Title Abstract "Ordinal Analysis of Systems of Determinacy" "Ordinal analysis is the branch of proof theory that aims at quantifying the strength of a mathematical theory or statement by assigning to it a ""number."" These numbers are ordinal numbers, natural extensions of the counting number to the transfinite." "Bose-Einstein condensation of ultracold atoms out of equilibrium." "Michiel Wouters" "Theory of quantum systems and complex systems" "Superfluids form a phase of matter, distinct from the gaseous, fluid and solid states, whose most remarkable characteristic is a vanishing viscosity. This absence of friction is a consequence of the fact that all particles move together, in analogy to the photons that come out of a laser. Lasers and superfluids share the coherence of the particles (atoms and photons respectively), but an important difference between them is that the former are driven (e.g. by an electrical current), where the latter are in thermal equilibrium. The need for the driving of the laser is a direct consequence of its usefulness as a source of coherent photons. Recently, several research activities have developed to bridge the differences between the various forms of coherent matter. From the photonic side, experiments have been performed where the photons come very close to thermal equilibrium by working with efficient thermalization mechanisms and long photon life times. From the superfluid atomic side, experiments have been performed where atom losses were induced by an electron beam, that are replenished by a nearby atomic cloud. The aim of this project is to construct theoretical descriptions of atomic superfluids that are driven away from thermal equilibrium by particle losses. Based on previous studies of photonic systems, we expect that the phase transition between the normal and coherent phases as well as their vortex properties will be modified by the atom losses." "Computational methods for high-resolution mass spectrometry data and massive parallel sequencing" "Dirk VALKENBORG" "Centre for Statistics" "Current developments in high-throughput techniques for life sciences have resulted in ever growing amounts of data. This has led to a situation where the interpretation of data and the formulation of hypotheses lag the pace at which data are produced. The proposed project focuses on mass spectrometrybased proteomics and massive parallel sequencing that measure the expression and fragmentation patterns of thousands of biomolecules in a single experiment. The resulting massive datasets are often analyzed in a sub-optimal manner. As a result, valuable information is lost. It is our ambition to apply statistical and data mining techniques that would allow addressing the issue and enable obtaining new insights and hypotheses. The algorithms are applied to data from fields like, e.g., proteomics, lipidomics, or epigenomics generated by various types of biotechnology instrumentation. To accomplish our objectives, we adopt theoretical and applied research conducted at the University of Warsaw (UW), Warsaw University of Technology (WUT), and Hasselt University (UH). The project is centered on topic-related problems (work packages) that aim at solving the data processing issues. The topics fit within the joint research and Ph.D. tutoring programs at HU, UW, and WUT. The scope of the funding is to extend collaboration and researcher's mobility." "Investigation of Compression Modes in Nuclei Far from Stability" "Riccardo Raabe" "Nuclear and Radiation Physics" "The density of matter in a nucleus is extremely high: about 10000 billions more dense than gold, which in turn is 20 times more dense than water. In nature, only collapsed stars and black holes have a higher density. Nevertheless, it is possible to further compress nuclear matter: nuclei can be squeezed and elongated like a spring, of course in three dimensions. Oscillations that are created in this way are called compression modes of the nucleus. Their characteristics are closely related to the very nature of nuclear matter (expressed by its ""equation of state"") but also to the macroscopic phenomenon of the late stages of the evolution of a star, where density may reach those extraordinary values.Information about the rate at which nuclear matter can be compressed is difficult to obtain. Experimentally, it can be determined by studying a particular class of collisions between nuclei, for which only a small momentum is transferred to a target nucleus. The response of the nucleus is then similar to that of an elastic medium, in which compression and expansion waves are established in so-called giant resonances.We intend to study such compression modes in a large range of nuclei, in order to better constrain the present known value of the compressibility. Because some of those nuclei only exist for a very short time, we will optimise a cunning detection technique, which employs a modern version of the well-known particle-tracking detectors." "Optimizing advanced analytic tasks over distributed data" "Frank NEVEN" "Applied Computer Science Lab, Databases and Theoretical Computer Science" "In the era of big data, companies and scientific institutions are facing data that comes in varieties and volumes never encountered before. At the same time, new needs and expectations exist about the insight and intelligence that can be derived from these datasets using predictive analytics via statistical and machine-learning models and algorithms. While sampling has been a common used technique to bridge the gap between large datasets and deep analytics via expert tools, today, driven by cheap storage and processing capacity, a huge desire exists to use the entire dataset to leverage value in the most refined and holistic way possible. In this proposal, we focus on the support of advanced big data analytics by a new generation of distributed query engines. Here the term big data analytics is used as an umbrella term for complex tasks that combine traditional query operations, like table joins, and operations from linear algebra, like matrix multiplication. In particular, we aim to support big data analytics from a database perspective, where a distributed query engine provides a solid supporting environment for effective computation and optimization of typical advanced analytic tasks. The overall goal of this project is to contribute to a better fundamental understanding of how complex data analytic workflows can be executed in a big data setting, where distribution and parallelization are key." "PhaseFlow: Efficient numerical solver for the Cahn-Hilliard/Navier-Stokes system" "Jochen SCHUETZ" "Computational mathematics" "In this project, we develop efficient mathematical algorithms for the simulation of flows involving two different substances. These flows occur in a variety of applications and a typical example could be the mixture of fuel with air in the engine of a car. Also, the process of carbon sequestration to capture carbon dioxide in the subsurface involves the flow of two substances