Project acronym 2D-TOPSENSE
Project Tunable optoelectronic devices by strain engineering of 2D semiconductors
Researcher (PI) Andres CASTELLANOS
Host Institution (HI) AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DEINVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE7, ERC-2017-STG
Summary The goal of 2D-TOPSENSE is to exploit the remarkable stretchability of two-dimensional semiconductors to fabricate optoelectronic devices where strain is used as an external knob to tune their properties.
While bulk semiconductors tend to break under strains larger than 1.5%, 2D semiconductors (such as MoS2) can withstand deformations of up to 10-20% before rupture. This large breaking strength promises a great potential of 2D semiconductors as ‘straintronic’ materials, whose properties can be adjusted by applying a deformation to their lattice. In fact, recent theoretical works predicted an interesting physical phenomenon: a tensile strain-induced semiconductor-to-metal transition in 2D semiconductors. By tensioning single-layer MoS2 from 0% up to 10%, its electronic band structure is expected to undergo a continuous transition from a wide direct band-gap of 1.8 eV to a metallic behavior. This unprecedented large strain-tunability will undoubtedly have a strong impact in a wide range of optoelectronic applications such as photodetectors whose cut-off wavelength is tuned by varying the applied strain or atomically thin light modulators.
To date, experimental works on strain engineering have been mostly focused on fundamental studies, demonstrating part of the potential of 2D semiconductors in straintronics, but they have failed to exploit strain engineering to add extra functionalities to optoelectronic devices. In 2D-TOPSENSE I will go beyond the state of the art in straintronics by designing and fabricating optoelectronic devices whose properties and performance can be tuned by means of applying strain. 2D-TOPSENSE will focus on photodetectors with a tunable bandwidth and detectivity, light emitting devices whose emission wavelength can be adjusted, light modulators based on 2D semiconductors such as transition metal dichalcogenides or black phosphorus and solar funnels capable of directing the photogenerated charge carriers towards a specific position.
Summary
The goal of 2D-TOPSENSE is to exploit the remarkable stretchability of two-dimensional semiconductors to fabricate optoelectronic devices where strain is used as an external knob to tune their properties.
While bulk semiconductors tend to break under strains larger than 1.5%, 2D semiconductors (such as MoS2) can withstand deformations of up to 10-20% before rupture. This large breaking strength promises a great potential of 2D semiconductors as ‘straintronic’ materials, whose properties can be adjusted by applying a deformation to their lattice. In fact, recent theoretical works predicted an interesting physical phenomenon: a tensile strain-induced semiconductor-to-metal transition in 2D semiconductors. By tensioning single-layer MoS2 from 0% up to 10%, its electronic band structure is expected to undergo a continuous transition from a wide direct band-gap of 1.8 eV to a metallic behavior. This unprecedented large strain-tunability will undoubtedly have a strong impact in a wide range of optoelectronic applications such as photodetectors whose cut-off wavelength is tuned by varying the applied strain or atomically thin light modulators.
To date, experimental works on strain engineering have been mostly focused on fundamental studies, demonstrating part of the potential of 2D semiconductors in straintronics, but they have failed to exploit strain engineering to add extra functionalities to optoelectronic devices. In 2D-TOPSENSE I will go beyond the state of the art in straintronics by designing and fabricating optoelectronic devices whose properties and performance can be tuned by means of applying strain. 2D-TOPSENSE will focus on photodetectors with a tunable bandwidth and detectivity, light emitting devices whose emission wavelength can be adjusted, light modulators based on 2D semiconductors such as transition metal dichalcogenides or black phosphorus and solar funnels capable of directing the photogenerated charge carriers towards a specific position.
