systems out of equilibrium that contribute to the vast majority of phenomena people experience everyday in this project constraints on nonequilibrium fluctuations conneqtions we aim at deriving new and rigorous analytical results on the statistics of fluctuating observables in nonequilibrium processes in particular the emphasis will be on the thorough analysis of classical and quantum periodically driven systems that constitute a timely and active topic of research the first objective of the project is the generalization to periodicallydriven markov processes of the symmetryinduced fluctuation relations studied by the researcher and his collaborators the second objective is the generalization to the quantum domain of important results about level 25 large deviations already established for classical timeperiodic markov chains this in turn will lead to the derivation of new thermodynamic uncertainty relations in quantum systems with periodic driving the project is built as an interdisciplinary effort combining the physical background of the researcher with the mathematical expertise of the supervisor
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genetic engineering of regulatory evolution
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the regulation of genes is generally accepted to play a key role in shaping phenotypes however how regulatory sequence encodes complex morphological structures remains unsolved this is due to our lack of understanding of how enhancers promoters and other regulatory components work together to control and finetune gene expression as such one of the major challenges of the postgenomic era is to uncover the sequence code that controls gene expression and ultimately the phenotype in genrevo i propose to study the genomics of an extreme example of evolutionary adaption the wings of bats as a model system to identify and functionally dissect how sequence determines phenotype our approach involves the genetic reengineering of bat regulatory sequence in mice and their functional dissection to identify the essential components that govern gene expression and phenotypebased on an already generated comprehensive data set from mouse and bat limb buds we will detect reengineer and dissect intra and interspecies differences in regulatory landscapes linked to batwing development in particular we will 1 determine what noncoding features are essential for maintenance andor change in gene expression 2 reconstitute batspecific regulatory landscapes in mice by genome engineering synthetically produced large dna sequences 3 dissect how genomic changes translate into altered gene expression and phenotypes on cellular and regulatory level and 4 create de novo designer regulatory landscapes that can be used as a testbed for experimental perturbations collectively genrevo will produce groundbreaking knowledge in our understanding of how gene regulatory units work in vivo and how variants influence phenotypes the possibility to reengineer sequences in another species will spark a technological revolution in the functional analysis of mammalian genomes particularly regarding the function of noncoding dna in human diseases traits and evolution
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unprecedented photolithographic structuring of novel lightsensitive polyamino acid materials a paradigm shift in delivering biocompatible devices
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photolitography which produces geometrical structures through lightinduced polymerisation of monomers with high accuracy precision and spatial resolution was a key innovation enabler in the drive for highperformance miniature electronics which had an unprecedented impact on every aspect of our modern life geometrically welldefined microstructures could also be a game changer in the medical device industry especially in the development of implantable devices with better tissue compatibility as well as in the discovery of new drugs and treatments current gold standard materials and biomaterial extrusion processing cannot generate the structural resolution to kickstart this new era the groundbreaking approach of polina is to combine a radically new lightsensitive polyamino acid material platform with established and emerging photolithographic patterning techniques to deliver a revolutionary technology that can be exploited for medical devices and nextgeneration green electronics exploring this uncharted territory will be possible through an ambitious multidisciplinary approach delivering breakthroughs in photopolymerisation of amino acids and their lithographic structuring for novel materials with unique biological properties the high innovation potential of this technology to overcome current limitations will be demonstrated in three selected examples related to lung diseases ie micropatterned cell surface models spheroid arrays for lung disease modelling and drug testing as well as tracheal implants our intersectoral team of 5 academic groups and 2 smes brings together unique scientific expertise in photo and polymer chemistry biomaterials science lithographic processing tissue engineering clinical expertise and innovation management through polina we will pave the way to revolutionise bioprinting for safer smarter and affordable medical devices and in the long term a new approach in bioelectronics
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highperformance hybrid energy storage system for multiservice provisioning
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haven features a systematic collaborative and integrated approach to the design and demonstration of a cuttingedge sustainable and safe hess capable of long duration storage and provision of multiple services for supporting the electrical grid and ev charging infrastructure by coupling complementary technology assets namely nextgeneration highenergy he and highpower hp storage technologies optimised power converter devices with innovative cognitive functionalities advanced and cybersecured energy management and control tools and strategies in a novel system architecture haven seeks to achieve a modular scalable and costefficient solution with the capability to efficiently manage power and energy shares while optimising the system in terms of sizing capexopex aging stress and store degradation depending on the specific application in addition the project will go a step further by developing a flexible digital twin dt of the system valid regardless of the cell chemistry and application and adaptable for second life battery modules that enables to predict the performance and management of the system over its lifetime while easing its design and predictive maintenance all this leveraged by the firsthand experience of leading academic and industrial players 7 companies havens smart solution will be validated and demonstrated up to trl 7 in 3 physical and 2 virtual usecases ucs covering a wide range of grid support services and considering the specificities of multiple electricity and balancing markets both in europe and beyond to pave the path towards a fast market uptake after the project the work will also include the development of business models and industrial exploitation strategies cementing havens position as a gamechanger in the field of energy storage systems
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just and effective governance for accelerating wind energy
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justwind4all aims to support the acceleration of on and offshore wind energy through just and effective governance ie the creation of synergies among people and organisations to coordinate and participate in actions around wind energy strategies and deployment to this end justwind4all develops knowledge practical guidelines instruments strategies and trainings for just and effective decisionmaking in on and offshore wind energy governance this move towards more effective and just decisionmaking processes and structures is crucial in the context of ambitious eu renewable energy targets which require installing more and larger on and offshore wind farms speeding up the planning and deployment processes whilst ensuring no one is left behind justwind4all makes use of a rigorous trans and interdisciplinary multimethod research design it combines holistic impact assessment based on a socialecological approach with technoeconomic modelling to assess a variety of social environmental technical and economic impacts andor benefits to improve decisionmaking qualitative and quantitative methodologies eg case studies multicriteria mapping help to investigate ways to foster wind energy citizenship with a particular focus on participation energy justice and social innovation through transdisciplinary knowledge coproduction in wind labs justwind4all makes the most out of novel resources ie practices repowering technologies airborne floating and regions eg bulgaria and engages in knowledge coproduction with wind energy governance actors for fitforpurpose outcomes a cuttingedge wind forum network enables knowledge exchange and dialogue between multiple stakeholders across policy community market and third sector it ensures that justwind4alls knowledge practical guidelines instruments strategies and training activities have maximum impact
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accelerating market uptake of droneaided medical operations through living labs
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advances in biomedical science data science engineering and technology are leading to highpace innovation with potential to transform healthcare practices towards improved quality of life for citizens in urban and rural environments this can be the case of drones supporting medical and healthcare services whose implementation is expected to bring tangible benefits in short termhowever despite drones have lived significant technological advances and the evolution of the pillars of the regulatory framework the disruptiveness that their applications bring does not match the readiness of market and nonaviation sectors as well as the readiness and capacity of local authorities to address this wellknown issue many stakeholders have recognised the urgent need to evolve from sandbox operational project settings to living labs settings as a way to close the gap and involve all the reallife stakeholderstherefore there is a need for transition to the establishment of living labs to demonstrate to actors market and citizens the reallife improvements of droneaided medical servicesdali lab looks for developing detailed requirements for setting up the engagement and governance structure of living labs for droneaided medical services this will be achieved designing an action plan to set up a living lab during the project including testing and validation of drone solutions real flights and simulations for medical services for a specific use caseat the end of the project we will be able to provide guidance on how to develop living labs for droneaided medical services by integrating drones on medical operations while safeguarding societal acceptanceembracement tradeoffs and concerns about safety and security compliance with medical protocols and the protection of individualspatients as well as privacy and sustainability dimensions eg environmental nuisance social impacts economic benefits
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biological isotopy of lithium in littoral zones
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lithium li is key in the energy transition and massively used to produce mobile devices and electrical vehicles yet its current consumption rate exceeds its river flux to the ocean and it is poorly recycled while li excess is toxic for aquatic life and humans although concentrations of li and its isotopes have been measured in coastal waters at river outlets to study continental chemical weathering and climate controls li monitoring has been occasional moreover bias caused by anthropogenic inputs is not quantifiedcombining a novel isotopic methodology with ecotoxicology and biology approaches seali2bio will first determine and understand the littoral li contamination sources flux and controls and quantify its current contribution to the li cycle plankton macroalgae and bivalves will act as longterm bioindicators at reference sites located along urbanisation gradients the biological controls of li isotopes will be determined by aquaculture of model organisms over a range of representative environmental and metabolic conditions and confronted to in situ measurements upscaling from regional to global scale will be achieved with a multivariate statistical model accounting for geospatial data on watershed characteristics population density and socioeconomic parametersthis project will also anticipate future environmental and health issues caused by li contamination focusing on the north chile coast where li levels are known as the highest and using innovative healthmonitoring tools cuzn isotopes finally the evolution of li contamination will be simulated at the continental and global scale following scenarios of energy transition impacting differently li demand and wasteby disentangling the factors of li contamination from the natural background seali2bio will assemble a first robust reference for a global issue tied to the history of climate and its future evolution in response to reduction of fossil fuels use
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intelligent reading improvement system for fundamental and transversal skills development
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the project iread4skills has as main objectivesto assess and reduce reading skills gaps in low literacy adults for the development of fundamental and transversal skills by i establishing and monitoring the relation between improvement in literacy skills and improvement in other fundamental skills such as numeracy or ict and transversal skills such as technical skills communication skills teamworking skills foreign language skills customer handling skills problem solving skills learning skills and planning and organization skills as well as motivation citizenship and wellbeing ii providing an intelligent reading system that evaluates texts complexity and suggests appropriate readings according to the user literacy level the system would also be used to assist trainers and text producers to create or adapt texts with the appropriate level of complexity with regard to their target readersto support the adoption and diffusion of innovation in the way low literacy adults acquire and sustain transversal and durable skills matching the always evolving needs of the job market by developing and putting to work an open access system available for both trainers and trainees that allows for advanced digitallyenabled training and skills developmentreading skills are fundamental to acquire technical and scientific knowledge either in formal education and training contexts as adult learning al either in practical and empirical working contexts as when companies provide written specific information andor instructions to their workers people with low literacy skills are less able to acquire and sustain transversal and durable skills needed to stay apace with the changing job market and to lead meaningful and complete lives
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microbial performance impacted by surfactants from glyphosate application
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glyphosate is the most widely applied herbicide on earth exhibits potential toxicity and persists in the environment although microbial glyphosate degradation exists glyphosate is not used as single compound but as mixture a formulation consisting of surfactants as the second most abundant ingredient these surfactants are considered inert and a critical knowledge gap exists regarding their impacts on microorganisms in the environment in my seminal postdoctoral studies we showed that surfactants can inhibit microbial activities and induce a shift in microbial communities and functions in marine settings i hypothesize that similar effects occur in terrestrial and freshwater environments in response to surfactantglyphosate application in particular i glyphosatedegrading microorganisms might be severely affected probably contributing to glyphosates persistence in nature and ii microbial key players that drive biogeochemical cycles might be impacted and thus surfactantglyphosate application might influence greenhouse gas formation and contribute to climate change to systematically study the effects of surfactants and surfactantglyphosate mixtures in light of these novel aspects an innovative multiscale and interdisciplinary frontier research effort is required starting with pure isolate and enrichment culture studies followed by microcosm experiments and advancing to field experiments in the presence and absence of surfactants respectively we will identify microbial key players and functions quantify microbial activities related to glyphosate degradation as well as to biogeochemical cycles and greenhouse gas formation and furthermore reveal common principles of surfactant effects this pioneering research will holistically unravel the impacts of surfactants on microorganisms in the environment and has the potential to influence politics society technology and science microbial ecology biogeochemistry and earth sciences
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mineralization within macromolecular condensates the chemical playground of living cells
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organisms form crystalline materials with superior structural and mechanical properties this arises from the ability of functional macromolecules to create intricate architectures via a multistep crystallization process current approaches to engineer bioinspired minerals focus on interactions between macromolecules and minerals in dilute aqueous environments rarely considering the emergent properties of macromolecular condensates however we and others showed that macromolecular crowding is intimately associated with biomineral formation in vivo in this project we will develop a new type of chemistrydensephase mineralizationto unlock the pathways mastered by natureour hypothesis is that weak polymerion interactions within dense phases tune the chemical landscape controlling the crystallization process and the properties of its products remarkably our preliminary results using the calcium carbonate system show that molarrange polymer concentrations four orders of magnitude denser than in previous works result in intricate crystals with lifelike properties we will investigate densephase mineralization in both synthetic and living systems relying on our unique expertise in cryoelectron and xray microscopies of hydrated biological samples in aim 1 we will grow crystals in a dense polymer phase and use the crowded environment to sculpt architectural motivesin aim 2 we will investigate the challenging phase separation regime and transform inorganic condensates into transient precursors for mineralizationin aim 3 we will elucidate how liquidliquid phase separation evolved by mineralizing organisms to regulate inorganic condensate formationthis project will open an uncharted chemical landscape to form and control bioinspired minerals the outcome will be a toolbox for process design that allows to optimize material properties the highest gain we can ask for in bioinspired mineralization
