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Content archived on 2024-06-18

QUANTUM PHENOMENA IN BIOLOGY: THEORY AND EXPERIMENTS TOWARDS NOVEL SOLAR ENERGY QUANTUM TECHNOLOGIES

Objective

Nowadays, the alarming trends in global energy demand and the finite nature of conventional oil and natural gas reserves are unavoidably leading to the urgency of finding and timely developing new renewable energy technologies, by facilitating also participation by qualified researchers. In this context, quantum biology is a new strategically important and rapidly developing research field, whose practical implementations will be crucial for novel and more powerful solar energy ‘quantum’ technologies and for the creation of a European knowledge-based bioeconomy.
Here, we will investigate theoretically and experimentally the role of quantum effects in biology, especially in natural photosynthesis, by studying theoretical models of energy transport in quantum complex networks and testing them by means of designed experiments based on quantum optical simulators, cold atoms in optical lattices, and ultra-fast laser spectroscopy on natural and artificial light-harvesting biomolecules. It will allow us, first of all, to have a deeper understanding of how Nature has been exploiting, since billions of years, quantum coherence and environmental noise to get very efficient and robust energy transfer in photosynthesis, and, even more desirably, to design new clean energy structures and light-harvesting molecular geometries, leading to future ‘quantum’ solar cells more efficient than today’s photovoltaic ones.
Finally, it will help the Researcher, Dr. F. Caruso, whose previous expertise makes him very well suited for this project, to be reintegrated for the first time in his own country, at LENS in Florence, after a period of mobility of three years in foreign countries (UK, Germany), to have his own research budget, to set up an independent team, to transfer his knowledge in quantum biology (acquired abroad) making a pioneering contribution to Italian science and establishing himself as a leader there, with very promising prospects of a permanent academic position in Florence.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG
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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-CIG - Support for training and career development of researcher (CIG)

Coordinator

LABORATORIO EUROPEO DI SPETTROSCOPIE NON LINEARI
EU contribution
€ 100 000,00
Address
Via Nello Carrara 1
50019 Sesto-Fiorentino (Fi)
Italy

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Region
Centro (IT) Toscana Firenze
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

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