Max ERC Funding
1 930 437 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-03-01, End date: 2023-02-28
Project acronym 4D-PET
Project Innovative PET scanner for dynamic imaging
Researcher (PI) José María BENLLOCH BAVIERA
Host Institution (HI) AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DEINVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS7, ERC-2015-AdG
Summary The main objective of 4D-PET is to develop an innovative whole-body PET scanner based in a new detector concept that stores 3D position and time of every single gamma interaction with unprecedented resolution. The combination of scanner geometrical design and high timing resolution will enable developing a full sequence of all gamma-ray interactions inside the scanner, including Compton interactions, like in a 3D movie. 4D-PET fully exploits Time Of Flight (TOF) information to obtain a better image quality and to increase scanner sensitivity, through the inclusion in the image formation of all Compton events occurring inside the detector, which are always rejected in state-of-the-art PET scanners. The new PET design will radically improve state-of-the-art PET performance features, overcoming limitations of current PET technology and opening up new diagnostic venues and very valuable physiological information
Summary
The main objective of 4D-PET is to develop an innovative whole-body PET scanner based in a new detector concept that stores 3D position and time of every single gamma interaction with unprecedented resolution. The combination of scanner geometrical design and high timing resolution will enable developing a full sequence of all gamma-ray interactions inside the scanner, including Compton interactions, like in a 3D movie. 4D-PET fully exploits Time Of Flight (TOF) information to obtain a better image quality and to increase scanner sensitivity, through the inclusion in the image formation of all Compton events occurring inside the detector, which are always rejected in state-of-the-art PET scanners. The new PET design will radically improve state-of-the-art PET performance features, overcoming limitations of current PET technology and opening up new diagnostic venues and very valuable physiological information
Max ERC Funding
2 048 386 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-01-01, End date: 2021-12-31
Project acronym 4SUNS
Project 4-Colours/2-Junctions of III-V semiconductors on Si to use in electronics devices and solar cells
Researcher (PI) María Nair LOPEZ MARTINEZ
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE MADRID
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE7, ERC-2017-STG
Summary It was early predicted by M. Green and coeval colleagues that dividing the solar spectrum into narrow ranges of colours is the most efficient manner to convert solar energy into electrical power. Multijunction solar cells are the current solution to this challenge, which have reached over 30% conversion efficiencies by stacking 3 junctions together. However, the large fabrication costs and time hinders their use in everyday life. It has been shown that highly mismatched alloy (HMA) materials provide a powerful playground to achieve at least 3 different colour absorption regions that enable optimised energy conversion with just one junction. Combining HMA-based junctions with standard Silicon solar cells will rocket solar conversion efficiency at a reduced price. To turn this ambition into marketable devices, several efforts are still needed and few challenges must be overcome.
4SUNS is a revolutionary approach for the development of HMA materials on Silicon technology, which will bring highly efficient multi-colour solar cells costs below current multijunction devices. The project will develop the technology of HMA materials on Silicon via material synthesis opening a new technology for the future. The understanding and optimization of highly mismatched alloy materials-using GaAsNP alloy- will provide building blocks for the fabrication of laboratory-size 4-colours/2-junctions solar cells.
Using a molecular beam epitaxy system, 4SUNS will grow 4-colours/2-junctions structure as well as it will manufacture the final devices. Structural and optoelectronic characterizations will carry out to determine the quality of the materials and the solar cells characteristic to obtain a competitive product. These new solar cells are competitive products to breakthrough on the solar energy sector solar cells and allowing Europe to take leadership on high efficiency solar cells.
Summary
It was early predicted by M. Green and coeval colleagues that dividing the solar spectrum into narrow ranges of colours is the most efficient manner to convert solar energy into electrical power. Multijunction solar cells are the current solution to this challenge, which have reached over 30% conversion efficiencies by stacking 3 junctions together. However, the large fabrication costs and time hinders their use in everyday life. It has been shown that highly mismatched alloy (HMA) materials provide a powerful playground to achieve at least 3 different colour absorption regions that enable optimised energy conversion with just one junction. Combining HMA-based junctions with standard Silicon solar cells will rocket solar conversion efficiency at a reduced price. To turn this ambition into marketable devices, several efforts are still needed and few challenges must be overcome.