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prostate cancer diagnostics using a noninvasive test based on innovative glycanbased scanning
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prostate cancer pca is the 2nd most frequent cancer in men with 14m new annual cases and nearly 04m deaths worldwide in 2020 pca incidence is expected to increase to 21m cases and 06m annual deaths by 2035 statistically 1 in 8 men will get pca in their lifetime however nearly 50 of cancer deaths may be avoided if pca were detected at early stages survival is proportional to the stage reached at the time of diagnosis hence earlystage diagnostics is key to reduce mortality our aim is to clinically validate register proscan an affordable noninvasive nextgeneration liquid biopsy pca diagnostic test with a final accuracy of up to 90 the proscan is the first test for earlystage pca diagnostics based on glycan analysis in blood proscan will identify healthy men and those at risk of pca who need a confirmatory biopsy being so accurate proscan will eliminate 16 m of avoidable biopsies with the cost of 15bn in the eu and the us alone
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deployment and assessment of predictive modelling environmentally sustainable and emerging digital technologies and tools for improving the resilience of iww against climate change and other extremes
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ploto aims at increasing the resilience of the inland waterways iww infrastructures and the connected land infrastructures thus ensuring reliable network availability under unfavourable conditions such as extreme weather accidents and other kind of hazards our main target is to combine downscaled climate change scenarios applied to iww infrastructures with simulation tools and actual data so as to provide the relevant authorities and their operators with an integrated tool able to support more effective management of their infrastructures at strategic and operational levels towards this direction ploto aims to use high resolution modelling data for the determination and the assessment of the climatic risk of the selected transport infrastructures and associated expected damages use existing data from various sources with new types of sensorgenerated data computer vision to feed the used simulator utilize tailored weather forecasts combining seamlessly all available data sources for specific hotspots providing early warnings with corresponding impact assessment in real time develop improved multitemporal multisensor uav and satellitebased observations with robust spectral analysis computer vision and machine learningbased assessment for diverse transport infrastructures design and implement an integrated resilience assessment platform environment as an innovative planning tool that will permit a quantitative resilience assessment through an endtoend simulation environment running whatif impactriskresilience assessment scenarios the effects of adaptation measures can be investigated by changing the hazard exposure and vulnerability input parameters design and implement a common operational picture including an enhanced visualisation interface and an incident management systemthe ploto integrated platform and its tools will be validated in three case studies in belgium romania and hungary
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synthetic and structural biology of rab gtpase networks
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eukaryotic cells are characterized by their compartmentalization into hundreds of different membranebound organelles with unique biochemical identities small gtpases of the rab family play a central role in this organization but how they are able to generate spatiotemporal order in the complex cellular environment is currently not known most previous studies on rab gtpases have either relied on describing their behavior in living cells or in highly reductionist biochemical assays however neither of these two approaches can explain the dynamic activity patterns of rab gtpases associated with their cellular functions it has become clear that rab gtpases are controlled in sophisticated regulatory networks with emergent selforganizing properties to obtain a mechanistic understanding of these rab gtpase systems new experimental assays are now required in this proposal we will use a bottomup synthetic biology approach to rebuild the biochemical networks of rab gtpases from purified components and demonstrate their selforganization into spatiotemporal activity patterns in vitro we will combine these reconstitution experiments with cryoelectron microscopy to elucidate the structures of membranerecruited rab gtpase regulators finally we will use microfabrication and laser lithography to prepare a mimic for the compartmentalized cell and find out how rab gtpase signaling systems sense and process preexisting geometric and biochemical cues as in the living cell this project will provide novel quantitative information from different scales from the emergent ensemble behavior down to the molecular structure of protein complexes together this data will reveal how signaling systems of rab gtpases control membrane identities in space and time thereby improving our understanding of the intracellular organization of the eukaryotic cell
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fluid gap electroactivepolymer machines for a new generation of mechatronic systems
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while mechatronic solutions become increasingly pervasive there are areas such as the space or the ocean depths that are still difficult to reach and exploit through conventional technologies yet such areas represent an immense source of materials and energy a bottleneck is represented by actuationgeneration technologies which struggle in unconventional environments electrostatic drives based on electroactive polymers eaps have long been regarded as a potentially gamechanging solution as they rely on lightweight materials and feature no rigid moving parts but their applicability has been severely hindered by reliability and performance limitations recently fluidgap transducers fgts which leverage combinations of dielectric polymers and liquids have emerged as a breakthrough as they have shown potential for reaching significantly improved performance and lifetime with this project we will push fgts beyond their limits making them able to operate in low pressure atmospheres for space applications or underwater and at high pressures for application in the marine environment to achieve these goals we will 1 expand base knowledge on the working principle of fgts 2 develop new operating principle concepts based on highly unconventional material combinations enabled by our recent findings such as lowpressure airvacuum dielectric gaps or highpermittivity mildlyconductive leaky dielectric liquids 3 provide proof of concept and validation of such new paradigms in a number of relevant scenarios including fgtdriven robotic systems able to operate in vacuum for space applications or underwaterat high pressure and scaled prototypes of distributed energy harvesters from sea waves this project will mark a leap in the field of electromechanical drives and allow mechatronic devices to reach frontiers that are unthinkable with conventional technology
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research entrepreneurship training ipexchange chip platform of europractice services
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reticles will provide a platform that nurtures the growth of a design ecosystem in europe this will be achieved by building on the existing europractice platform sustaining its key elements and extending it with new services and technologies europractice is a wellestablished and widely used platform that provides european academia and smes with a full range of microelectronic services needed to design fabricate package and integrate microelectronic circuits this service includes affordable access to industrystandard design tools access to a wide range of fabrication technologies multiproject wafers and small volume production of asics photonics mems microfluidics etc full technical support and design methodology trainingby building on the europractice services the project will deliver impact already from the start the platform will then be extended to meet new technology challenges and further support semiconductor sovereignty for europe emerging technologies from european research centres and pilot lines will be added to the platform including those with lower trl design efficiency will be enhanced and supported through design reuse and establishing a design ip exchange repository efficient design at the smallest geometries will be enabled with advanced design tools and new cloud based solutions for highvalue ip the creation of smarter integrated systems will be stimulated through advanced system integration of dissimilar semiconductor technologies and chiplets a pipeline of talent for europe delivered through comprehensive upskilling and reskilling training courses and economic growth facilitated by supporting subsequent commercialisation of academic researchthrough advanced design tools leading edge semiconductor technologies and bespoke training reticles will provide a breeding ground for cuttingedge research deeptech startups and growth of the semiconductor design ecosystem in europe
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profile nucleases and repurpose offtargets to expand gene editing
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programmable nucleases reside at the nexus of advanced gene editing and microbial defense these nucleases degrade phage dna but avoid genomic dna to provide the microbe with adaptive immunity the standardbearer crisprcas9 relies on a guide rna grna its program to precisely cut a complimentary genetic sequence its target for precision gene editing these programmable nucleases deliver cure for genetic diseases like anemia blindness and cancer quick disease model development and diagnostics for viruses like sarscov2hunts across microbial genomes have exposed thousands of programmable nucleases each could be another valuable tool for genome engineers but we know just too little about them to use them safely even cas9 does not have guidetarget parity it cuts partially matched offtarget genome sites which can lead to dangerous side effects though we work hard to avoid offtargets partial matching may have a bright side what if we leverage it using it to make gene editing more predictableusing highthroughput biochemistry we will profile nucleases and repurpose offtargets to expand gene editing the protg research program will profile guidetarget parity specificity across promising newly discovered programmable nucleases it will deliver a toolset for assessing this critical safety feature rapidly and broadly finally we will test the hypothesis that purposefully misprogramming nucleases can direct specific repair outcomes we intended to benefit europe and the world community with safer and more diverse gene editing tools for achieving its horizon europe health technology and environmental goals
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datadriven cancer genome interpretation for personalised cancer treatment
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cgiclinics aims at improving personalised medicine in oncology by optimizing genomic data interpretation after sequencing and before advising on compatible targeted therapies interpretation is a bottleneck for the full deployment and broad accessibility of next generation sequencing ngs in cancer management the project tackles the 3 main hurdles in the interpretation of cancer mutations it is not systematic it deals with a majority of variants of unknown significance and it fails to empower patientsthe interpretation of tumor genomic data relies on the work of experts reviewing scattered databases and resources in a timeconsuming process that may lead to suboptimal clinical decisions cgiclinics will systematize the interpretation process by integrating relevant public and private databases hospitals in a onestop shop tool with the possibility to organize virtual molecular tumor boards cofacilitated by reference hospitals project will have three phases a setup assess needs validation pilot with the 9 clinical partners and replication 30 hospitals across eu it will enable democratization of genomic data interpretation independent of their size resources and profiling technology and provide health economics validationrelying on a systematic automatic learning platform gciclinics will increase the share of interpretable variants in tumors from the current 912 to at least 50 and features that constitute biomarkers of drug response the interpretation process is complex for most cancer patients alienating them from knowledge of their illness cgiclinics will build educgi an app to help them understand the information gained through interpretation of their tumors facilitating informed discussions with clinicians and sharing their data for research ultimately the project is built to inform policymakers on cancer management and empower patients
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building climate resilience via large scale uptake of systemic solutions in agricultural ecosystems in the pannonian region
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climapannonia is the coordinated effort of key stakeholders of the pannonian biogeographical area pbs towards strengthening the resilience of the agricultural sector and the regions community against climate change disastrous effects this will be achieved by enabling the widest possible uptake of tested and validated climate neutral solutions for four agriculture subsectors i waterfood nexus ii agroforestry iii organic crop production iv cattle productionclimapannonia aims to support pba agriculture sector in drastically improving its climate resilience by implementing innovative systemic solutions and fostering collaboration among the six countries within the pba hungary serbia croatia romania czechia and slovakia climapannonia will pave the way for a more sustainable and resilient agricultureby harnessing the knowledge and expertise of leading experts in pba and leverage the knowledge of partners from countries such as germany italy and france climapannonia seeks to ensure that the solutions implemented are innovative not only at pba level but also at european scale
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simultaneous multiparametric mea based platform for invitro chronic cardiotoxicity assessment with livecell fluorescence imaging and electrophysiology
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cardiac drugrelated adverse effects have been the major causes for the failure or withdrawal of drugs from the market with a growing global market cardiotoxicity still remains a bottleneck in the chain of drug development despite the large investments in drug discovery and development the number of approved drugs has been declining current invitro technologies assess functional cardiotoxicity relying on shortterm electrophysiological recordings detection of cardiac action potentials ap however drug toxic effects may manifest themselves in other ways such as morphological alterations toxic chemical species generation or metabolic dysfunction these effects are categorized as structural cardiotoxicitypresently functional and structural toxicities cannot be assessed simultaneously on the same cardiac cell culture in longterm experiments this represents a substantial barrier to a deeper toxicity assessmentsimultox addresses this need with a novel platform for multiparametric detection of cardiac functional and structural toxicity starting from the unique laserbased technology of foresee biosystems simultox aims at developing an invitro platform that exploits a combinatorial approach of ap recordings and livecell fluorescence imaging of the same cardiac cell culture more importantly it will provide these capabilities in extremely long tests more than 1 month that enable the assessment of chronic toxic effectsthe final objective is the commercialization of a platform that will reshape the market of invitro cardiotoxicity assessment the product will generate high demand for equipment in the markets of cardiac physiology safety pharmacology and drug development in perspective simultox will pave the way also to new products for assessing functional and structural neurotoxicities simultaneously allowing foresee biosystems to expand substantially its target market
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resurrecting reevolving and reinventing rubisco from the evolutionary past of earths no 1 co2fixing enzyme to its synthetic future
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can we reconstruct the engine of natural co2fixation rubisco catalyzes the key reaction in photosynthesis the capture and conversion of atmospheric co2 into biomass however despite billions of years of evolution the enzyme is still constrained by a tradeoff between co2fixation activity and co2specificity which limits photosynthetic carbon capture and thus directly agricultural yield in pro2neorubisco we will overcome this fundamental limitation of photosynthetic co2fixation with a completely fresh approach we will use an evolutionarysynthetic biology strategy to study the evolutionary history of rubisco derive a molecular understanding for the enzymes mechanism and develop highly efficient newtonature solutions that we will validate in a realworld context the living chloroplast we will use ancestral reconstruction to replay crucial steps in the evolutionary history of the enzyme we will resurrect the very first scaffolds that just learned to fix co2 protorubiscos and study rubisco ancestors that started to loosely interact with an accessory small subunit we will reevolve these ancestral enzymes and provide them with artificial small subunits to open up new evolutionary paths leading to improved variants these revolutionary studies will be complemented by synthetic biology efforts we will liberate rubisco from its entropic constraints by separating the complex multistep reaction onto different proteins that work in tandem and go even one step further by reinventing the enzymes scaffold finding a new home for the rubisco reaction and create a truly neorubiscocompared to many efforts in the field pro2neorubisco does not screen for existing rubiscos with improved kinetics or improving existing rubiscos in pro2neorubisco we aim at reexploring the history and evolutionary landscape of rubisco and delivering completely novel architectures for the key driver of the global carbon cycle
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versatile printed solutions for a safe and highperformance battery system
