Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "Bottom-Up generation of atomicalLy precise syntheTIc 2D MATerials for high performance in energy and Electronic applications – A multi-site innovative training action" "Steven De Feyter" "Molecular Imaging and Photonics" "The “graphene rush” has triggered a great interest in the design and fabrication of synthetic 2D materials (S2DMs) excelling in their chemical and physical properties for future emerging technologies addressing numerous societal needs, such as faster and better performing electronics, as well as energy storage and conversion. To match the societal benefits of being at the forefront of new technological and scientific developments, the EC requires a highly skilled scientific and technical workforce that can efficiently finalize the shift to a true knowledge-based society. ULTIMATE will provide to 15 talented young researchers a well-structured training in the burgeoning field of S2DMs by developing their knowledge and understanding on: i) how to generate novel atomically precise 2D materials with defined structure and composition, and ii) how to best exploit their unique and tunable properties for electronics and energy applications. This training-through-research requires an intersectoral approach by specialized and skilled scientists from different (sub-)disciplines including molecular modeling (TUD), organic, macro-/supramolecular synthesis (TUD, HUB, UAM), production of S2DMs (GRA, TUD, UNISTRA, IIT), hierarchical self-assembly (UNISTRA, KUL, HUB, CNR), surface and interface studies (KUL, EMPA, IBM, KFUG, CNR, APE, IIT, UNISTRA), photochemistry and photophysics (UNIME, HUB, UNISTRA, IIT), device fabrication and characterization (IIT, TUD, UNISTRA), and other skills, as well as a strong commitment to the training of young talents with the ultimate goal of achieving scientific breakthroughs in this very topical area of science and technology. The ULTIMATE network will strengthen the EC training efforts by delivering 540 person-months of unprecedented cross-disciplinary and supra-sectoral training that is carefully structured in local, network-wide, and beyond-network training activities, as well as complementary and transferable skills." "Training the next generation of archaeological scientists: Interdisciplinary studies of pre-modern Plasters and Ceramics from the eastern Mediterranean" "Patrick Degryse" Geology "PlaCe is a state-of-the-art, interdisciplinary ETN that aims at training-through-research the next generation of archaeological scientists, integrating a wide range of theoretical and analytical methods for the comprehensive study of pre-modern plasters and ceramics, the first synthetic materials produced by humankind. The interdisciplinary study of these materials from the pre-modern eastern Mediterranean, as well as the technologies, technological know-how, raw materials, and tools developed and employed through the millennia for their production, will provide the framework for the implementation of high-quality training that will assist the recruited early-stage researchers to face current and future challenges in the fields of archaeological sciences and cultural heritage. The eight universities and research centres composing the consortium of PlaCe will join forces in partnerships with other universities and entities from the public and private sectors, in order to facilitate the researchers’ mobility, to develop their analytical and transferable skills, and to increase their employability. At the same time, the multiple individual research projects accommodated by PlaCe will contribute to our enhanced understanding of the evolution of plaster and ceramic premodern technologies, and their adoption in differing social settings, contributing to the history and archaeology of Europe and the eastern Mediterranean." "Relearning Perception Action In Rehabilitation from a Systems perspective (REPAIRS)." "Erik Myin" "Ruhr University Bochum, University Medical Center Groningen, Aix-Marseille University, Autonomous University of Madrid, University of Lisbon, Centre for Philosophical Psychology" "Movement disorders related to perception and action, such as stroke, significantly impair functioning in daily living, severely impacting the life of affected individuals and having a huge economic impact. Although rehabilitation practice aims to restore functional ability through re-learning perception-action couplings, it leads to marginal improvements of daily functioning at best. Here it is argued that to improve effectiveness of rehabilitation a systems approach should be adopted to understand processes underlying perception-action disorders. A systems approach takes into account nonlinear interactions between components, enabling to explain for instance why patients do not respond stereotypical to rehabilitation training. REPAIRS (RE-learning Perception-Action In Rehabilitation from a Systems perspective) is a unique and timely training-through-research school, aiming to improve rehabilitation effectiveness. REPAIRS starts from systems-based fundamental knowledge on learning perception-action couplings to build applications to rehabilitation, while exploiting recent technology advancements. This research school provides the required critical mass of top-level researchers connecting European academic, clinical and technology experts to train the next generation of researchers and entrepreneurs in this perspective. REPAIRS studies interaction between four levels of the perception-action cycle: brain, muscles & joints, agent-environment and social, which is integrated with requirements on translation from clinical, technology and philosophical domains. The focus on interactions between levels and domains naturally ensures an interdisciplinary and intersectoral training. Integrating this with a high-level training of transferrable skills, dissemination and communication while exploiting an Experiential Skill Learning Workshop, will boost the employability of the young researchers involved and the innovation potential of Europe