4SUNS is a revolutionary approach for the development of HMA materials on Silicon technology, which will bring highly efficient multi-colour solar cells costs below current multijunction devices. The project will develop the technology of HMA materials on Silicon via material synthesis opening a new technology for the future. The understanding and optimization of highly mismatched alloy materials-using GaAsNP alloy- will provide building blocks for the fabrication of laboratory-size 4-colours/2-junctions solar cells.
Using a molecular beam epitaxy system, 4SUNS will grow 4-colours/2-junctions structure as well as it will manufacture the final devices. Structural and optoelectronic characterizations will carry out to determine the quality of the materials and the solar cells characteristic to obtain a competitive product. These new solar cells are competitive products to breakthrough on the solar energy sector solar cells and allowing Europe to take leadership on high efficiency solar cells.
Max ERC Funding
1 499 719 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-02-01, End date: 2023-01-31
Project acronym AIR-NB
Project Pre-natal exposure to urban AIR pollution and pre- and post-Natal Brain development
Researcher (PI) Jordi Sunyer
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACION PRIVADA INSTITUTO DE SALUD GLOBAL BARCELONA
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS7, ERC-2017-ADG
Summary Air pollution is the main urban-related environmental hazard. It appears to affect brain development, although current evidence is inadequate given the lack of studies during the most vulnerable stages of brain development and the lack of brain anatomical structure and regional connectivity data underlying these effects. Of particular interest is the prenatal period, when brain structures are forming and growing, and when the effect of in utero exposure to environmental factors may cause permanent brain injury. I and others have conducted studies focused on effects during school age which could be less profound. I postulate that: pre-natal exposure to urban air pollution during pregnancy impairs foetal and postnatal brain development, mainly by affecting myelination; these effects are at least partially mediated by translocation of airborne particulate matter to the placenta and by placental dysfunction; and prenatal exposure to air pollution impairs post-natal brain development independently of urban context and post-natal exposure to air pollution. I aim to evaluate the effect of pre-natal exposure to urban air pollution on pre- and post-natal brain structure and function by following 900 pregnant women and their neonates with contrasting levels of pre-natal exposure to air pollutants by: i) establishing a new pregnancy cohort and evaluating brain imaging (pre-natal and neo-natal brain structure, connectivity and function), and post-natal motor and cognitive development; ii) measuring total personal exposure and inhaled dose of air pollutants during specific time-windows of gestation, noise, paternal stress and other stressors, using personal samplers and sensors; iii) detecting nanoparticles in placenta and its vascular function; iv) modelling mathematical causality and mediation, including a replication study in an external cohort. The expected results will create an impulse to implement policy interventions that genuinely protect the health of urban citizens.
Summary
Air pollution is the main urban-related environmental hazard. It appears to affect brain development, although current evidence is inadequate given the lack of studies during the most vulnerable stages of brain development and the lack of brain anatomical structure and regional connectivity data underlying these effects. Of particular interest is the prenatal period, when brain structures are forming and growing, and when the effect of in utero exposure to environmental factors may cause permanent brain injury. I and others have conducted studies focused on effects during school age which could be less profound. I postulate that: pre-natal exposure to urban air pollution during pregnancy impairs foetal and postnatal brain development, mainly by affecting myelination; these effects are at least partially mediated by translocation of airborne particulate matter to the placenta and by placental dysfunction; and prenatal exposure to air pollution impairs post-natal brain development independently of urban context and post-natal exposure to air pollution. I aim to evaluate the effect of pre-natal exposure to urban air pollution on pre- and post-natal brain structure and function by following 900 pregnant women and their neonates with contrasting levels of pre-natal exposure to air pollutants by: i) establishing a new pregnancy cohort and evaluating brain imaging (pre-natal and neo-natal brain structure, connectivity and function), and post-natal motor and cognitive development; ii) measuring total personal exposure and inhaled dose of air pollutants during specific time-windows of gestation, noise, paternal stress and other stressors, using personal samplers and sensors; iii) detecting nanoparticles in placenta and its vascular function; iv) modelling mathematical causality and mediation, including a replication study in an external cohort. The expected results will create an impulse to implement policy interventions that genuinely protect the health of urban citizens.