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in order to boost the transition to a climate neutral transport sector versaprint will bring innovations to the battery system to tackle safety issues enhance performances as well as decrease cost and environmental impact the versaprint technical solutions will be achieved mainly by 2d3d printing directly on battery components and will operate from the heart of the battery system i providing an efficient cell thermal regulation in order to reduce risk of thermal runaway tr and increase density and lifetime ii significantly improving the system thermal and safety management thanks to in operando sensoring iii adding thermal and safetyoriented functionalities on busbars iv allowing easy and safe dismantling and remanufacturing v lowering the casings weight without losing its capability to contain tr and while ensuring good recycling rate vi providing an advanced thermalfire response and vii controlling the exhaust gases released during a tr by cooling and evacuating them safelyversaprint will also implement a decision tool in order to choose the most optimised configuration for a given end application and will provide a validation at trl5 i at module level with two module prototypes for automotive and aeronautics as well as one virtual module prototype for waterway transport ii at system level through simulation for all these applications other applications such as bus nonroad mobile machinery and stationary storage will be explored as well through simulationversaprint aims to reach the cost and performances targeted in batteries europe 2030 kpis while increasing module density by 5 and significantly improving the battery system fire resistance and safety no fire outside module during tr sustainability will be assessed at all development stagesthe multidisciplinary consortium gathers 3 rtoacademic partners and 7 industrial partners 4 ind and 3 smes and is completed by 12 industrial advisory board members
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toxicologytesting platform integrating immunocompetent in vitroex vivo modules with realtime sensing and machine learning based in silico models for life cycle assessment and ssbd
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safe and sustainable by design approach requires an entire life cycle monitoring of toxicity of chemicals however current testing systems cannot mimic the exposure conditions related to each step and are not compatible with downstream in silico analyses new sets of instrumentation that enables modular testing capacities with integrated data bridging and progressive in silico model development systems are needed toxbox will provide a device based on a prototype developed in a h2020 project panbiora with a flexible microfluidic and instrument architecture to provide a plug and play testing platform to ease accessibility and interlaboratory validation the system will incorporate the following tests with modifications for each step of life cycle automated cytotoxicity and genotoxicity tests connected barriermetabolic tissue couples with cytokine and realtime electrochemical readouts flow cycle modules with environment mimicking conditions a testing module based on zebrafish embryo with mechanical stimuli the system will be validated using metallic 2d structures and nanoparticles biocides and known endocrine disruptors custom made functional polypeptides novel biocides will be used to cover the design phase progressive in silico models for long term effects will be iteratively developed and used to predict each new group to be tested until good predictability is achieved with new chemical formulations comprehensive risk assessment a data management platform that enables interfacing with the available databases will be developed after interlaboratory validation of the device by 4 partners a standardization folder will be prepared to make the device available for testing with accessibility at all stages of material life cycle assessment to different stakeholders toxbox aspires to bring forth an instrument that will provide reliable toxicity data in relevant conditions for each chemical and enable reliable in silico model development
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the political insignificance of extreme weather events
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tackling the climate crisis in an appropriate way making governments sign international climate agreements and letting citizens live up to them proves difficult a muchgiven explanation for this problem is the fact that many of the crisis consequences are only about to happen in a distant future complicates making them visible and tangible in the present however extreme weather events eg floods heatwaves hurricanes might have the potential to break this pattern this project investigates this potential through analyzing the political impact of extreme weather in the american dutch and austrian public spheres it will include three substudies 1 mixedmethod analyses computational and qualitative investigations of a wide variety of extreme weather events in newspapers parliamentary debates and policy documents from the three country contexts to research to what extent how and why they impact political perceptions of the climate crisis 2 a comparison of these results to analyses based on similar data and methods of the impact of terrorist events occurrences which often seem to invoke more immediate and substantial political impact than extreme weather events 3 interviews with public actors journalists politicians scientists to research the cultural and institutional opportunities and constrains they face in the noncreation of extreme weather event impact all together this project adds to two relatively underdeveloped sociological fields environmental sociology and the sociology of events on a societal level it can potentially help politicians and policy makers with how they can through their responses to extreme weather events better handle the climate crisis
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a new diagnostic imaging model dim for measuring 3d surface recession as a tool for the quantification of heritage damage for the development of custom remediation strategies
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we are aware that global climate change and its consequences are a pressing concern and that heritage monuments are particularly sensitive and increasingly vulnerable the comparison between photographic reports on monuments and historical copies reveals at a glance the surface transformations over short periods with severe impact on details readability m3dea offers an overarching strategy for the development of a new diagnostic imaging model dim which aims to quantify the stone recession rate in carbonate rocks by comparing highresolution 3d reconstructions obtained from the trajans column in rome 113 ad italy and those obtained from its historical replicas 16671670 18611862 19391943 and photographic reports realized during a major last century restauration work 19801990 m3dea proposes a risk assessment approach that i combines laboratory tests onsite surveys and 3d modelling to provide quantitative indicators highly representative of potential climate change effects on longtime scale based on multiscale phenomena from the current state of decay and historical climate data ii identifies the main environmental stressors and refine the doseresponse functions drfs in order to foresee future deterioration patterns with reliable simulations according to the intergovernmental panel on climate change ipcc scenarios eg to years 2050 2100 iii considers the loss of surface material in relation to a hierarchical classification of geometrical features and converts stone recession in terms of loss of details lod which will be further elaborated as to decline of future cultural value fcv with 3d visual projections iv develops a dim suitable to be implemented on a larger scale m3dea aims to raise awareness on cultural heritage vulnerability and to support custom remediation strategies for specific stone surface features and climate conditions providing a useful tool to be used in preservation plans of historical areas
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collision avoidance and space surveillance innovations for orbital protection in earth environment
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through cassiopee sms tackles the ever pressing challenge of collision risk management the space industry stakeholders are currently facing sms aims to disrupt space surveillance thanks to its innovative offering optical observation stations based on a patented architecture and proprietary satellite collision prediction algorithms sms ambition is to become the first player offering an independent catalogue of more than 100000 space debris smaller than 10 cm and therefore challenge us air force monopolistic positionhaving access to such cartography is critical to improve space safety in a currently fastdeveloping landscape in orbital activities smss catalogue and services address all space actors needs new space players satellite operators industry majors space agencies sms purpose is protect operators from of assets losses and performance variations preserve modern way of life and ultimately guarantee space exploration remains possible
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democratizing digital farming through smart solutions for small farms
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the last decade has seen an explosion of interest and investment in the use of agricultural digital technologies adss the use of adss is seen by many as an opportunity to increase the economic and environmental performance of the agricultural sector in spite of considerable public and private investment uptake and use of adss by eu farmers has been limited especially among small and medium farms these farms require costeffective dats that help them increase their environmental and economic performance and cross the digital dividethe overall objective of the farmtopia project is to democratize digital farming by creating a paradigm shift in the way adss for small farms are created deployed and paid for this will be achieved by a fostering cocreation of adss to ensure they will solve real problems and fit the needs of small farms and b lowering the cost for both farmers and adss providers by creating a set of reusable software modules a number of business and governance models and identifying public provision of infrastructure that can enable scaleout of adssusing a multiactor approach farmtopia will engage farmers adss providers farm advisors scientists policy makers akis actors and other relevant stakeholders in 18 sustainable innovation pilots sips in at least 15 countries across europe and guide them in cocreating deploying and piloting innovative adss while designing adapting and validating appropriate business and governance models to support them such as the french cuma model which is embraced by 225000 farmers the focus will be mainly on specific crops and livestock for which current ads provision is inadequate as well as on crops that are of regional importance strengthening resilience sustainability and food security across europe 9 sips have been preselected and 9 more will be awarded through an open call enabling a dynamic response to a changing policy and technology landscape
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enriching the green and blue transition research and training network by working together through the new european research area
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middle east technical university metu turkeys leading research university is promoting research in green and blue transition via an international postdoctoral fellowship programme with incoming mobility to turkey enrichtogether provides a timely opportunity for metu to enhance the international mobility element of its national programme by offering 20 researchers prospects to diversify their individual competence with advanced research facilities international interdisciplinary and intersectoral mobility opportunities and tailormade training 13 compulsory crosscutting 15 elective transferrable skills courses and career development all enriched with the capacities of implementing and associated partners selection is based on 2 open calls bottomup proposal development 60 supervisors to choose from and otmr policy attractive working conditions are provided for 24 months in a worklife balanced campus fellows deepen their knowledge and expand their network via secondments cocreation events an international green and blue transition world congress all of which unite the enrichtogether community 12 countries of one implementing partner metugünam and 17 5 4 and 2 associated partners from academia industry ngos and governmental bodies respectively the tailormade dec plans of rs will exploit the vast array of opportunities provided by the support offices of metu enrichtogether i provides a unique experience for next generation green and blue transition researchers able to translate scientific breakthroughs to benefit european society and economy ii reinforce metus and partner organizations position and visibility at a global level and iii strengthen europes human capital base in ri the cocreative environment of enrichtogether supports its vision to better align the turkish ri landscape to the core values of the eu hrs4r by giving metu the first university in turkey to obtain the hr excellence in research award
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disrupting the food ingredient and protein markets a breakthrough technology for largescale microalgae cultivation
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by 2050 it is estimated that the protein demand will grow by 78 and reach 360 million tonnes yearly if the entire population consume at current levels agriculture is nearly maximally exploited and issues such as climate change and urban expansion pose important challenges to the future of agriculture therefore new solutions and additional resources are required to meet the increasing demands arborea aims to develop and put on the market a revolutionary bioreactor for microalgae growth which will solve the crucial issues for largescale and commercially viable microalgae production as food source and allow arborea to produce and bring to market sustainable food ingredients and protein commodity at disruptive price with eics support the technology will evolve from the end of the rd phase to the scaleup phase accelerating the transition to a sustainable food system
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exploring emerging mycotoxins risk in beans a global alliance for climate change resilience mycobeans
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the overall aim of the mycobeans project is to strengthen the collaboration and promote the excellence of the academic and nonacademic institutions involved with the common goal of exploring the emerging risk due to the occurrence of mycotoxins in legumes intended as alternative plant proteins and therefore increase the resilience of the beans and legumes sector thanks to its topclass partnership mycobeans will bring innovation in mycotoxins diagnostics toxicological evaluation and biotechnological mitigation along the entire plant protein supply chain the consortium led by the university of parma italy involves internationallyleading academic and nonacademic partners from the eu uk and asean countries and has been designed around the already existing network of the international joint research center on food security thailand the strong connectivity already in place among partners will ensure the knowledge and expertise transfer help build new research alliances and enrich staff and young researchers capacities from all members of the consortium young researchers will be exposed to a very diverse and multidisciplinary environment thus ensuring a quick professional growththe specific objectives will be achieved through an extensive program of interdisciplinary and intersectoral short and mediumterm staff exchanges and expert visits involving doctoral and postdoctoral researchers as well as senior staff aimed at crosspollination among scientific disciplines from chemistry to toxicology biotechnology industrial processing as well as regulatory science as a complement a rich program of training workshops seminars summer schools and dissemination and outreach activities will ensure a significant impact both at a professional career level as well as for industry and society
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photonic integrated octenhanced flow cytometry for cancer and cardiovascular diagnostics enabled by extracellular vesicles discrimination
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imaging tools such as the computed tomography ct and the magnetic resonance imaging mri can offer diagnosis of the cancer and the cardiovascular disease cvd but not insight into the molecular mechanisms that promote their occurrence progression and possible resistance to treatment information about these mechanisms is present however in the blood extracellular vesicles evs are secreted into the blood and can inform us about the state of their cells of origin and by extension about the presence and progression of diseases unfortunately their detection is still imperfect due to the ultrasmall size 50200 nm of most of them phorever will develop a disruptive multisensing platform that will enable for the first time the reliable detection of evs with size down to 80 nm the detection of evs with specific biomarkers proteins on their surface and the calculation of the corresponding ev concentrations in the blood its operation will be based on 3 sensing modalities flowcytometry fcm with 4 wavelengths 405 488 633 and 785 nm as the main modality for ev detection and size classification dualchannel sweptsource optical coherence tomography ssoct with 25 m resolution for imaging of the sensing area and noise reduction of the fcm measurements and fluorescence sensing at 488 nm for biomarker detection after staining the key components will be the 2 photonic integrated circuits in triplex and the 3 microfluidic chips which will be integrated as a compact pointofcare device the medical impact can be groundbreaking the first use case will be related to pancreatic cancer with focus on progression monitoring metastasis risk assessment and treatment efficacy evaluation the second use case will be related to stroke with focus on its fast and precise diagnosis for timetotreatment reduction in either case data analysis empowered by artificial intelligence will correlate the measurement data to disease specific medical information
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plexigrid plexar operated grids
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plexigrid plexar operated gridsplexigrid is creating a new value chain since it is building the operating system for tomorrows electricity grid this system enables a new value chain for electricity distribution where producers consumers grid operators and their devices evs heat pumps batteries ac units solar pv transformers smart meters interplay in real time to optimise energy usage and the utilisation of the electricity grid infrastructure by automatically adapting the flexible consumptionproductionstorage of these players this dual gridenergy optimisation would reduce hundreds of billions of euros annually in energy savings and grid fees the elements of this future value chain are already there consumers producers retailers grid operators and their wind solar pv evs heat pumps ac units batteries smart meters but the real time synapsis and orchestration of these hundreds of millions of devices requires a layer of intelligence which does not exist todayour solution is a new grid operating system that makes electricity distribution grids fit for the energy transition ie fit for a safe intelligent and efficient orchestration of the hundreds of millions of evs heat pumps pv panels that electricity grid operators will have to host in their grids our technology provides grid operators with 3 superpowers 1 ari realtime visibility across the whole network today grid operators have limited to no visibility below 20000 volts where the vast majority of the new demand has to be hosted 2 tatari realtime grid analytics grid operators lack realtime analytics under 20000 volts 3 tia realtime access to flexibility ie to the flexible scheduling ev charging heat pumps our solution enables an optimal use of grid capacity and saves hundreds of billions of in capexopex for grid operators and their customers
