Project description
Training network on active matter
Active matter – material systems whose constituent particles consume energy and generate mechanical motion – has become a major subject of research, promising to revolutionise wide-ranging fields from medicine to robotics. Such systems present many facets of non-equilibrium physics and provide tantalising options to perform tasks not easily achievable with other available techniques on the nanoscale. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme, the ActiveMatter project will train a new generation of physicists in this highly interdisciplinary field. Researchers will work with cutting-edge numerical and experimental tools to develop biocompatible active particles, further understand their synergistic behaviour in complex and crowded environments, and engineer self-assembly systems. Detailed studies on active matter will help in harnessing it for nanoscale applications.
Objective
During the last decade, active matter has been attracting increasing interest because its study can shed light on far-from- equilibrium physics and provide tantalizing options to perform tasks not easily achievable with other available techniques on the micro- and nanoscale. We are now on the threshold of breakthroughs that will permit us to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental challenges associated with far-from-equilibrium physics (e.g. the physics of living organisms, tissue formation and cancer growth) and to address several key technological challenges of great societal and economic impact (e.g. biomimetic materials, targeted localization, pick-up and transport of nanoscopic cargoes in drug delivery, bioremediation and chemical sensing). However, there are still several open challenges that need to be addressed in order to achieve the full scientific and technological potential of active matter in real-life settings: 1. to develop biocompatible active particles, reducing their footprint by scaling them down towards the nanoscale; 2. to determine their emergent and synergistic behaviors in complex and crowded environments; 3. to engineer self-assembly in dense active and living matter systems. This ETN will provide the necessary infrastructure to train a new generation of physicists in the highly interdisciplinary fields related to active matter. ESRs will master the theoretical, numerical and experimental tools currently employed in the study of active matter, will create new tools for understanding active matter systems, and, through collaboration with companies, will be able to transfer this knowledge to biomedical, bioremediation and sustainability applications. Our ESRs will acquire highly demanded transferable skills increasing their future employability in academia and industry. Extending the reach of this ETN, we will also prepare interdisciplinary and interactive lecturing material to serve as foundation for study programs in active matter.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Coordinator
405 30 Goeteborg
Sweden
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Participants (13)
OX1 2JD Oxford
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8092 Zuerich
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1015 Lausanne
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00185 Roma
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00185 Roma
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78464 Konstanz
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40225 Dusseldorf
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06800 Bilkent Ankara
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WC1E 6BT London
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34342 Istanbul
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1749 016 Lisbon
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75011 Paris
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
93100 Montreuil
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Partners (8)
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
91125 Pasadena
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
08544-2001 Princeton, Nj
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
13244 1200 Syracuse Ny
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
CB24 9NL Cambridge
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
8048 ZURICH
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
07745 Jena
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
01069 Dresden
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