Max ERC Funding
2 499 992 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-09-01, End date: 2023-08-31
Project acronym ANISOGEL
Project Injectable anisotropic microgel-in-hydrogel matrices for spinal cord repair
Researcher (PI) Laura De Laporte
Host Institution (HI) DWI LEIBNIZ-INSTITUT FUR INTERAKTIVE MATERIALIEN EV
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2014-STG
Summary This project will engineer an injectable biomaterial that forms an anisotropic microheterogeneous structure in vivo. Injectable hydrogels enable a minimal invasive in situ generation of matrices for the regeneration of tissues and organs, but currently lack structural organization and unidirectional orientation. The anisotropic, injectable hydrogels to be developed will mimic local extracellular matrix architectures that cells encounter in complex tissues (e.g. nerves, muscles). This project aims for the development of a biomimetic scaffold for spinal cord regeneration.
To realize such a major breakthrough, my group will focus on three research objectives. i) Poly(ethylene glycol) microgel-in-hydrogel matrices will be fabricated with the ability to create macroscopic order due to microgel shape anisotropy and magnetic alignment. Barrel-like microgels will be prepared using an in-mold polymerization technique. Their ability to self-assemble will be investigated in function of their dimensions, aspect ratio, crosslinking density, and volume fraction. Superparamagnetic nanoparticles will be included into the microgels to enable unidirectional orientation by means of a magnetic field. Subsequently, the oriented microgels will be interlocked within a master hydrogel. ii) The microgel-in-hydrogel matrices will be equipped with (bio)functional properties for spinal cord regeneration, i.e., to control and optimize mechanical anisotropy and biological signaling by in vitro cell growth experiments. iii) Selected hydrogel composites will be injected after rat spinal cord injury and directional tissue growth and animal functional behavior will be analyzed.
Succesful fabrication of the proposed microgel-in-hydrogel matrix will provide a new type of biomaterial, which enables investigating the effect of an anisotropic structure on physiological and pathological processes in vivo. This is a decisive step towards creating a clinical healing matrix for anisotropic tissue repair.
Summary
This project will engineer an injectable biomaterial that forms an anisotropic microheterogeneous structure in vivo. Injectable hydrogels enable a minimal invasive in situ generation of matrices for the regeneration of tissues and organs, but currently lack structural organization and unidirectional orientation. The anisotropic, injectable hydrogels to be developed will mimic local extracellular matrix architectures that cells encounter in complex tissues (e.g. nerves, muscles). This project aims for the development of a biomimetic scaffold for spinal cord regeneration.
To realize such a major breakthrough, my group will focus on three research objectives. i) Poly(ethylene glycol) microgel-in-hydrogel matrices will be fabricated with the ability to create macroscopic order due to microgel shape anisotropy and magnetic alignment. Barrel-like microgels will be prepared using an in-mold polymerization technique. Their ability to self-assemble will be investigated in function of their dimensions, aspect ratio, crosslinking density, and volume fraction. Superparamagnetic nanoparticles will be included into the microgels to enable unidirectional orientation by means of a magnetic field. Subsequently, the oriented microgels will be interlocked within a master hydrogel. ii) The microgel-in-hydrogel matrices will be equipped with (bio)functional properties for spinal cord regeneration, i.e., to control and optimize mechanical anisotropy and biological signaling by in vitro cell growth experiments. iii) Selected hydrogel composites will be injected after rat spinal cord injury and directional tissue growth and animal functional behavior will be analyzed.
Succesful fabrication of the proposed microgel-in-hydrogel matrix will provide a new type of biomaterial, which enables investigating the effect of an anisotropic structure on physiological and pathological processes in vivo. This is a decisive step towards creating a clinical healing matrix for anisotropic tissue repair.