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plant ev farming
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extracellular vesicles evs are biomembraneenclosed structures that are ubiquitously secreted by living cells evs by transferring proteins lipids nucleic acids and other molecules to neighbouring or distant cells contribute to tissue homeostasis and have roles in many physiological and pathological processes in this context plantderived vesicles started to receive attention as valid alternatives to evs released by mammalian cell going beyond the stateoftheart and relying on a highly interconnected approach farmevs project will setup a vegetablebased system for the massive production of vesicles and explore them as highvalue ingredients for plant and human health this will be achieved through the isolation and engineerization of evlike nanovesicles from organically grown crops plant derivedvesicles will be exploited for sustainable agriculture with the help of an organic farm in finland and an agricultural university in egypt moreover we will setup plant cell cultures for ev farming and by applying emerging biotechnology we will develop evbased solutions to increase the viral resistance of plants and the prosymbiotic activities in legume cropsto achieve the goals a multidisciplinary consortium with the participation of 8 partners from universities research centres an sme and an organic farm from 6 countries has been created with the integration of a broad expertise ranging from ev research biomembrane modelling plant genetics plant physiology virology molecular farming engineering and agriculture this project will strengthen the already existing collaborations create new ones and provide a solid cornerstone for further research efforts of the consortium participants after the ending of the project an ambitious staff exchange programme for the transfer of scientific and transferable skills dissemination and outreach activities was implemented into the scientific plan
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algorithmic governance a public perspective
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in our digitalising world algorithmic systems are widely used in public governance however evidence suggests that algorithmic governance is perceived as less legitimate compared to governance that involves humans despite wellknown deficiencies and biases in human decisionmaking perceived legitimacy of algorithmic governance increases when humans are present in some capacity socalled humansintheloop i argue that in order to explain the legitimizing effect of humansintheloop we need a theory of how legitimacy judgments are created and changed in the minds of individuals when they encounter algorithmic systems of rule to this end agapp infuses the study of political legitimacy with a theory of ecological rationality stemming from cognitive science i propose a novel legitimation heuristic model to explore the cognitive dynamics of legitimacy judgments as contextbound evaluations the empirical investigation focuses on a new european travel information and authorisation system etias etias is a paradigmatic case of algorithmic governance as it relies on big data and algorithms to perform risk profiling and implement migration policy this project collects empirical data on how individuals assess the legitimacy of etias by means of rigorous mixedmethod research design it integrates methods from humancomputerinteraction research thinkaloud protocols of participants interaction with a mockup etias interface and includes visual elicitation into focus groups and survey experiments to ensure effective treatment agapp breaks new ground as it extends the use of heuristic assessment models to legitimacy research while agapp focuses on applications of legitimation heuristics model to algorithmic governance if the model turns out to be an accurate portrayal of legitimacy judgment process it has wider implications for other governance contexts and for the study of cognition of legitimacy more broadly
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critical bottomup and material geopolitics of the european union in the black sea
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the russiaukraine war has elevated the geopolitical significance of the black sea the sea has become a site of military battles blockaded trade routes and environmental degradation the entanglement of this body of water with many contentious developments underscores the need for a deeper and multifaceted understanding of its role in contemporary geopolitics yet the militarystrategic analysis which dominates the academic scholarship on the black sea ignores other important geopolitical dimensions such as interests and knowledge of the local coastal communities and the materiality of the sea water in shaping geopolitical relations the project therefore aims for a critical bottomup and material geopolitical reframing of the black sea in which the body of water and its coasts remain both a central object of analysis and a key site of study of geopolitics empirically the research focuses on the black seas role in the european unions eu geopoliticization of its european neighbourhood policy enp since 2014 it investigates the black seas role in the european unions geopolitical agenda and practice methodologically the research brings different geographical scales and vantage points on the black sea geopolitics together such as the eu institutions in brussels coastal communities on the black sea and the sea itself in order to capture various elements and phases of eus practice of geopolitics from inception to implementation and finally effect and impact
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in vivo immunofluorescenceoptical coherence tomography
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current clinical medicine relies on mri and ct for structural imaging and immunopetspect for molecular specificity the combination of structural imaging and molecular specific imaging provides detailed information about expression of proteins and cell surface receptors in vivo in humans petctmri has become an essential component of personalized medicine however the resolution of mrict is just under a millimeter while the resolution of pet is limited to about 210 millimeters insufficient for early disease detection moreover pet is associated with radiation burden of ligands labeled with a radiotracer and can image only one labeled ligand at a timewhat is missing is the ability to image in vivo with much higher resolution and to image multiple molecular targets and molecular interactions simultaneously i propose to develop the optical equivalent of pet ctmri with a 10 to 100 fold better resolution to reach this goal i will integrate threedimensional endoscopic optical coherence tomography oct for structural information with depth resolved imaging of fluorescently labeled monoclonal antibodies for molecular specificity to image the hollow organs accessible by endoscopy i will develop the immunooct technology integrated with miniature motorized catheters and the multifiber detection technology for depth resolved fluorescence determination for endoscopic immunooct in catheters as small as 15 mm diameter i will focus on esophageal cancer and lung disease the proposed research has a much broader impact creating a platform to study in detail therapytissue interactions longitudinally in vivo in patients providing in vivo information approaching immunohistochemistry analysis this approach will revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of patients with a resolution approaching immunohistology at high speed over large volumes using minimally invasive technologies
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elevating the future of cancer care with alpha theranostics
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accelerateeu a collaborative european initiative envisions revolutionising theranostics through innovative targeted alphatherapies tats using astatine211 a unique consortium will combine diagnostics with potent cytotoxic effects of alphaparticles to enable precise tumour radiation while minimising side effects accelerateeus core objectives areinnovate theranostic solutions based on therapeutic and diagnostic pairs for hardtotreat cancers exploring the potential for simultaneous preclinical studies and earlyphase clinical trials ie coclinical approach to showcase the enhanced benefits of these approaches for cancer patientsestablish a robust and sustainable eu manufacturing and treatment infrastructure for astatine211 ensuring compliance with quality assurance and regulatory guidelines while streamlining the supply chain across the euproduce comprehensive educational and training content to support the deployment of theranostic solutions fostering knowledge dissemination transfer and longevitydurabilityaccelerateeu strategically develop tats to address unmet clinical needs in pancreatic breast and brain cancers the coclinical approach incorporating concurrent clinical and preclinical studies adds a breakthrough dimension to theranostics accelerateeu pioneers 211attheranostics establishing a resilient eu scaleup production network and empowering healthcare providers to offer tats to cancer patients through the collaboration of experts from academia industry and regulatory agencies accelerateeus implements a visionary approach addressing clinical gaps accelerating tat theranostic development supporting eu global leadership with primary target to improve patient outcomes for lasting impact on eu cancer care
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diverse exoplanet redox state estimations
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new observational capabilities with the jwst and ariel space telescopes will strongly advance our ability to characterize exoplanetary atmospheres while the community focusses mainly on biosignatures in diverse i will search for signatures of geophysical factors that influence habitability specifically the diversity of planetary redox states the redox state is of major importance for habitability since reducing conditions favour prebiotic chemistry for life as we know it atmospheres of rocky planets are typically divided into two distinct classes h2hedominated reduced atmospheres of primordial origin here denoted as class i planets or secondary more oxidized atmospheres of volcanic origin here named class ii planets in the solar system observations are limited to old evolved atmospheres that became oxidized over time and do not allow to directly constrain the planets interior redox states furthermore detection of reduced species such as co or ch4 does not unambiguously link back to the interior redox statein contrast if we were able to detect h2dominated atmospheres lacking he here called class x planets the most likely explanation would be strongly reduced degassing from the magma ocean or subsequent volcanism distinguishing class i and x planets would truly allow to constrain the planetary redox state and indicate how it depends on observables such as stellar composition or planetary mass estimates on the distribution and observability of class x planets are yet missing but became recently possible diverse will build strong predictive theoretical models linking the interior evolution including core formation with atmospheric abundance and erosion models including the observability potential to determine the diverse evolution pathways of reducing atmospheres of primary secondary or hybrid origin i will thus address whether and for which planet classes the atmosphere could indeed serve as a window into the interior
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unifying ecophysiological predictions of ectotherms to global warming
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ongoing climate change represents a major threat to biodiversity and scientists now face pressing concerns to forecast how ecological communities will respond to global warming in the medium to longterm however the current framework to study heat tolerance rely on critical thermal limits ctmax which comprises a coarse metric that has been shown to be unrealistic not only results from ctmax are ludicrous they do not allow for temporal forecast unfortunately this is what overwhelming majority of research groups are now measuring at an enormous waste of time and human effort the ewarm project proposes the ambitious umbrella objective of stablishing a unified predictive framework for the study of heat tolerance in terrestrial and aquatic ectothermic animals for this purpose the candidate will develop a novel comprehensive analytical toolbox to anticipate heat mortality with a unprecedented accuracy and reliability this approach translates highresolution temperature records from the field into realistic mortality rates of species importantly the analytical routines proposed can be expanded to include the interplay of warming with other factors such as heat waves phenotypic plasticity or hypoxic stress as a proof of concept the candidate will study drosophila species as model organisms from terrestrial and daphnia species invertebrate and galaxias maculatus fish as model organisms from aquatic ecosystems the subject of the ewarm project is both timely and important as more reliable predictions of the impact of global warming on populations resilience are urgently needed repercussions of this research will be immediately transmitted to the society and they will have a big scientific political economic and health impact
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global governance of labour an integrated approach
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the project global governance of labour an integrated approach glogolab aims to investigate in a comprehensive way the emergence of different transnational regimes of regulation of work in response to the increased integration of the world economy the project uses a msca global fellowship to leverage on my expertise on multilevel economic governance industrial relations and labour sociology and bring it from a continental to an even more relevant global level it will be hosted by the department of political and social sciences at scuola normale superiore under the supervision of prof guglielmo meardi who is a leading scholar in the field of labour sociology and industrial relations and by the ilr school at cornell university in the us host of outgoing phase under the supervision of prof sarosh kuruvilla worldrenowned scholar of employment relations in global supply chains the action has three specific research objectives first to provide a comprehensive mapping of different forms of global governance of labour emerged with the increased transnationalisation of the world economy building a database covering the last three decades 19902020 ro1second to analyse and compare the impact on workers rights of different global labour governance structures and the different strategies adopted by social forces visvis them through an indepth comparative analysis of four critical cases drawn from the database ro2third drawing from different theoretical approaches industrial relations multilevel governance social movement studies to refine an analytical approach which is able to account for the complex policy processes and outcomes taking place within global governance of labour structures ro3 by proposing an integrated approach to the study of global governance of labour the project will therefore make a significant empirical and theoretical contribution
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subtype as a key to reduce heterogeneity of treatment effects in major depressive disorder
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major depressive disorder mdd is a leading contributor to disability and suicide it is the most costly brain disorder in europe although multiple treatments are of proven efficacy individual responses to treatments vary considerably and mdd recurrence is common there is considerable motivation to improve treatment regimen for individuals with mdd however it has been challenging because of the fundamental lack of understanding about the causes of variable treatment outcomes mdd is widely accepted as a heterogeneous disorder yet most research strategies effectively consider mdd as a single disorder progress in understanding the variable treatment response will depend on patient stratification ie identifying and accounting for patient heterogeneity when evaluating treatment efficacysubtreat proposes a unique direction which considers subtype as the key to link aetiological and treatment effect heterogeneity our approach is to break down the heterogeneous treatment outcomes of mdd into more narrowly defined subtypes with divergent aetiologies specially i propose three work packages 1 dissect treatment heterogeneity across subtypes a particularly innovative aspect of subtreat is that we will use advanced data science approaches to identify novel subtypes which correlate with differential treatment outcomes 2 determine divergent causes underlying mdd subtypes we will comprehensively investigate causes at three levels including genetic and causal epidemiological risk factors and brain cell types 3 develop a novel prediction algorithm for treatment outcomes stratified by patient subgroups subtreat will illuminate the causes of mdd subtypes and the principal patterns of how subtypes contribute to differential longterm treatment outcomes subtreat findings will promote targeted drug development and treatment optimization for patient subgroups to achieve precision psychiatry
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conjugation of nadcapped rnas to proteins by adpribosyltransferases to generate rna therapeutics
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background we discovered that nadcapped rnas can be covalently attached to specific target proteins by the phage t4 adpribosyltransferase art modb which we term rnaylationscientific problem rna therapy has almost limitless yet unexplored potential its translation into the clinics however requires optimal rna delivery with high rna stability efficient cellular internalisation and precise target affinity hypothesis proteinrna interactions are ubiquitous and central in biological control i hypothesise that conjugating a nadcapped nucleic acid to a protein catalysed by an art generates a novel biomolecule the rnaylated protein with unique functionalities the covalently linked protein or nucleic acid can trigger a directed intracellular delivery where both the protein and the nucleic acid can become functionally active this allows targeted modulation of translation or transcription or editing rnaylated proteins may provide a platform to engineer the cell and represent a starting point for the creation of next generation rna therapeuticsobjectivesthis project aims to establish rnaylated proteins as a fundamentally novel tool to regulate cellular processes in objective 1 we will define the design principles for rnaylated proteins allowing to control cellular processes in objective 2 we will develop delivery strategies to transfer rnaylated proteins in specific cell types and allow for precise cellular localisation in objective 3 we will combine the design and delivery principles for rnaylated proteins and apply them to target the tumour suppressor protein p53 by regulating translation transcription or by editingimpact this project will develop rnaylated proteins as next generation rna therapeutics and deepen our understanding of how a fundamental scientific discovery the rnaylation of proteins catalysed by the t4 art modb can be translated into an application