through reshaping rehabilitation." "Smart mitigation of flow-induced acoustic radiation and transmission for reduced aircraft, surface transport, workplaces and wind energy noise" "Wim Desmet" "Mecha(tro)nic System Dynamics (LMSD)" "A step change in our noise mitigation strategies is required in order to meet the environmental targets set for a number of sectors of activity affecting people through noise exposure. Besides being a hindrance to our daily life and subject to regulations, noise emission is also a competitive issue in today’s global market. To address these issues, new technologies have been emerging recently, based on radically new concepts for flow and acoustic control, such as micro-electro-mechanical devices (MEMs), meta-materials, porous treatment of airframe surfaces, airfoil leading-edge or trailing-edge serrations, micro-jets, plasma actuation, … Some of these new ideas appear nowadays promising, but it now appears to this consortium that the development and maturation of novel noise reduction technologies is hindered by three main factors. The first factor is an insufficient understanding of the physical mechanisms responsible for the alteration of the flow or acoustic fields. In absence of a phenomenological understanding, modelling and optimization can hardly be successful. Secondly, tight constraints (safety, robustness, weight, maintainability, etc.) are imposed to any novel noise mitigation strategy trying to make its way to the full-scale industrial application. Thirdly, there is an insufficient knowledge about the possibilities that are nowadays offered by new materials and new manufacturing processes. With this project, we intend to setup a research and training platform, focused on innovative flow and noise control approaches, addressing the above shortcomings. It has the following objectives: i) fostering a training-through-research network of young researchers, who will investigate promising emerging technologies and will be trained with the inter-disciplinary skills required in an innovation process, and ii) bringing in a coordinated research environment industrial stakeholders from the aeronautical, automotive, wind turbine and cooling/ventilation sectors." "Analytical Research in ADME profiling." "Ann Van Schepdael" "Pharmaceutical Analysis, Drug Delivery and Disposition" "The integration of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) profiling into early drug discovery has been put forward as a strategy for reducing drug candidate attrition. Europe is challenged to develop novel ADME screening methodologies with increased efficiency and predictive power to profile the multitude of lead compounds currently being generated. The principal objective of this programme is to train a new generation of ADME scientists, equipped to tackle the challenge. To this end, a structured, interdisciplinary training programme is set up. The scientific aim of the programme is to improve and expand the current ADME profiling armamentarium by introducing:innovative in vitro and in vivo ADME toolsnovel analytical methodologies andnew approaches for ADME data handling and computational modelling. State-of-the-art technologies are coupled with novel methodologies.All research projects rely to a great extent on analytical techniques. In addition to training-through-research, the programme provides a multi-stage training on a network-wide level as well as specialised local activities. The programme will enrol 13 early-stage researchers in a training consortium consisting of 4 academic and 2 industrial partners with worldwide recognised expertise. The trainees will develop in-depth insight and hands-on experience in ADME profiling, as well as scientific breadth and transferable skills. The high degree of intersectoral collaboration and cross-fertilisation fills many of the gaps in current educational paradigms and widens the career perspectives of the trainees in different institutional sectors including education, government and industry. The programme will organise open dissemination events to facilitate the transfer of newly generated knowledge to the broader EU community. The combined goal of the training efforts and innovative research is to lead Europe to the frontline in ADME profiling and secure a leadership position therein." "A general law describing the diffusion of membrane proteins in vivo based on single molecule tracking of membrane proteins in Escherichia Coli." "Johan Hofkens" "Molecular Imaging and Photonics" "The ultimate goal of cell biology is to understand how proteins function in real cells and to understand their regulatory mechanisms. To achieve this goal one needs to analyze molecules in their cellular environment and not under idealized test tube conditions. A major difference between in vivo and in vitro conditions is the crowdedness (and associated molecular complexity) of the cytoplasm and biological membranes. As a consequence diffusion in this environment is significantly slower. To make biology more quantitative, we should measure the key parameters such as reaction rates and diffusion coefficients in vivo. Here, I propose an experimental set-up to measure the diffusion of membrane proteins in live bacterial cells. The main objective of this project is to establish a relationship between the diffusion coefficient and number of trans-membrane helices (radius in the membrane) of membrane proteins. The mobility of fluorescently labeled proteins will be probed at the single molecule level in the membranes of a model prokaryotic organism – Escherichia coli. Single molecule tracking of membrane proteins systematically increasing in size (radius in the membrane) will be implemented to obtain a general model of protein diffusion in the membranes. Assigning actual numbers to the parameters of a cell will provide a quantitative context for systems biology efforts and sharpen our understanding of how a cell works. By training-through-research, the fellowship will allow me to learn new techniques (single molecule tracking, programming) and how to build/align