Max ERC Funding
1 435 396 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-03-01, End date: 2020-02-29
Project acronym APACHE
Project Atmospheric Pressure plAsma meets biomaterials for bone Cancer HEaling
Researcher (PI) Cristina CANAL BARNILS
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2016-STG
Summary Cold atmospheric pressure plasmas (APP) have been reported to selectively kill cancer cells without damaging the surrounding tissues. Studies have been conducted on a variety of cancer types but to the best of our knowledge not on any kind of bone cancer. Treatment options for bone cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, etc. and may involve the use of bone grafting biomaterials to replace the surgically removed bone.
APACHE brings a totally different and ground-breaking approach in the design of a novel therapy for bone cancer by taking advantage of the active species generated by APP in combination with biomaterials to deliver the active species locally in the diseased site. The feasibility of this approach is rooted in the evidence that the cellular effects of APP appear to strongly involve the suite of reactive species created by plasmas, which can be derived from a) direct treatment of the malignant cells by APP or b) indirect treatment of the liquid media by APP which is then put in contact with the cancer cells.
In APACHE we aim to investigate the fundamentals involved in the lethal effects of cold plasmas on bone cancer cells, and to develop improved bone cancer therapies. To achieve this we will take advantage of the highly reactive species generated by APP in the liquid media, which we will use in an incremental strategy: i) to investigate the effects of APP treated liquid on bone cancer cells, ii) to evaluate the potential of combining APP treated liquid in a hydrogel vehicle with/wo CaP biomaterials and iii) to ascertain the potential three directional interactions between APP reactive species in liquid medium with biomaterials and with chemotherapeutic drugs.
The methodological approach will involve an interdisciplinary team, dealing with plasma diagnostics in gas and liquid media; with cell biology and the effects of APP treated with bone tumor cells and its combination with biomaterials and/or with anticancer drugs.
Summary
Cold atmospheric pressure plasmas (APP) have been reported to selectively kill cancer cells without damaging the surrounding tissues. Studies have been conducted on a variety of cancer types but to the best of our knowledge not on any kind of bone cancer. Treatment options for bone cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, etc. and may involve the use of bone grafting biomaterials to replace the surgically removed bone.
APACHE brings a totally different and ground-breaking approach in the design of a novel therapy for bone cancer by taking advantage of the active species generated by APP in combination with biomaterials to deliver the active species locally in the diseased site. The feasibility of this approach is rooted in the evidence that the cellular effects of APP appear to strongly involve the suite of reactive species created by plasmas, which can be derived from a) direct treatment of the malignant cells by APP or b) indirect treatment of the liquid media by APP which is then put in contact with the cancer cells.
In APACHE we aim to investigate the fundamentals involved in the lethal effects of cold plasmas on bone cancer cells, and to develop improved bone cancer therapies. To achieve this we will take advantage of the highly reactive species generated by APP in the liquid media, which we will use in an incremental strategy: i) to investigate the effects of APP treated liquid on bone cancer cells, ii) to evaluate the potential of combining APP treated liquid in a hydrogel vehicle with/wo CaP biomaterials and iii) to ascertain the potential three directional interactions between APP reactive species in liquid medium with biomaterials and with chemotherapeutic drugs.
The methodological approach will involve an interdisciplinary team, dealing with plasma diagnostics in gas and liquid media; with cell biology and the effects of APP treated with bone tumor cells and its combination with biomaterials and/or with anticancer drugs.