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a groundbreaking collaboration framework realizing the next era of cybercrime detection and multistakeholder investigation for leas judicial ecosystems and citizens
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in order to address the fastevolving challenges with respect to advanced forms of cybercrimes enabled by fully available stateoftheart technologies crimeasaservice there is a need for leas to form and apply cuttingedge collaboration frameworks that will break communication silos within the wider judicial ecosystem these frameworks may span in numerous pillars such as i regulated privacypreserving and easy sharing of information related to criminal activities enabling crossborder agencytoagency collaboration in a transparent and explainable manner ii joint criminal investigation further facilitated by beyond stateoftheart tools enabling realtime collaboration and the full exploitation of distributed digital infrastructures to enhance cybercrime intelligence iii exchanging different types of expertise cybersecurity experts forensics experts lawyers and stakeholders from the judicial ecosystem psychologists social scientists to realise cutting edge investigative approaches and iv knowledge and best practices sharing with respect to trainings and cybercrime awareness ganndalf will set new grounds for the fight against advanced forms of cyber threats and cyberdependent crimes it will i realise cuttingedge agencytoagency data sharing mechanisms optimising the balance between transparency and privacy based on the needs of each lea ii deploy a modular decisionsupport toolbox that will comprise not only groundbreaking technologies for collaborative investigation prediction and identification of advanced forms of cyber threats but also optimisation mechanisms enabling the full exploitation of these technologies iii build on the above 2 offerings and deliver a customizable collaborative crime investigation sandbox for scenarios hypotheses analysis and crime investigation and iv facilitate policy drafting training and citizens engagement via innovative mechanisms that will realise the cyber hygiene 20 visin
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future data storage using colloidal memory technology
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data is being generated at everincreasing rates with the widespread digital transformation in businesses and society the continually increasing demand for affordable data storage puts tremendous pressure on storage technologies new concepts for lowcost highstoragedensity memories are urgently needed to keep storage capabilities in line with the growing demand fastcomet is a colloidal memory concept in which colloidal nanoparticles are considered data carriers the memory consists of a large array of nanocapillaries in which two types of nanoparticles with antagonistic electrophoresis dep properties can be selectively inserted into the capillary by dep forces data can be stored as the specific stacking sequence of the different particle types a cmos circuit at the periphery of the array addresses and controls the electrodes the longterm aim is to develop an integrated device that is able to store data using nanoparticles smaller than 15 nm this would ultimately result in ultrahigh bit densities exceeding 100 gbit per square millimeter and potentially reaching 1 tbit square millimeter at a lower cost than existing data storage technologies in the fastcomet project we aim to establish a proofofconcept for colloidal memory by identifying suitable nanoparticles developing nanofabricated test structures using advanced nanoscopy imaging techniques to demonstrate the selective manipulation of nanoparticles into passive nanocapillary arrays and establishing a modeling framework for future technology development
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exploring the impact of anisotropic viscosity on the interplay between ice and mantle dynamics
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the loss of ice mass from polar and highelevation regions is a significant contributor to global sea level rise and affects climate and biosphere changes due to its importance a better understanding of the dynamics of ice sheets is considered a priority for scientific advancement by the intergovernmental panel on climate change dynamice aims to enhance our understanding of ice sheet dynamics and ice mass loss by investigating the coupled flow dynamics of polar ice and the deforming mantle below with a focus on the role of anisotropic viscosity for determining deformation ratesice and olivine the main building crystals of ice sheets and the mantle respectively are two of the most anisotropic crystals on earth this means that individual crystals have preferred slip systems along which it is easier to deform them depending on the deformation direction with respect to the mean orientation of crystals in both ice and mantle rock the bulk viscosity can vary by a few orders of magnitude such variations in viscosity can greatly affect the flow of ice from ice divides to the sea as well as the mantles viscous response to the unloading of deglaciated ice as a result spatial differences in ice texture can locally enhance or slow down ice flow leading to some areas with faster than average ice loss and others where ice is stabilized moreover in locations where ice loss is fast and where mantle textures are favourably oriented the viscous response of the mantle can be fast enough to uplift the ice and slow further ice loss potentially stabilizing the ice sheet hence anisotropic viscosity might play a critical role in the interplay between ice and mantle dynamics in dynamice i will implement a framework to infer anisotropic viscosity from both ice and mantle textures in a numerical flow model this will open new avenues for understanding solid earth and cryospheric dynamics and their critical interactions that affect the future of earths ice sheets
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copying as common practice in early modern architecture
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this project advances the hypothesis that techniques of mechanical drawing and specifically drawings produced by manual copying and direct tracing served as the bedrock of early modern architectural education prior to the advent of formal schools of architecture the normative histories of fifteenth and sixteenthcentury italian architecture have relegated drawings of mechanical subject matter construction machinery scaffolding systems structural diagrams military devices to a lower nonartistic status these drawings are deemed inferior not only due to their subject matter but also due to their ubiquity the mechanical drawings used by early modern architects were widely circulated and routinely copied indeed copying drawings and traces have long been considered corrupt in the foundational discussions of disegno the practice and product of drawing giorgio vasari explicitly ridiculed copying practices and the infinite number of substandard artists who employ techniques of tracing in turn he celebrated drawings that were demonstratively autograph or individual as the embodiment of their creators singular genius this framework lay the foundation for modern historys critical assessment of drawings and cemented the idealization of early modern italys great architects while recent decades have seen a notable increase in research on techniques of copying and tracing in the study of early modern painting there remains a critical absence of scholarship that examines the derivative practices that underscored early modern architecture looking beyond anachronistic conceptions of art architecture and engineering and examining a broader corpus of early modern architectural drawings identifying images that are formally and technically related in their execution the project investigates the intellectual processes of design training and brings to light the collaborative frameworks of architectural production
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long life power platforms for internet of things
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in lolipop iot innovative long life power platforms will be developed to enable retrofitting of wireless sensor network wsn modules in iot applications this includes the development of algorithms to perform functionalities like asset tracking and condition monitoring for predictive maintenance they can be used in applications such as industry 40 smart mobility and energy efficient buildings lolipop iot creates an ecosystem of developers integrators and users to develop these platforms thinking about powerbattery life ease of installation and maintenance the project is driven by 12 laboratory and fieldbased use cases to initially demonstrate their technical viability and then potential impact expected impacts from the lolipop iot use cases include a typical battery life increase from 18 months to 5 years b reduced maintenance overhead of mobile and fixed assets from 30 to 15 c reduced costs related to location of assets typ by 100ks pa per use case d optimised flow management and throughput of assets through the identification of bottlenecks yielding reductions of 10 in production time cycle time and inventory costs e improved comfort levels and wellbeing of building occupants whilst reducing energy footprint by 20 and f revenues of 10m pa for lolipop iot industry partners offering asset tracking condition monitoring services all of this is achieved by developing and integrating a multisource energy harvesting solutions vibrational and photovoltaic transducers pmics and discrete circuits b digital interfacing to contextually adapt mode settings of wsn devices and connected systems to minimise power drain c ultra low power components for wsn d innovative architectures for wireless data collection that minimize battery power drain e simulation models to optimise component design and integration and f embedded aiml in iot devices for lower latency and power consumption and higher robustness
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multiorgan toxicity and efficacy test platform for personalized medicine drug development
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the pharmaceutical and medical fields need more predictive models to assess the effects of drugs on patients the demand arisesfrom the desire to replace animal tests enhance predictability and reduce drug development time and costs in personalizedmedicine theres a need for tools like companion diagnostics to identify patients who will benefit and respond from specifictreatmentsrecent changes in eu and us regulations allowing drug candidates to be submitted without animal testing have led to thedevelopment of alternative solutions like 3d cell culture and organsonachip these technologies have shown promise in predictingdrug effects on patients but 3 scientific challenges persist namely including functional vascular interfaces multilayer tissueequivalent reconstruction without pdms and cultivating interconnected organs with varying oxygen concentrations also 2industrial bottlenecks on the compatibility with multiwell plate formats and the need for reproducible biological protocols arepresentcherry biotech has developed a 3d cell culture platform that addresses these bottlenecks with three innovations the microfluidicperfusion lid mpl the hydroflat and the cubix control unit these innovations have received approval from industrial and hospitalpartners and has been patented in europe and usthe company aims to address the preclinical drug development cubix ruo 2026 market and the precision medicine market cubixcdx 2030 the preclinical drug development market is growing rapidly due to favorable regulatory changes while the precisiononcology market is driven by biomarkerbased assays for guiding medical treatmentscherry biotechs work not only has financial implications but also has a significant impact on human health and animal welfare byoffering predictive models and reducing the need for animal testing it contributes to technological advancement and innovation inthe eu
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wireless networks at optical speed with deterministic performance
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future networks will support several applications that require extending fiberoptic quality of experience to wireless links this means connectivity at extremely high data rates with deterministic performance guaranteed requirements in terms of reliability and time response virtual avatar presence traffic control autonomous driving remote health monitoring cyber physical systems for intelligent transportation industrial automation are only a few examples of anticipated use cases owing to the large amount of available bandwidth the european telecommunications standards institute has identified terahertz thz as a key technology for future wireless networks terawireless is the first eu trainingthroughresearch industrial doctoral network of doctoral candidates and senior supervisors fully committed to lay the theoretical algorithmic and architectural foundations for enabling thz systems at optical speed with deterministic performance terawireless will 1 put forth the innovative ultramimo multipleinput multipleoutput technology for increasing the data rate and link reliability through spatial multiplexing and superdirective beamforming and will pioneer the development of electromagnetic and communication models for evaluating its performance in lowscattering thz channels where multipath propagation cannot be exploited by integrating sensing localization communication capabilities 2 leverage the emerging concept of semantic and goaloriented communications by folding message semantics and goals of communication within communication layers 3 develop innovative physicsbased ml solutions for energyefficient robust reliable and explainablebydesign implementations 4 make available to the research community the eus and worlds first openaccess and opensource simulation environment integrating ray tracing linklevel and systemlevel features for evaluating and optimizing thz largescale deterministic networks at optical speed
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electrified conversion of plastic waste into olefins downstream integration
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the overall objective of electro is to demonstrate a revolutionary technology concept that links the waste and petrochemical industry and provides them with a sustainable low ghg footprint and scalable circular solution for olefin and polyolefin production the priority for electro is the plastic waste streams that are currently not recycled but rather either incinerated or dumped to landfill examples are multilayer plastics mixed peppps and waste ps an innovative modular extruder for optimal pretreatment of plastic waste will be combined with an electrically heated reactor for the catalytic pyrolysis of plastic waste at trl 7 the main product plastic waste pyrolysis oil will be used as a feed for steam crackers steam cracking will be electrified in the rotodynamic reactor rdr a second novel reactor technology to be demonstrated at trl 7 in electro in the rdr heat transfer is accelerated by an order of magnitude compared to heat transfer rates achieved in the fired heaters used in conventional crackers and so the rdr has a substantially higher selectivity towards light olefins and improved process efficiency the light olefins will be further processed into pe and pp demonstrating the technical feasibility of chemical recycling and the use of plastic waste as a circular carbon feed this scalable concept will enable strong industrial symbiosis with the initial lca showing an 90 ghg reduction compared to todays best available technology bat given the amount of plastic waste that can be converted and the market demand for the compounds produced the impact of electro will be profound to further extend the impact of electro the global replicability and economic viability of the proposed concept will be demonstrated using waste streams from the republic of korea and indonesia and a thorough programme will be implemented to train the next generation of waste management engineers and workers
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evolution of biomolecular condensates
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cells organize billions of protein molecules into membranebound and membraneless compartments called biomolecular condensates previous research on condensates focused on identifying their components material properties and function in homeostasis and disease in contrast to our relatively precise understanding of membranebound compartments we lack a comprehensive picture of the mechanisms that target proteins into condensates and how condensates emerged during evolution i hypothesize that localization into condensate is encoded in protein sequences and that functional condensates are under selection pressure and therefore conserved i propose a comprehensive research program including both theoretical and experimental approaches to reveal how and when protein condensates emerged during evolutioni propose to1 map proteomes of condensates across the tree of life2 reconstruct the history of condensates3 follow trajectories of condensate evolutionspecifically i will1 investigate what conserved sequence features drive localization to condensates by developing computational tools to predict the proteome of specific condensates across the tree of life and by testing partitioning of proteins into condensates experimentally2 reconstruct the evolutionary history of the protein components of conserved condensates and thereby trace their evolutionary origin analogous to protein families we will define condensate families based on shared properties of their proteins and function by developing similarity metrics we will reconstruct the phylogeny of condensate families and compare to organism and organelle evolution3 perform directed evolution of ancestral noncondensateforming proteins towards condensate partitioning and follow their mutational trajectories building on our already developed tools and the new algorithms proposed here combined with experiments we will be able to map the molecular history of condensates on the tree of life
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intelligent device and computational software to control mechanical stress and deformation for biological testing