microscope set-ups. This will help me transform from a microscope user to a microscope constructor and vastly increase my potential as a cell biologist. In the international and interdisciplinary environment of the host group I will improve my ability to train and manage people, learn to translate my science, across disciplines, to a new audience and to translate fundamental research into industrial applications." "Training Art and Design Researchers in Participation for Public Space." "Frank Moulaert" "Architecture and Society" "TRADERS focuses on developing and testing a framework of methodologies on which art and design (A&D) researchers can rely when working on public space projects in participatory ways. This framework is transferable and aims to enhance the potentials in A&D practices to contribute creatively in processes of urban and branch-related change. The framework will inform and will be informed by a toolkit. For coherence in the training, Hasselt-Genk will be the anchor case area on which the ESR researchers work together. TRADERS will cooperate with Z-OUT: a centre of expertise on art, design and architecture in relation to public space.To assure the adequacy of an A&D research project, five complementary research foci are covered that correspond to the methodological framework and entail innovative research topics on participation for public space: Intervention (KHLIM (research group Social Spaces, Media, Arts & Design Faculty i.c.w. LUCA)), Play (UGOT), Multiple Performative Mapping (DAE), Data-mining (RCA) and Modeling in dialogue (CHALMERS). A sixth focus will be on the development of a meta-framework allowing these research foci to communicate and collaborate (KU Leuven).To bundle the strengths of different disciplines to commonly approach other non-A&D disciplines and sectors, every participant will work in a partnership with a public or private organization, offering a research and training environment to the researcher and ensuring that his/her research project has a practical and use-oriented focus.TRADERS contains a training program consisting of, a.o.: supervised involvement in six research/training projects at the host organizations with shared activities in Training-through-Research Synergy weeks, collaboration for the research/training with stakeholders and branches that represent future employers, collaboration with various researchers and enterprises from different countries, network-wide research training and Complementary Skills Training at Summer Schools, conference and secondments to associated partners." "FUNSURF: Functional Supramolecular Networks on Surfaces." "Steven De Feyter" "Molecular Imaging and Photonics" "FUNSURF is an interdisciplinary research project which lies at a natural meeting point between chemistry, physics, materials science and nanotechnology. The training-through-research basis of FUNSURF focuses on the design, synthesis and characterisation of functional supramolecular networks on surfaces. Many of the structures produced by supramolecular self-assembly display high levels of spatial order making it an ideal method for producing the next generation of functional nanostructured devices. FUNSURF will produce molecular architectures which can be activated by external stimuli to perform specific functions. These include switching on or off adsorption sites in a network via optically induced changes in molecular configuration and initiating localised chemical reacitons. Alongside this the development of Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) will provide a chemically specific characterisation tool with nanoscale resolution." "Nanophotonics by Nanocrystals, from integration to single photon operation" "Zeger Hens" "Department of Information technology, Department of Chemistry, Utrecht University, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, University of Lille, Imec, Cardiff University, Technion U+2013 Israel Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, IBM Research - Zurich, STRATEGISCH INITIATIEF MATERIALEN VZW, NEXDOT, SINGLE QUANTUM BV, ESPCI Paris" "Phonsi is a research and training program on the development of nanophotonic devices by means of colloidal nanocrystals. Working at the cross-roads of nanomaterials and nanophotonics, it brings together multinational and start-up companies with universities and research institutes around a research programme combining the synthesis and analysis of quantum dots (QDs) with the formation of QD-based nanophotonic devices for emitting and detecting light down to the single photon level. The consortium contains complementary, world-leading expertise that crosses research disciplines, attitudes and methodologies such as chemistry/physics/engineering, synthesis/analysis/ simulation, lab-scale/industrial scale and scientific discoveries/research valorization. At each level, the project is driven by highly challenging and timely research goals, which are translated into well-defined, collaborative trainingthrough-research projects. These train ESRs in different disciplines, give them the opportunity to work with high end scientific instrumentation and expose them to both academic and non-academic research environments. The research projects are complemented by a varied set of network-wide training events that rely on the active involvement of the trainees and stimulate their self-learning capabilities. Local specialist training addresses complementary skills, which trainees will put into practice by contributing to the training events and dedicated public engagement activities. The deep involvement of non-academic partners, including two recently established spin-offs, creates a vibrant research and training environment that fosters a spirit of research valorization. In this way, the program will enable Europe to train ESRs with the multidisciplinary skills in nanomaterials, nanotechnology and photonics the innovation union needs and to raise public interest in these fields of science and technology that are key to make our future way of living sustainable and comfortable."