Max ERC Funding
1 499 887 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-04-01, End date: 2022-03-31
Project acronym ARMOR-T
Project Armoring multifunctional T cells for cancer therapy
Researcher (PI) Sebastian Kobold
Host Institution (HI) LUDWIG-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS7, ERC-2017-STG
Summary Adoptive T cell therapy (ACT) is a powerful approach to treat even advanced cancer diseases where poor prognosis calls for innovative treatments. However ACT is critically limited by insufficient T cell infiltration into the tumor, T cell activation at the tumor site and local T cell suppression. Few advances have been made in the field to tackle these limitations besides increasing T cell activation. My group has focussed on these unaddressed issues but came to realise that tackling these one by one will not be sufficient. I have developed a panel of unpublished chemokine receptors and innovative modular antibody-activated receptors which have the potential to overcome the limitations of ACT against solid tumors. This ground-breaking portfolio places my group in the unique position to address combination of synergistic receptors and enable cellular therapies in previously unsuccessful indications. My project will provide the rationale for provision of an effective cancer treatment. The goal is to develop the next generation of ACT through T cell engineering both by forced expression of migratory and activating receptors and simultaneous deletion of immune suppressive molecules by gene editing. ARMOR-T will provide the basis for further preclinical and clinical development of a pioneering cellular product devoid of the limitations of available products to date. I will prove 1) synergy between migratory and modular activating receptors, 2) feasibility to integrate gene editing into a T cell expansion protocol, 3) synergy between gene editing, migratory and modular receptors and 4) efficacy, safety and mode of action. The main work of the project will be carried out in models of pancreatic cancer. The ARMOR-T platform will subsequently be translated to other cancer entities where response to ACT is likely such as melanoma, breast or colon cancer, providing less toxic and more effective therapies to otherwise untreatable disease.
Summary
Adoptive T cell therapy (ACT) is a powerful approach to treat even advanced cancer diseases where poor prognosis calls for innovative treatments. However ACT is critically limited by insufficient T cell infiltration into the tumor, T cell activation at the tumor site and local T cell suppression. Few advances have been made in the field to tackle these limitations besides increasing T cell activation. My group has focussed on these unaddressed issues but came to realise that tackling these one by one will not be sufficient. I have developed a panel of unpublished chemokine receptors and innovative modular antibody-activated receptors which have the potential to overcome the limitations of ACT against solid tumors. This ground-breaking portfolio places my group in the unique position to address combination of synergistic receptors and enable cellular therapies in previously unsuccessful indications. My project will provide the rationale for provision of an effective cancer treatment. The goal is to develop the next generation of ACT through T cell engineering both by forced expression of migratory and activating receptors and simultaneous deletion of immune suppressive molecules by gene editing. ARMOR-T will provide the basis for further preclinical and clinical development of a pioneering cellular product devoid of the limitations of available products to date. I will prove 1) synergy between migratory and modular activating receptors, 2) feasibility to integrate gene editing into a T cell expansion protocol, 3) synergy between gene editing, migratory and modular receptors and 4) efficacy, safety and mode of action. The main work of the project will be carried out in models of pancreatic cancer. The ARMOR-T platform will subsequently be translated to other cancer entities where response to ACT is likely such as melanoma, breast or colon cancer, providing less toxic and more effective therapies to otherwise untreatable disease.
Max ERC Funding
1 636 710 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-03-01, End date: 2023-02-28
Project acronym ARMOS
Project Advanced multifunctional Reactors for green Mobility and Solar fuels
Researcher (PI) Athanasios Konstandopoulos
Host Institution (HI) ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE8, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary Green Mobility requires an integrated approach to the chain fuel/engine/emissions. The present project aims at ground breaking advances in the area of Green Mobility by (a) enabling the production of affordable, carbon-neutral, clean, solar fuels using exclusively renewable/recyclable raw materials, namely solar energy, water and captured Carbon Dioxide from combustion power plants (b) developing a highly compact, multifunctional reactor, able to eliminate gaseous and particulate emissions from the exhaust of engines operated on such clean fuels.