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in nature all biological material from the cell to the tissue level is subjected to continuous mechanical stress and strain these mechanical cues play an essential role on several biological processes and can determine the fate of a healing or a cancerous process among many others therefore research activities focusing on studying the deterministic nature of these processes need a robust test platform that allows for reproducing these mechanicallyvarying environments such a system would significantly contribute to improving invitro testing of therapies and drug discovery incorporating the essential influence of mechanics in pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies however the current approaches are restricted to basic science methods with important limitations this lack of a suitable system hinders the translation of basic science in mechanobiology to its application in the industrialtechnological field isbiomech proposes a novel intelligent system to control the mechanical environment of cellulartissue materials to be commercially exploited as laboratory equipment for mechanobiology research and pathological treatment testing the novel device and associated software will provide the first commercially available system to allow for robust and reproducible invitro testing of mechanicallyinfluenced biological processes more concretely the system will use magnetoresponsive substrates allowing for noninvasive multidimensional and realtime control of complex deformation modes on cellulartissue materials this technology will be implemented and validated by demonstration activities at stakeholders labs to address timely mechanobiological studies in epithelial wound healing neurological disorders and cardiac pathology the proposed system has the potential to open the experimental path to improve current treatments in eg cancer pathologies pathological skin scarring or fibrotic heart remodelling during myocardial infarction
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constructing amlo political persona visual media and populism in mexico
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the global resurgence of populism continues to have devastating legislative effects particularly for human rights and media independence while contemporary scholarly investigations into this political phenomenon tend to focus on rightwing populist figures it is essential to broaden understanding beyond this current anxiety to combat the rise of antidemocratic movements a more nuanced understanding of populism derived from this study will decentralise the eurocentric conflation of populism and the political right that exists at present the proposed project will respond to the rich scholarship emerging from latin american scholars on leftwing populism to enrich global debates and critical reflection on the question of how to define populism and challenge its pervasive narratives the project will examine the visual representation of leftwing mexican populist president andrs manuel lpez obrador 20182024 from his first presidential campaign in 2006 to the end of his first year in office in december 2019 scrutinising this case study in dialogue with other latin and north american populists the proposed research will facilitate closer engagement with presentday populism public persona and the mediatising of politics with ten years of experience in researching the representation of mexicos political system predominantly through film and visual media and with a focus on its figureheads i am uniquely qualified to pursue this line of investigation to deliver this project i will be drawing on five documentary texts a selection of televised morning press conferences maaneras and referencing social media in order to analyse the creation of a political persona in the context of the mexican sociohistoric landscape my deep interest and expertise in contemporary mexican politics media and art my commitment to decolonizing research and scholarship and my extensive portfolio of work on the intersection of these subjects will form an exceptio
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smart maritime and underwater guardian
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the primary goal of smaug is to improve the underwater detection of threats in ports and their entrance routes by means of a integrated system capable of providing data concerning threat analysis between 3 main elements ports security infrastructure advanced underwater detection systems and surveillance vessels underwater detection and location will be performed by four primary methods i acoustic detection where a series of hydrophones will listen for sounds emitted by small underwater vehicles and will be processed by artificial intelligence methods ii rapid sonar hull scan used to scan ships hulls and perform harbour floor scanning iii high resolution sonar inspection to inspect objects in water with poor visibility and iv collective autonomous location where a swarm of autonomous underwater vehicles will act cooperatively this will provide information to artificial intelligence modules which will improve the way detecting illicit and dangerous goods andor of threats hidden below the water surface is currently done taking into account sources such as unmanned surface vehicle systems usv underswater remote operation vehicle rov uav aerial autonomous vehicle and port current information sources the combination of these tools will allow smaug to prompt solutions capable of detecting possible threats to infrastructure or vessels as well as identify vessels with concealed goods
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hybrid virtualized testing for certification of egnss in railway train positioning
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vice4rail aims to accelerate the adoption of egnss for deploying efficient resilient and competitive ertms solutions focus is on the development of a certification and standardization process for the use of egnss closing the gaps for rail safety critical applications and converging towards a paneuropean egnssbased solution for ertms and its global rollout the starting point is the use of egnos v2 and the balise virtualisation as indicated by the european parliament directive on july 2021 opening the way for further applications based on the absolute train positioning and egnos v3 two major developments will be undertaken identification of suitable certification procedures compliant with the cenelec norms and realization of a hybrid virtualized testing certification environment based on the zeroonsite testing paradigm with the construction of a dedicated testing facility on a rfis railway lines where gnssbased multisensor positioning solutions can be evaluated and certified in operational scenarios this unique testing environment will be connected with the ertms accredited laboratory of cedex to assess the endtoend performance of the ertms chain with gnssbased positioning devices in operational scenarios behaviour of the system under gnss signals that include faults very rare and difficult to experience field but with a potential high impact on safety can be evaluated avoiding extensive and not exhaustive field tests vice4rail will exploit the synergies with the pilot line novara rho funded by rfi to integrate gnss positioning into the ertms and the shift2rail gate4rail project that introduced the zeroonfield virtual testing for gnss furthermore thanks to sncf cedex rfi and sogei a liaison will be established with the europes rail r2dato project to complement their ongoing activities and sharing results and assets and with the rtcm sc 134 special committee that is completing the standardization process for gnss receivers for rail
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viral hijacking of the hippo pathway hcmvencoded viral gpcrs us28 and ul78 differentially modulate the hippo pathway in cancer
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the human cytomegalovirus hcmv is a herpesvirus that infects large parts of the population with a prevalence of 80100 in europe in healthy individuals hcmv infection usually induces little to no symptoms however recent findings indicate that hcmv might contribute to a variety of diseases including cancer and heart disease two of the leading causes of death in europe the aim of this project is to uncover how and why hcmv changes the progression of cancer to achieve this we will investigate two hcmvencoded viral g proteincoupled receptors vgpcrs us28 and ul78 like other viral proteins these vgpcrs hijack the signaling network of the host cell specifically us28 and ul78 modulate the hippo pathway which controls cell proliferation and organ growth as dysregulation of the hippo pathway has been linked to cancer modulation of this pathway by these vgpcrs may be a crucial determinant of hcmv on cancer progression our preliminary findings show that us28 and ul78 activate distinct mechanisms to hijack the hippo pathway us28 couples to g proteins of the gqg12 family which are known to lead to hippo modulation conversely ul78 does not signal to gqg12 and seems to hijack the hippo pathway via a different undescribed mechanism thus we will use a combination of biochemical readouts to investigate the signaling of us28 and ul78expressing cells to identify the distinct signaling mechanisms by which each vgpcr hijacks the hippo pathway we will also investigate the outcomes of this hippo pathway modulation in a viral cancer setting by infecting a glioblastoma cell line with hcmv strains that either encode or lack us28 or ul78 our findings will contribute to a fundamental understanding of how hcmv can influence progression of cancer moreover these studies might potentially identify a new mechanism linking gpcrs to cell proliferation in the long term this project may lay the groundwork for the discovery of new cancer treatments
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developing technologies to engineer plant genomes at the megabase scale
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genomics research combined with revolutionary genome editing tools has created new opportunities to explore fundamental aspects of biology and develop novel biotechnologies for medicine agriculture and industry the omega project is designed to build on these developments by enabling megabasescale engineering of plant genomes experimentallydetermined lists of essential genes have been crucial for such largescale projects in other species but are currently unavailable in plants therefore the omega project needs to determine which plant genes are essential for growth and development however the standard technologies used to identify essential genes are limited by genetic interactions eg redundancy synthetic lethality my group is developing multiplex crispr screens in plants to specifically overcome these limitations the omega project will use this capability to identify genomewide essential genes and genetic interactions in physcomitrium patens this will be the first systematic genetic interaction screen in plants and will likely identify interactions conserved across the green lineage the omega project will also develop technologies to move edit and delete dna at the megabase scale as proofofconcept i aim to reduce 10 of the p patens genome and remove all nonessential dna from one chromosome the scramble system will be adapted for p patens and used as an alternative approach to minimize chromosomes and also perform in planta directed evolution lastly we will use a dna assembly method developed in my lab to build biosynthetic pathways in vivo using modular dna assembly methods these tools will create opportunities to explore fundamental aspects of genomics chromosomal biology and synthetic biology the objectives of project omega are necessarily ambitious as these technologies will allow us to perform controlled megabasescale engineering projects in plant genomes not possible with the current generation of genome editing tools
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carnivores in human settlements a new and different way to address the middle palaeolithic record
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anthropogenic sites often emerge from overlapping actions andor occupations that include disruptive processes consequently the palimpsests that arise can have a disorderly appearance which may complicate the interpretation of such sites the problem is worsened when some agents such as carnivore scavengers act on the archaeological record causing the remains to disappear and leaving no obvious signs of their passage such occurrences have important consequences for archaeological studies especially when trying to apply ethnographicallyderived postulates created in highresolution temporal contexts however new interpretations that are more complete can overcome this problem if the behaviour of scavengers is modelled using controlled experimental programs with wild carnivores neotaphonomy scavengers consists of monitoring experimental reproductions of hearthrelated assemblages like those described in archaeological contexts exposed to different species of wild carnivores hyenas lions bears wolves and other smaller carnivores the results will then be subsequently tested on different middle palaeolithic assemblages using artificial intelligence through computer techniques based on convolutional neural networks however the main aim is to generate crosssectional data that can be applied to all periods and geographic areas overcoming the limits of traditional archaeological methods to make accurate inferences about past human behaviour the results of this project will contribute to the development of a new paradigm changing some basic ideas about prehistory there is a risk of generating a huge and unmanageable quantity of variables from neotaphonomy however accumulated information and experience will provide valuable data and information for other areas of knowledge such as those related to naturalistic studies animal behaviour and management of natural resourcesparks
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automated canceronachip organspecific metastatic spread
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despite the improvements in cancer treatments diagnostic tools and preventionearly detection strategies cancer is still a major public health burden as one of the 6 leading causes of death worldwide in 2020 90 of the 10 million deaths registered out of 193 million new cancer diagnoses were associated not with primary tumors but with the secondary ones generated by the metastatic processthe complex timedependent chain of events and cascades of biophysical and biochemical factors regulating tumor metastasis cannot be replicated using conventional in vitro cell models such as transwell invasion and scratchwound healing assays nor in vivo animal models the scientific and medical communities are striving to better understand the steps of metastatic spreading to devise strategies to stop its occurrence especially in pediatric oncology as in the case of neuroblastoma the most common and difficult to treat among tumors of preschool age 15 of pediatric oncology deathsto solve these limitations we propose arachnid a unique multiplexed automated and increasedthroughput multiorgan on achip platform conceived around the complex process of cancer metastatic spread the projects potential for breakthrough innovation resides in its unique capabilities promising to accelerate research reduce costs and contribute to the development of more effective cancer treatmentsthe arachnid project aims to explore and prove the technicalcommercial potential of our proprietary tumormetastasisonachip tmoc platform starting from pediatric tumors and extending the application to adult cancers involving biogenera biotechnological sme operating the pharma nb domain as a testbed and early adopter
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crossdisciplinary network for research excellence in regenerative economy innovation ecosystems
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the project aims to raise excellence in science and value creation through deeper and geographically inclusive cooperation in alliance of higher education and research institutions in 5 widening and 4 scienceleading european countries to support the shift towards a regenerative economy paradigm global competitiveness and visibility of the he institutions in widening countries are to be improved by creating critical knowledge and research mass through cooperation with leading european research institutions in the area of the regenerative economy directly aimed towards the twin green and digital transitions this is to be achieved through clearly defined and measurable subgoalsto achieve a more balanced circulation of talents leading to a diverse and inclusive research community and innovative research outcomes by organising exchanges short visits and conferences participationsto reinforce the role of he institutions in innovative ecosystems by bringing additional expertise and resources by european leading researchintensive institutions to support the development of innovative ideasto mainstream practices and tools for open knowledge and data sharingto make progress toward reforming the research assessment system including career assessmentto improve links between science and business by providing access to networks resources and expertise to support the development of business partnerships and collaborationsto promote gender equality diversity and inclusivenessto accelerate societys green and digital transition to support era policy agenda action 11to encourage collaboration with thirdcountry entities to support era policy agenda action 9the project contributes to the aims of empowering universities as actors of change in ri by promoting crosssectoral collaboration between universities and other actors in the ri ecosystem improving their knowledge valorisation capabilities and contributing to raising excellence in science
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extraction modelling and analysis of the brain vessel tree
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the brain vessel tree is essential to brain function however we still have limited knowledge about this structure compared to other organs that have been extensively studied while atlases have been helpful in advancing our understanding of the brain in neurosciences the same progress has not been seen for the brain vessel tree its extraction modelling and analysis still pose several methodological challenges making it impossible to accurately robustly reliably and reproducibly quantify and compare it across individuals within large populations as a result brain vascular atlases that provide a comprehensive representation of the brain vessel tree are scarce and the existing ones face important limitations this is a critical bottleneck towards understanding the role played by the neurovasculature in pathology onset ageing and wellbeingcaravel is an ambitious project at the intersection of biomedical imaging neuroscience computer vision statistics and medicine aiming to transform neurovascular image analysis it will devise a radical new approach to build and provide the first population atlas of brain vascular ageing encompassing multiple scales and it will formulate a robust and reliable methodological framework to accurately extract model and analyse the brain vessel tree in a reproducible way our efforts will enable the study of the brains vascular system at a scale that is currently unattainablethe atlas and its methodological framework will be freely available to the scientific community this will help clinicians and researchers to test and validate new hypotheses discover knowledge about the brain vessel tree and its interaction with the brain and contribute to numerous clinical applications hence caravel shall have a tremendous impact on society and the economy