as the gas is injected into the ground thereby coming into contact with water. Having an efficient algorithm to simulate these flows at one's disposal is of extreme interest to the practitioner, because it allows for making predictions of reality without having to rely on costly, possibly non-conclusive and potentially dangerous experiments. One way of theoretically describing the considered flows is via so-called phase-field approaches. Mathematically speaking, this leads to the coupling of two well-known equations, namely the Cahn- Hilliard equation for the interplay between the two substances, and the Navier-Stokes equation describing the flow. Based on recent results, we propose a numerical method for the coupling of these two equations and apply appropriate measures to analyze the method and to increase its efficiency. Upon completion of the project, we will have a method at our disposal that can be used for engineering applications." "Understanding the design, synthesis and properties of novel Na ion conducting electrolytes." "An HARDY" "Materials Chemistry, Laboratory of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry" "Sodium ion batteries are attracting great attention nowadays, e.g. for stationary energy storage. In view of safety, all solid state sodium ion batteries are highly desired. This requires highly conductive sodium ion electrolytes to be designed and synthesized. Building on existing knowledge of Li ion conducting electrolytes, with highly promising properties, the current project proposal prepares the path to sodium ion conducting eutectogels. In this framework, the synthesis and characteristics of sodium ion conducting ionogels and of sodium ion conducting liquid deep eutectic solvents will be investigated. The knowledge gained this way, will enable that finally the design, synthesis and characterization of sodium ion conducting eutectogels can be investigated. These novel materials' functionality, will be investigated on the pristine materials, but also by the integration of these electrolytes within sodium ion batteries, adding knowledge on the interaction at interfaces. As such, the project covers interesting fundamental questions in the field of inorganic synthesis, as well as physical and electrochemical properties." "A study of the plasmodium vivax reticulocyte invasion pathways and ligan candidates, with special attention to the promising PvTRAg and PvRBP multigenic families." "Cayetano Heredia University, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp (ITM), ADReM Data Lab (ADReM)" "Plasmodium vivax is one of the 5 species causing malaria in humans, and the leading cause of malaria outside Africa. A key step in P. vivax infection is the invasion of reticulocytes (young red blood cells) by the parasite. This invasion is made possible through several interactions between host receptors (reticulocyte membrane) and parasite ligands. While these interactions are well studied for P. falciparum, they remain elusive (and are not comparable) in P. vivax, due to the inability of long-term cultures. However, identifying parasite ligands and characterising the pathways used by the parasite to enter reticulocytes is essential for drug and vaccine development, and is the question that lies at the core of this project. In order to achieve P. vivax elimination, a better understanding of the ligands involved in invasion is necessary. We hypothesize that alternate pathways are used by P. vivax to invade reticulocytes, and that the PvTRAg and PvRBP multigenic families contain important invasion ligands. Therefore, we will carry out the first study integrating newly characterized P. vivax invasion phenotypes with transcriptomic and (epi-)genomic data in field isolates. As such, we expect to advance the knowledge on the role and regulation of PvTrag and PvRBP families in invasion and to discover new potential ligands. Candidate target ligands will be validated by ex vivo invasion assays, and will finally help us to identify the most suited drug and vaccine candidates." "Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) - from rational design to OLED applications." "Wouter MAES" "Materials Chemistry, Organic and Bio-polymer Chemistry" "- In recent years, a number of organic semiconducting materials have been developed to exploit the new light emission principle of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). This concept enables to realize unique optical and electronic properties arising from the efficient thermal equilibration of the lowest singlet (S1) and triplet (T1) excited states of organic fluorophores. As a result, TADF-based organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) show significantly upgraded device performances, comparable to those provided by the state of the art rare metal complexes. To realize efficient TADF, organic luminophores require a very small energy difference (deltaEST) between their S1 and T1 excited states, which enhances the T1->S1 reverse intersystem crossing rate. Such excited state equilibration is attainable by intramolecular charge transfer within systems containing spatially separated donor and acceptor moieties. The critical point of this molecular design is the combination of a small deltaEST ( 10 E6 s-1) to overcome competitive non-radiative pathways, leading to highly luminescent materials. In the presented project, advanced TADF materials will be rationally designed (based on computational pre-screening), synthesized and (photophysically) characterized and then implemented in OLED devices. As such, we aim at a substantial contribution to the transition from a purely academic field to an economic and societal valuable technology." "ELIXIR Infrastructure for Data and Services to strengthen Life-Sciences Research in Flanders" "Immunology & Infection, Immunology - Biochemistry, Centre for Statistics" "Life-science is a data science; it relies on the generation, sharing and integrated analysis of vast quantities of digital data. The knowledge created by connecting life-science data is transforming biological research and drives a new era of integrative biology. ELIXIR is a European Research Infrastructure that brings together international resources in life-sciences to form a single infrastructure enabling scientists to find and share data, exchange expertise and access advanced tools and large scale computational facilities, across borders and across disciplines. This integrative approach offers innovative usage of data leading to an advanced understanding of life and disease. The Belgian ELIXIR Node offers a broad spectrum of services in the domains of human genomics, proteomics and plant science. We will also provide training and tools to facilitate research data management and data-analysis. Our mission is to ensure that researchers in Flanders and Belgium can focus on their research question, rather than on technical details of data, interoperability, compute resources, etc. by providing tailored solutions based on an interoperable infrastructure across Europe."