The overall research approach will be based on material science, engineering and simulation technology developed by the PI over the past 20 years in the area of Diesel Emission Control Reactors, which will be further extended and cross-fertilized in the area of Solar Thermochemical Reactors, an emerging discipline of high importance for sustainable development, where the PI’s research group has already made significant contributions, and received the 2006 European Commission’s Descartes Prize for the development of the first ever solar reactor, holding the potential to produce on a large scale, pure renewable Hydrogen from the thermochemical splitting of water, also known as the HYDROSOL technology.
Summary
Green Mobility requires an integrated approach to the chain fuel/engine/emissions. The present project aims at ground breaking advances in the area of Green Mobility by (a) enabling the production of affordable, carbon-neutral, clean, solar fuels using exclusively renewable/recyclable raw materials, namely solar energy, water and captured Carbon Dioxide from combustion power plants (b) developing a highly compact, multifunctional reactor, able to eliminate gaseous and particulate emissions from the exhaust of engines operated on such clean fuels.
The overall research approach will be based on material science, engineering and simulation technology developed by the PI over the past 20 years in the area of Diesel Emission Control Reactors, which will be further extended and cross-fertilized in the area of Solar Thermochemical Reactors, an emerging discipline of high importance for sustainable development, where the PI’s research group has already made significant contributions, and received the 2006 European Commission’s Descartes Prize for the development of the first ever solar reactor, holding the potential to produce on a large scale, pure renewable Hydrogen from the thermochemical splitting of water, also known as the HYDROSOL technology.
Max ERC Funding
1 750 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-02-01, End date: 2017-01-31
Project acronym ATHENE
Project Designing new technical wastewater treatment solutions targeted for organic micropollutant biodegradation, by understanding enzymatic pathways and assessing detoxification
Researcher (PI) Thomas Ternes
Host Institution (HI) Bundesanstalt fuer Gewaesserkunde
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE8, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary The identification of degradation pathways relevant for organic micropollutants in biological wastewater treatment processes is currently a major gap, preventing a profound evaluation of the capability of biological wastewater treatment. By elucidating the responsible enzymatic reactions of mixed microbial populations this project will cover this gap and thereby allow finding technical solutions that harness the true potential of biological processes for an enhanced biodegradation and detoxification. Due to the multi-disciplinary approach Athene will have impacts on the fields of biological wastewater treatment, analytical and environmental chemistry, environmental microbiology, water and (eco)toxicity. The multi-disciplinary approach of the project requires the involvement of a co-investigator experienced in process engineering and microbiology in wastewater treatment. Athene will go far beyond state-of-the-art in the following fields: a) efficiency in chemical analysis and structure identification of transformation products at environmental relevant concentrations; b) identification of enzymatic pathways relevant for micropollutant degradation in biological wastewater treatment; c) designing innovative technical solutions to maximize biodegradation; d) map and model relevant enzymatic pathways for environmental concentrations. Furthermore, designing biological wastewater treatment processes by understanding enzymatic pathways relevant for organic micropollutants removal represents a paradigm shift for municipal wastewater treatment. In the context of the actual scientific discussion about the relevance of trace organics in the aquatic environment and in drinking water, this topic is deemed as highly innovative: for its potential of proposing new technical options as well as for the gain in understanding compound persistency. Finally enzymatic reactions as well as the treatment schemes will be assessed for there capability to reduce toxiciological effects.
Summary
The identification of degradation pathways relevant for organic micropollutants in biological wastewater treatment processes is currently a major gap, preventing a profound evaluation of the capability of biological wastewater treatment. By elucidating the responsible enzymatic reactions of mixed microbial populations this project will cover this gap and thereby allow finding technical solutions that harness the true potential of biological processes for an enhanced biodegradation and detoxification. Due to the multi-disciplinary approach Athene will have impacts on the fields of biological wastewater treatment, analytical and environmental chemistry, environmental microbiology, water and (eco)toxicity. The multi-disciplinary approach of the project requires the involvement of a co-investigator experienced in process engineering and microbiology in wastewater treatment. Athene will go far beyond state-of-the-art in the following fields: a) efficiency in chemical analysis and structure identification of transformation products at environmental relevant concentrations; b) identification of enzymatic pathways relevant for micropollutant degradation in biological wastewater treatment; c) designing innovative technical solutions to maximize biodegradation; d) map and model relevant enzymatic pathways for environmental concentrations. Furthermore, designing biological wastewater treatment processes by understanding enzymatic pathways relevant for organic micropollutants removal represents a paradigm shift for municipal wastewater treatment. In the context of the actual scientific discussion about the relevance of trace organics in the aquatic environment and in drinking water, this topic is deemed as highly innovative: for its potential of proposing new technical options as well as for the gain in understanding compound persistency. Finally enzymatic reactions as well as the treatment schemes will be assessed for there capability to reduce toxiciological effects.