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establishing collaborations with danish dairy farmers to support epiherd platform development and generate novel epigenomics data from cattle to address animal health and productivity
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antler bio is a deep tech company that supports animal health efficiency and performance through epigenomics we have developed a novel technology and concept which data is powerful enough to change livestock and agricultural industries for the better to meet the global goals for a more sustainable future we are tapping the currently underexplored data of epigenomics analysing which crucial genes linked to health and production in livestock are active expressed and which are silent furthermore the environmental factors such as habitat animal husbandry and feed affect gene expression understanding this data allows precisionadjustments to increase wellbeing and production in a natural way to deliver this data to dairy farmers we are developing epiherd an aiplatform currently at trl5 that aims to help farmers analyse herd performance against its actual potential improve animal management and husbandry in a targeted way strategically select individuals for breeding and production and detect developing health disorders before symptoms arise with substantial proof in equine and having successfully transferred the technology to bovine we now collaborate closely with key organisations and selected farms in finland to widen our epigenomic database and develop the platform based on farmer feedback being an earlystage deep tech company struggling to find adequate funding the cost of acquiring the gene expression data is currently our greatest challenge hindering growth and expansion if we were to be supported by the women techeu programme we will execute the plan outlined in this proposal to collaborate closely with 6 danish dairy farms enabling us to diversify our epigenomic database and capture crucial feedback that will influence platform and service development the programme would also impact antler bio through offering support that will help me develop and grow as a ceo which will reflect on the performance and success of the company
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dissecting the biophysical mechanisms of deep brain stimulation using voltage fluorescence microscopy
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deep brain stimulation dbs is a promising neuromodulation technique for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases dbs electrically stimulates brain tissue via implanted electrodes however the biophysical and therapeutic mechanisms underlying dbs remain largely unknown while longstanding theories suggest that dbs suppresses neurons subsequent studies have shown that dbs activates neurons via direct axonal excitation modulating membrane dynamics information transfer and network synchronization unfortunately this conundrum has been difficult to resolve experimentally because of 1 the electrical interference occurring in electrodebased recordings and 2 the challenge of measuring cellularlevel membrane voltage dynamics in the awake brain in this proposal i will overcome for the first time both key challenges by using a novel invivo voltage fluorescence optical technique that permits the direct recording of the membrane voltage from identified neurons in awake animals free of electrical interference i will combine voltage fluorescence microscopy and electrical stimulation in a mouse model of epilepsy to optically dissect the cellular mechanisms underlying therapeutic dbs for reducing seizures in the limbic system this innovative and comprehensive approach will provide novel insights into the cellular and circuit processes occurring during dbs in the awake epileptic brain this research program will provide an unprecedented opportunity to build a mechanistic framework of dbs and stimulation parameter selection with the ultimate goal of identifying more effective and targeted dbs protocols for human patients
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unraveling the etiology of congenital heart defects the role of maternal genetics and cardiovascular disease as a risk factor
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one in a hundred infants is born with a congenital heart defect chd both genetic and environmental risk factors such as maternal diabetes and obesity are known to cause chd however little is known about the disease mechanisms behind these risks chd can occur as an element of a syndrome in conjunction with other anomalies or as an isolated defect i propose that there is an etiologically distinct environmental chd subgroup where in addition to the childs genes maternal genetics and gene expression play a major role in disease development moreover i propose that in these cases the genetic risk profile predisposes the woman for both having offspring with chd and having early onset atherosclerotic disease my objective is to study how maternal genetics and maternal cardiovascular morbidity as an environmental risk contribute to the risk for having offspring with chd in addition the multifactorial aetiology in terms of the presence of both risk factors will be studied using a unique dataset available only in finland three different substudies will be conducted 1 finnish national registers gathering health related information of all finns from birth to death will be used to determine the presence of atherosclerosis and related traits such as hypertension and coronary artery disease in mothers who have offspring with chd compared to those without tot n 1 million 2 maternal genetic risk loci for having chd in the offspring will be sought in the finngen study tot n 05 million 3 maternal 1st trimester serum samples from pregnancies with and without chd will be analysed to identify chd associated biomarkers tot n 3200the study results will provide important information on how the combination of maternal genetic and environmental risk factors contribute to cardiac developmental defects during early pregnancy and offer new insights for future research on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of cardiac development
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innovative energy storage systems onboard vessels
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aeneas aims to contribute towards climateneutral and environmental friendly water transport through three new next generation clean energy storage solutions eventual impact is an increase of the global competitiveness of the eu waterborne transport sector by european technology leadership for energy storage solutions for diverse waterborne applications it will focus on increased and early deployment of climate neutral energy storage solutions and significant electrification of shipping aeneas will provide solutions to improve overall energy efficiency and drastically lower energy consumption of waterborne transport vessels founded upon innovative electric energy storage which is safe and cost competitiveness compared to traditional batteries to achieve this aeneas will develop three innovative electric energy storage solutions ess for waterborne transport which are advanced beyond the traditional battery systems solidstate batteries ssb for constant load waterborne transport applicationssupercapacitors sc for waterborne transport applications for shaving of power peak demands and peaks during loadinghybrid system which combines ssb and sc for waterborne transport applications requiring high energy and power density energy storage solutionsthe solutions enable partial or full electric shipping taking into account conditions specific ships might encounter including adverse conditions outside sheltered waters or going upstream on rivers aeneas will evaluate them for a range of applications and end uses in shortsea shipping and inland waterways for each of these three esss one usecase will be demonstrated at trl 5 at the same time aeneas will define the pathway for the three esss for application in different ship types achieving a comprehensive understanding of the esss and their applicability for diverse waterborne transport finally aeneas will define a roadmap for full scale onboard demonstrators of two esss by 2027
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antagonizing gnrh signaling as a holistic therapeutic strategy for polycystic ovary syndrome
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pcos is the most common endocrine disorder affecting up to 18 of women worldwide the syndrome imposes a heavy health burden covering infertility obesity type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome the development of treatment options is an urgent need since there is currently neither a cure nor mechanismbased treatments leaving patient management suboptimal and focused solely on symptomatic treatment one key neuroendocrine aberration in most women with pcos is increased luteinizing hormone lh pulse frequency this suggests an increase in activity of gonadotropinreleasing hormone gnrh neurons in the hypothalamus the lh hyperpulsatility contributes to increased ovarian thecal androgen secretion and failure of ovulation constituting a pivotal pathogenic role in the syndrome these evidences suggest that alterations of gnrh neuronal activitysecretion could be the basis for neuroendocrine anomalies that accompany the reproductive disturbances in the syndrome in grasp we will test the hypothesis that low administration doses of a gnrh antagonist aimed at tempering lh secretionpulsatility can ameliorate both reproductive and metabolic pcos traits in animal models of pcos and in women with pcos the specific objectives of grasp are to i doserange gnrh antagonism to rectify lh pulse amplitude and frequency in pcoslike mice ii to perform a longterm treatment with the selected doses of gnrh antagonist to assess its potential beneficial outcomes in correcting reproductive and metabolic alterations of this preclinical model iii to perform a pilot doseeffect clinical investigation testing the ability of subtherapeutic doses of gnrh antagonist to rectify the altered hormonal dynamics in women with pcos the overall goal of grasp is to provide a proofofconcept for future longduration randomized controlled trials of this approach to appraise its clinical benefits in women with pcos and to move forward towards therapeutic innovation
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smart cardiac magnetic resonance delivering oneclick and comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular diseases
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cardiovascular disease cvd causes at least 18 million european deaths annually exceeding fatalities from cancer chronic respiratory disease and diabetes consequently the fight against cvd has become the main priority of the world health organizationin the pursuit of understanding and treating cvd cardiac magnetic resonance imaging cmr has remained the only modality capable of providing a comprehensive assessment of the hearts function and structure without harmful radiation unfortunately current cmr systems remain too slow too complex require highly trained specialists and as such have presented a barrier to a wider adoption of cmrthe aim of my erc project is to unleash the full potential of cmr to transform patient trajectories by introducing a fast oneclick fully automated and comprehensive imaging pipeline applicable to diagnosis prognosis and therapy selection in cardiologythis aim will be achieved by i creating a novel imaging technology that collects cmr data in a single continuous freebreathing scan taking into account postprocessing requirements at the very origin of cmr sequence design ii exploiting the unique contrasts generated by this technology to automatically extract quantitative markers on cardiac anatomy function and tissue characteristics and iii translating this transformative technology from a preclinical to a clinical settingthis will be the firstever integrated cardiac imaging pipeline in which cmr images are acquired in a single click jointly represented in a single volume and automatically analysed this will unlock obstacles for broader acceptance of cmr and unleash the full potential of cmr to maximize its impact on patient trajectories the results of this project will pave the way towards robust imagebased strategies for personalized patient care diagnosis risk stratification therapy selection monitoring and imageguided interventions
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implementing oral and long acting preexposure prophylaxis in mobile men in subsaharan africa mobile men
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reducing hiv is key 2030 sdg target in africa hiv prevention research has focused on young women yet heterosexual men vulnerable due to their mobility remain who priority longacting injectable cabotegravir cabla and ondemand oral preexposure prophylaxis prep have not been evaluated in such men who are not inline to receive either building on our eu studies men want ondemand prep and cabla referred to as new prep options this project using reaim framework reach effectiveness adoption implementation and maintenance uses rapid assessment followed by implementation trial objectives1 catalystsbarriers across local and regional contexts that could influence uptake of new prep options by mobile menaqualitative assessment mobility patterns of men knowledge perceptions of prep effectivenessbpolicy analysis at local and national level2 assess implementation effectiveness of new prep options by comparison of retention in care effective use and expressed choiceopenlabel study of 400 men from mobile groups in south africa and uganda randomised to oral tdfftc or cabla over 9 months then access to both to 18months3 preferences of mobile men amongst new prep options aadoption of new prep options bbarriers in non prep acceptorscpatterns of prep use dparticipant staff community reflections 4 reach and implementation of prep for mobile men amongst service providers to inform scaleupareach of prep bfeasibility of delivering prep in different settings cfidelity of prep delivery in practice dservicelevel needs and adaptations to implement prep objectives 3 and 4 use mixed methods in users and service providersobjective 5 affordability cost and cost effectiveness of new prep options using hiv synthesis modelthis first multicountry study of ondemand prep and cabla in men in africa provides evidence for guidelines change inform scalability and provide operational tools for prep implementation
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broadspectrum antiviral sirnas influenza strains targeted by anticipation
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fighting emerging viruses has been a major challenge in the development of novel therapeutics with the current global changes and massive modification of the biosphere the issue will surely increase in the future to overcome this challenge we will demonstrate on influenza that we are capable to produce active antiviral against a strain that is not yet existing the barista project will allow to develop a novel therapeutic approach allowing to preserve therapeutic activities over a wide range of influenza strains and we will demonstrate its efficacy on the influenza strain of the next outreach this achievement will be obtained by guiding the design of chemically optimized sirna by detailed nmr structural analysis those molecules will be tested both in vitro and ex vivo and their broadspectrum activity will be demonstrated on past present and future influenza strains this project will therefore open the way to therapies that can be designed and optimized even before the appearance of a novel strain providing an invaluable help in fighting emerging viruses
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development of a boryl radicalmediated hatom transfer umpolung blueprint to make nucleophilic radicals behave as electrophilic species
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aliphatic molecules are integral to every aspect of chemistry and radical chemistry has strong impact in their preparation however radical reactions are heavily influenced by the polarity of these species which ultimately controls their reactivty profilemost notably standard alkyl radicals are nucleophilic and therefore do not react with electron rich aromatics and olefins electrophilic radicals display strong reactivity with these species but they are of limited synthetic valuethis project seeks to address this challenge by developing an innovative approach for radical umpolung in particular we will demonstrate the integration of photoredox catalysis and boryl radicalmediated hatom transfer catalysis as a unique blueprint for the activation of alphaalphadiborylated alkalnes this will generate alphaalphadiborylated radicals that owing to their strong electrophilic character will i react with electron rich aromatics and olefins and then ii enable diverge functionalization in this way we will overcome the fundamental issue that nucleophilic alkyl radicals do not react with electron rich olefinsaromatics this reactivity will streamline the preparation of many highvalue but difficult to make aliphatic products will be used in latestage functionalizations and will substantially expand the fields of photoredox catalysis and boryl radical chemistrythis research capitalizes on recent developments of the leonori group that has experience in the design of methodologies based on both hatom transfer and boryl radical reactivity the completion of such an innovative and ambitious project at rwth aachen university will be facilitated by generating transferring sharing and disseminating knowledge and will enhance my future career following the training plan envisioned
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deciphering cellular networks for membrane protein quality control decisions
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any cell and each of its organelles needs to interact with its environment membrane proteins which span the plasma membrane and the multiple endomembranes of a eukaryotic cell mediate these interactions they allow cells to move thrive and defend and multicellular organisms to exist humans dedicate almost one third of their genes to membrane proteins failures in membrane protein biogenesis or function cause numerous human diseases from cancer to neurological disordersby far most eukaryotic membrane proteins are produced at one organelle the endoplasmic reticulum er where a dedicated protein folding and quality control machinery supports and controls protein structure formation in contrast to our comprehensive understanding for secreted proteins our understanding how cells support and control the biogenesis of membrane proteins is still limited to further advance our understanding in this key area in molecular cell biology is the major aim of this proposal using recent biochemical and cell biological techniques combined with newly developed tools we will address the following major questionshow do cellular quality control factors determine the folding state of a membrane proteinwhich molecular signatures underlie the decision to chaperone or to degrade a membrane proteinhow do chaperones collaborate in membrane protein biogenesiswhich further membrane protein chaperones and quality control factors exist in the mammalian eranswers to these questions will be major steps forward in our understanding of the inner workings of cells but also of the mechanisms underlying membrane proteinassociated diseases three objectives will serve this goalobjective 1 define signatures of intramembrane quality control decisionsobjective 2 dissect chaperone synergies in membrane protein biogenesisobjective 3 identify novel membrane protein chaperones by functionally validated interactome analyses
