ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

The objective of this proposal is to determine the unknown criteria for convective cross-flow in bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels (bijels). Based on this, we will answer the question: Can continuously operated interfacial catalysis be realized in bijel cross-flow reactors? Demonstrating this potential will introduce a broadly applicable chemical technology, replacing wasteful chemical processes that require organic solvents. We will achieve our objective in three steps: (a) Control over bijel structure and properties. Bijels will be formed with a selection of functional inorganic colloidal particles. Nanoparticle surface modifications will be developed and extensively characterized. General principles for the parameters determining bijel structures and properties will be established based on confocal and electron microscopy characterization. These principles will enable unprecedented control over bijel formation and will allow for designing desired properties. (b) Convective flow in bijels. The mechanical strength of bijels will be tailored and measured. With mechanically robust bijels, the influence of size and organization of oil/water channels on convective mass transfer in bijels will be investigated. To this end, a bijel mass transfer apparatus fabricated by 3d-printing of bijel fibers and soft photolithography will be introduced. In conjunction with the following objective, the analysis of convective flows in bijels will facilitate a thorough description of their structure/function relationships. (c) Biphasic chemical reactions in STrIPS bijel cross-flow reactors. First, continuous extraction in bijels will be realized. Next, conditions to carry out continuously-operated, phase transfer catalysis of well-known model reactions in bijels will be determined. Both processes will be characterized in-situ and in 3-dimensions by confocal microscopy of fluorescent phase transfer reactions in transparent bijels.

1 905 000 €

Start date: 2019-06-01, End date: 2024-05-31

Chronic lung diseases are increasing in prevalence with over 65 million patients worldwide. Lung transplantation remains the only potential option at end-stage disease. Around 4000 patients receive lung transplants annually with more awaiting transplantation, including 1000 patients in Europe. New options to increase available tissue for lung transplantation are desperately needed. An exciting new research area focuses on generating lung tissue ex vivo using bioengineering approaches. Scaffolds can be generated from synthetic or biologically-derived (acellular) materials, seeded with cells and grown in a bioreactor prior to transplantation. Ideally, scaffolds would be seeded with cells derived from the transplant recipient, thus obviating the need for long-term immunosuppression. However, functional regeneration has yet to be achieved. New advances in 3D printing and 3D bioprinting (when cells are printed) indicate that this once thought of science-fiction concept might finally be mature enough for complex tissues, including lung. 3D bioprinting addresses a number of concerns identified in previous approaches, such as a) patient heterogeneity in acellular human scaffolds, b) anatomical differences in xenogeneic sources, c) lack of biological cues on synthetic materials and d) difficulty in manufacturing the complex lung architecture. 3D bioprinting could be a reproducible, scalable, and controllable approach for generating functional lung tissue. The aim of this proposal is to use custom 3D bioprinters to generate constructs mimicking lung tissue using an innovative approach combining primary cells, the engineering reproducibility of synthetic materials, and the biologically conductive properties of acellular lung (hybrid). We will 3D bioprint hybrid murine and human lung tissue models and test gas exchange, angiogenesis and in vivo immune responses. This proposal will be a critical first step in demonstrating feasibility of 3D bioprinting lung tissue.

1 499 975 €

Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31

Electronic doping, the control over the charge carrier density, is at the heart of the success of the semiconductor industry. Promising new semiconductor materials like conductive polymers, fullerenes and quantum dots cannot be doped by traditional doping methods. The applicant and his group have developed a general method to dope these materials on demand with an electrochemical method, combined with photopolymerization of the solvents and electrolyte ions. This methods allows to precisely control the charge density in these new semiconductor materials and also allows patterning of the doping density via methods akin to photolithography used in the semiconductor industry. This enable the design of new device geometries, such as lateral pn junctions that could allow easy on chip integration of e.g. solution processable LEDs. The goal of this proof-of-concept application is to investigate the application potential of this newly developed technology. In particular it involves the development of demonstrator devices to showcase the technique’s potential, to investigate and protect the intellectual property and to analyze the interest from key industrial stakeholders in this technology. When successful, this technology has the potential to revolutionize the semiconductor industry. It could be of great economic potential and in addition may contribute to achieving sustainability goals by reducing energy consumption of lamps and displays and by offering new and improved means to harvest solar via highly efficient solution processable solar cells.

150 000 €

Start date: 2019-06-01, End date: 2020-11-30

Antibiotics have contributed to a tremendous increase in human well-being, saving many millions of lives. However, antibiotics become obsolete the more they are used as selection pressure promotes the development of resistant bacteria. The World Health Organization has proclaimed antibiotic resistance as a major global threat to public health. Today, 700,000 deaths per year are due to untreatable infections. To win the battle against antibiotic resistance, new policies affecting the supply and demand of existing and new drugs must be designed. I propose new research to identify and evaluate feasible and effective demand-side policy interventions targeting the relevant decision makers: physicians and patients. ABRSEIST will make use of a broad econometric toolset to identify mechanisms linking antibiotic resistance and consumption exploiting a unique combination of physician-patient-level antibiotic resistance, treatment, and socio-economic data. Using machine learning methods adapted for causal inference, theory-driven structural econometric analysis, and randomization in the field it will provide rigorous evidence on effective intervention designs. This research will improve our understanding of how prescribing, resistance, and the effect of antibiotic use on resistance, are distributed in the general population which has important implications for the design of targeted interventions. It will then estimate a structural model of general practitioners’ acquisition and use of information under uncertainty about resistance in prescription choice, allowing counterfactual analysis of information-improving policies such as mandatory diagnostic testing. The large-scale and structural econometric analyses allow flexible identification of physician heterogeneity, which ABRSEIST will exploit to design and evaluate targeted, randomized information nudges in the field. The result will be improved rational use and a toolset applicable in contexts of antibiotic prescribing.

1 498 920 €

Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31