Max ERC Funding
3 473 400 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-04-01, End date: 2017-03-31
Project acronym AutoCPS
Project Automated Synthesis of Cyber-Physical Systems: A Compositional Approach
Researcher (PI) Majid ZAMANI
Host Institution (HI) LUDWIG-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE7, ERC-2018-STG
Summary Embedded Control software plays a critical role in many safety-critical applications. For instance, modern vehicles use interacting software and hardware components to control steering and braking. Control software forms the main core of autonomous transportation, power networks, and aerospace. These applications are examples of cyber-physical systems (CPS), where distributed software systems interact tightly with spatially distributed physical systems with complex dynamics. CPS are becoming ubiquitous due to rapid advances in computation, communication, and memory. However, the development of core control software running in these systems is still ad hoc and error-prone and much of the engineering costs today go into ensuring that control software works correctly.
In order to reduce the design costs and guaranteeing its correctness, I aim to develop an innovative design process, in which the embedded control software is synthesized from high-level correctness requirements in a push-button and formal manner. Requirements for modern CPS applications go beyond conventional properties in control theory (e.g. stability) and in computer science (e.g. protocol design). Here, I propose a compositional methodology for automated synthesis of control software by combining compositional techniques from computer science (e.g. assume-guarantee rules) with those from control theory (e.g. small-gain theorems). I will leverage decomposition and abstraction as two key tools to tackle the design complexity, by either breaking the design object into semi-independent parts or by aggregating components and eliminating unnecessary details. My project is high-risk because it requires a fundamental re-thinking of design techniques till now studied in separate disciplines. It is high-gain because a successful method for automated synthesis of control software will make it finally possible to develop complex yet reliable CPS applications while considerably reducing the engineering cost.
Summary
Embedded Control software plays a critical role in many safety-critical applications. For instance, modern vehicles use interacting software and hardware components to control steering and braking. Control software forms the main core of autonomous transportation, power networks, and aerospace. These applications are examples of cyber-physical systems (CPS), where distributed software systems interact tightly with spatially distributed physical systems with complex dynamics. CPS are becoming ubiquitous due to rapid advances in computation, communication, and memory. However, the development of core control software running in these systems is still ad hoc and error-prone and much of the engineering costs today go into ensuring that control software works correctly.
In order to reduce the design costs and guaranteeing its correctness, I aim to develop an innovative design process, in which the embedded control software is synthesized from high-level correctness requirements in a push-button and formal manner. Requirements for modern CPS applications go beyond conventional properties in control theory (e.g. stability) and in computer science (e.g. protocol design). Here, I propose a compositional methodology for automated synthesis of control software by combining compositional techniques from computer science (e.g. assume-guarantee rules) with those from control theory (e.g. small-gain theorems). I will leverage decomposition and abstraction as two key tools to tackle the design complexity, by either breaking the design object into semi-independent parts or by aggregating components and eliminating unnecessary details. My project is high-risk because it requires a fundamental re-thinking of design techniques till now studied in separate disciplines. It is high-gain because a successful method for automated synthesis of control software will make it finally possible to develop complex yet reliable CPS applications while considerably reducing the engineering cost.
Max ERC Funding
1 470 800 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-02-01, End date: 2024-01-31