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european virtual institute for research software excellence
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the everse project aims to create a framework for research software and code excellence collaboratively designed and championed by the research communities across five eosc science clusters and national research software expertise centres in pursuit of building a european network of research software quality and setting the foundations of a future virtual institute for research software excellencethis framework for research software excellence will incorporate aspects involving community curation quality assessment and best practices for research software this collective knowledge will be captured in the research software quality toolkit rsqkit a knowledge base to gather and curate expertise that will contribute to highquality software and code across different disciplinesby embedding the rsqkit and services into the eosc science clusters everse will demonstrate improvements in the quality of research software and maximise its reuse leading to standardised software development practices and sustainable research software furthermore we will drive recognition of software and support career progress for developers from researchers who code to rses raising their capacity to guarantee software qualitythe european network for research software quality aims to crossfertilise different research domains act as a lobbying organisation and raise awareness of software as a key enabler in research with the overall ambition to accelerate research and innovation through improving the quality of research software and codeeverse ultimate ambition is to contribute towards a cultural change where research software is recognized as a firstclass citizen of the scientific process and the people that contribute to it are credited for their efforts
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identification of novel therapeutic approaches to target the immune checkpoint protein b7h3
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immunotherapies have revolutionized the treatment of multiple cancer types in the last decade nonetheless nonsmall cell lung cancer and triplenegative breast cancer exhibit only restricted response to immune checkpoint blockade especially in advanced tumor stages clinical options are limited and novel approaches to enhance antitumor immune responses are needed the immune checkpoint family member b7h3 pdl3 is frequently upregulated in cancer cells studies have shown that b7h3 promotes tumor growth in a cancercell autonomous fashion and inhibits immune cells in the tumor microenvironment despite being an important clinical target its posttranslational regulation and functional interactors on t cells are poorly understood the proposed project aims to identify novel approaches to target b7h3 by harnessing the ubiquitin system and to identify b7h3s interactors on human t cells with the objective of enhancing clinical treatment options for cancer patients my experience in solid tumor biology and antitumor immunity paired with the host labs expertise in studying the ubiquitination system will be a great catalyst for the proposed project enhancing its likelihood of success this fellowship will allow me to conduct cuttingedge research at the center for translational cancer research of the university clinics rechts der isar of the technical university of munich tum a renowned research institution with a wellrecognized supervisor prof bassermann allowing me to expand my international network scientific skills as well as leadership and management skills ultimately this fellowship will be a tremendous stepping stone in my scientific career it will bring me closer to my goal of becoming an independent researcher working at the interface of cancer biology protein biochemistry and cancer immunology where i can put my own projects into practice and train the next generation of international scientists
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palomera policy alignment of open access monographs in the european research area
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academic books continue to play an important role in scholarly production and research communication particularly in the social sciences and humanities as an important output of scholarly production academic books must be included in open scienceopen access policies and strategies developed by research funders and institutions to ensure that open science becomes the modus operandi of modern science across all disciplines however contrary to article publishing in journals especially in the areas of science technology and medicine academic books have not been a focus point for open access oa policymakers consequently books are only rarely mandated to be published oa by research funders and institutions palomera will investigate the reasons for this situation across geographies languages economies and disciplines within the european research area era through desk studies surveys indepth interviews and use cases palomera will collect structure analyse and make available knowledge that can explain the challenges and bottlenecks that prevent oa to academic books based on this evidence palomera will provide actionable recommendations and concrete resources to support and coordinate aligned funder and institutional policies for oa books with the overall objective of speeding up the transition to open access for books to further promote open science the recommendations will address all relevant stakeholders research funders and institutions researchers publishers infrastructure providers libraries and national policymakers the palomera consortium broadly represents all relevant stakeholders for oa academic books but will facilitate cocreation and validation events throughout the project to ensure that the views and voices of all relevant stakeholders are represented promoting diversity equity and inclusionthis will assure maximal consensus and takeup of the recommendations
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identification and change of passive value markers in the laboratory and naturalistic environments
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when you look at a given object are you calculating its value even if not prompted to dowhen you look at a given object are you calculating its value even if not prompted to do so most theories of valuation claim that choice prompt or in general elicitation are needed to induce valuation however the wellknown mere exposure effect dating back to 1968 suggests that merely viewing an item can induce valuation and even enhance value in this proposal i aim to demonstrate that valuation is an early and automatic process relying on visual attentional and motor systems passivevaluemarkers offers a novel framework to identify biomarkers of value of individual items passively without elicitation the aims of passivevaluemarkers are 1 identifying behavioural and neural passive markers for individual items using computational modelling in and influencing these markers 2 detecting passive markers of value in gaze pattern analysis behaviourally and in the brain using fmri 3 considering the gap that exists between laboratory studies and the real world i will identify passive value markers in naturalistic virtual reality environments the overreaching aim of this proposal is to develop a new theoretical framework on individual passive value construction and change to do so i will use a unique combination of neuroimaging computational modelling gazetracking analysis and virtual reality this research will directly address an understudied area of how value for individual items is formed by the brain without active prompt or elicitation uncovering the mechanisms of passive value representation at the single item level and individualized per participant will allow to design closed loop manipulations at the item level this approach will serve as the basis for developing novel evidencebased methods for enhanced preference modification in healthy participants and in disorders with abnormal valuation such as addictions mental illness and eating disorders
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brainstem circuit ensembles for movement flexibility
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movement is the shared language of behavior across the animal kingdom orchestrated by dedicated circuits throughout the central nervous system to survive animals must move with a high degree of flexibility requiring precise and rapid changes in speed and trajectory this flexibility of locomotion depends on the brains ability to select appropriate motor programs and coordinate body and appendage muscles to match the locomotor movement parameters to the behavioral context in particular the brainstem has been identified as the major site for shaping motor commands to provide this flexibility a key unsolved question is how the final brainstem commands are generated and adjusted in this project we will test a new hypothesis that challenges current views in motor control namely that the final motor commands driving the flexibility of locomotion movements are the combined product of precise interactions between circuit ensembles in the brainstem and realtime feedback from the spinal circuits our approach harnesses the powerful combination of alloptical techniques scrnaseq and electrophysiology at singleneuron resolution to determine the principles of circuit integration within and across brainstem circuits in adult zebrafish this innovative approach will allow us to uncover circuit function at a level of resolution that has never been achieved before in a behaving vertebrate animal by performing a systemwide analysis at singlecell resolution we expect to gain unique insights that will transform existing views in the field of motor control this project will chart a novel systemwide circuit blueprint for movement control and flexibility in vertebrates
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development of novel single cell multiomics methods to uncover regulators of cell type specific epigenetic states
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although all cells of an organism share the same genetic information they selectively access this information in a cell type and contextdependent manner epigenetic mechanisms such as posttranslational histone modifications pthms have been identified as central regulators of transcription factordna interactions during cell differentiation the distribution of pthms is modulated to enable the new cell state most of the protein complexes that position writer and remove eraser pthms have been identified but we still do not understand how these proteins are recruited to the genome and thereby dictate the specific genomic distribution of pthms previous studies were unable to identify these targeting factors as they only interact with a fraction of writer complexes at a time and likely form transient interactions thus new experimental approaches are needed to identify these proteins that are directing localised epigenetic changesin scepitarget i will develop novel singlecell methods to identify the key factors that determine celltype specific pthm deposition i will use the identified regulators to retarget pthms and evaluate their impact on cell fate decisions in stateoftheart cell differentiation systemsrecently i made a technological breakthrough by developing a method that allows the simultaneous measurement of histone modifications and total rna in single cells together with my background in genetic screening and chromatin biology this will enable me to reach scepitargets objectives the proposed techniques are transferable to study any proteindna interaction making them highly valuable for the research communityepigenetic pathways are essential for multicellular life from the beginning of embryonic development until their misregulation during ageing the identification of factors regulating pthm distribution will lead to a better understanding of their function and how they can be therapeutically influenced during pathogenes
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unveiling the shadows illuminating late pleistocene humancarnivore interactions in europe
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caves played a vital role for pleistocene human and carnivore populations serving as shelters scavenging sites and feeding grounds they remain the primary context preserving archeological and faunal remains in europe carnivores competed with pleistocene humans for resources and significantly contributed to cave bone accumulations and modification notably evidence of carnivore behaviors largely derives from anthropogenic contexts studied through an anthropocentric lens however carnivore remains are often invisible in the archeological register making it difficult to study them and draw precise conclusions about the level of interaction with humans and their extinction dates here i hypothesize that many species of pleistocene carnivores are present in europe for much longer than what the fossil record indicates that their presence can be assessed by revising the sediments and bones of archeological sites and that the lasting populations show signs of genetic collapse linked to population contraction therefore i propose to study pleistocene carnivores in europe focusing on iberia during and after the late glacial maximum a period marked by human population decline and climatic refugia the rich and complex archeological setting in the region will be used to identify date and delineate lasting carnivore populations this information will improve the understanding of humancarnivore interactions to do this i have designed an innovative approach uniting cuttingedge methods like high spatiotemporal precision sampling for sediment dna and paleoproteomics which combined with traditional zooarchaeological techniques overcomes the limitations of fossil availability the research has the potential to a improve the understanding and nature of the cooccurrence between pleistocene humans and carnivores and b characterize the biological process of extinction helping us improve the conservation of current critically endangered fauna
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emerging nanotools for soft matter characterisation and manipulation
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advanced nanotools including atomic force microscopy optical microscopy and correlative microscopy are enabling techniques for discoveries and knowledge generation in nanoscale science and technology many rd efforts have been directed towards the performance improvement of such kinds of techniques for soft matter however the greatest challenge faced by these leading edge techniques is the realization of high spatiotemporal resolution noninvasive multiscale and multidimensional imaging and manipulation we therefore propose nanoram a 10 esr marie skodowska curie action doctoral network by close collaboration between academic and industrial partners around the theme of innovative nanotools and their industrial applications nanoram will train a new generation of esrs in the development and application of newly developed manipulation and characterisation nanotools in soft matter research esrs will be crosspollinated with concepts and skills in instrumentation and soft matter characterisation in particular in fast nanomechanical spectroscopy nanorobotics correlative superresolution nanoscopy nano biomechanics and mechanotransduction these skills are applied to reveal for the first time the fast high resolution multilevel and 3d information for single cell biomechanics and nanomedicine excellent training in new scientific and complementary skills combined with international and intersectoral work experience will instil an innovative creative and entrepreneurial mindset in esrs maximising economic benefits based on scientific discoveries these specialised highly trained esrs will have greatly enhanced career prospects and qualifications for access to responsibility job positions in the private and public sectors the ultimate goal of nanoram is to consolidate europe as the world leader in innovative nanotool techniques and their emerging applications in soft matter fields such as biomechanics mechanobiology and nanomedicines
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emerging pests and pathogens as a novel lens for unravelling socialecological cascades
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emerging pests and pathogens epps are an increasingly disruptive force to human society that can cause large social and ecological changes far beyond their initial site of emergence three forces contribute to this growing challenge now and in the foreseeable future first potential epps are more likely to come in to first contact with human habitats as human land use expands second denser human trade and travel networks mean that epps are more likely to emerge in new regions third human technology such as biocidal agents increases risks for reemergence understanding how epps cascade across scales in socialecological systems is therefore an urgent priority but no formal approach currently exists for analysing the ripple effects at scale from their seeding to their lasting societal imprints this project aims to fill this gap in sustainability science for societythe influx project will test the hypothesis that epps commonly cascade to interact with largescale social and environmental challenges and that small differences in socialecological conditions in turn influence the likelihood and nature of epp cascades i will test this hypothesis by leveraging a comparative mixedmethods research design to assemble a large database for up to 1600 epps encompassing microbial pathogens as well as arthropod and plant pests specifically four objectives will be pursued which are to understand1the drivers of emergence risk and their connections to human environmental sustainability and social conditions 2the types of cascades that result from action aimed at governing epps3the lasting impacts epps have on societies and the conditions under which they arise4the feedbacks from 31 including through implications for social equity and environmental sustainabilityinflux constitutes a major step in situating epps in the field of sustainability science and for developing societal capacity to navigate a future characterized by them
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