LES LAUREATS “MARIE CURIE” FRANÇAIS 2007

45 réseaux européens de formation à la recherche

Stéphane AYMARD et Pascal LEVEL Point de Contact National Mobilité 7e PCRDT

Les réseaux Marie Curie permettent de financer des thèses de doctorat ainsi que des séjours post-doctoraux. Ils représentent un des instruments les plus sélectifs et prestigieux du 7e PCRDT. En 2007, le taux de succès à l’appel à propositions a été inférieur à 8%. Les noms des laboratoires et des tutelles indiqués ci-après sont ceux donnés en 2007 lors du dépôt de la candidature. Des évolutions ou restructurations ont pu avoir lieu depuis. Des laboratoires français peuvent également être associés à des réseaux sans apparaître dans le document s’ils ne sont pas signataires ni mentionnés dans les formulaires.

RESEAU ITN-LAN LE PROJET : "The proposed Initial Training Network for Lateralized Attention Networks (ITN-LAN) brings together 8 research teams with established international reputations and, more importantly, is founded on well established collaborations. The long-term scientific objectives of the proposed ITN-LAN are: (1) To validate and standardize a behavioural battery for assessing the attentional networks of the two cerebral hemispheres and their interaction, (2) To study its neurophysiological correlates using EEG/ERP, fMRI, NIRS and TMS, (3) To assess methods for modulating the attention networks in each hemisphere and their interaction using: (i) biofeedback of the participants own ongoing EEG or fMRI, (ii) TMS to generate selective 'virtual lesions' of hemispheric attentional networks. The focus of the current proposal is to assess critically and rigorously the effectiveness of biofeedback in modulating attention, a goal which has both basic and applied aspects. Common to both aspects is our ability to harness cortical plasticity in the service of ameliorating not only acquired, but also congenital attention deficits. The clinical application has commercial potential and this will be pursued by the industry team (Bio-Keshev). The proposed ITN-LAN offers a comprehensive range of research methods and theories in attention research. First, we cover ALL the non-invasive research methods applied in this field, and second, we look at attention processes at all levels, from sensory to frontal cortex regions, from childhood to old age, and from normal performance to acquired and developmental disorders. We ask to fund 312 person-months, mostly (92%) ESR. Two of the centres are located in less-favoured regions, and one team is an SME, inline with the EC objectives. We are privileged to have Prof. Michael Posner as our consultant, being an eminent researcher in the field of attention." LE LABORATOIRE : Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurosciences Cognitives (Université Paris Descartes, CNRS)

RESEAU BIOMINTEC LE PROJET : Biomineralization is the formation of minerals by living cells and organisms. To understand the processes involved in biomineralization, at the cutting edge between inorganic and organic world, the cooperation between molecular and cell biologists, inorganic chemists, and physical chemists, but also computational scientists is required. The products formed by biomineralization are often composite materials consisting of both mineral and organic components. The ability of organisms to form nanostructured biominerals with high precision and in large copy number under biological and environmentally benign conditions makes the mechanisms underlying biomineral formation extremely interesting for nano(bio)technology, a key technology of the 21st century. In the proposed Marie Curie Initial Training Network, we focus on the formation of biominerals consisting of calcium carbonate or biosilica-glass due to the enormous interest and importance that these biominerals have achieved in the last few years. The successful research on this topic which also includes the future industrial application of the results relies on the coordinated multidisciplinary effort of highly qualified researchers with special skills in different disciplines. There is, in particular, an urgent need for training of young researchers in Europe in this pioneering area of research. The goal of this multidisciplinary network is to understand basic principles of biomineralization (bio-silicification and bio-calcification) in order to develop novel strategies to apply the biological mechanisms in the field of nanotechnology. To achieve this goal, an effective and milestone-oriented joint training and transfer-of-knowledge programme will be established. It is expected that - through training of young researchers in the most advanced techniques to study biomineralization – this network will strengthen the competitiveness of the European Union in this important field of present-day research. LE LABORATOIRE : Laboratoire Biogéosciences (Université de Bourgogne, CNRS)

RESEAU SBMPs LE PROJET : "Membrane proteins (MPs) are known to be key molecules in cellular communications, from signal transduction to transport of ions, metabolites and other molecules. They also participate in the synthesis of ATP, the import of soluble or MPs from the cytosol, and they protect living organisms from toxic factors. The proposal consists in a joint training effort involving the major biophysical methods that are -or soon will be- the major techniques used in the field of structural biology of MPs. A collaborative effort is essential for the training of the future generation of biologists dedicated to membrane proteins. It will pave the way to an integrative approach for the study of structure-function relationships of membranes. It will therefore open new strategies for structure-based drug design, in particular toward G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR), which are major drug targets (GPCRs represent 30% of current drug targets). The training proposed in this program will not only form high-level academic researchers but will also largely contribute in forming the main actors of the future developments in biotechnology and personalized medicine. This network combines 12 academic research groups and 3 industrial companies interested in collaborating with these groups and involved in drug discovery or scientific equipment for SBMP. These groups are internationally recognized for analysing the structure and dynamics of membrane proteins by a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches: in vivo and in vitro expressions systems, functional/biochemical/biophysical characterisation, X-Ray diffraction, electron microscopy (EM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS), liquid and solid state NMR, numerical simulations. Seven partners from 6 different countries are involved: France, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands." LE LABORATOIRE : Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Structurale (Université Paul Sabatier, CNRS)

RESEAU DELTA-MIN LE PROJET : In this ITN we investigate the mechanism of mineral reequilibration (phase transformation) in the presence of a fluid phase in a wide range of minerals and rocks, under a range of chemical and physical conditions, using both natural and experimental samples. Interface-coupled dissolution-reprecipitation is a recently defined mechanism which applies to a wide range of mineral transformation phenomena. We apply these principles in individual projects to better understand the mechanisms of processes important in earth sciences and in industry, including metasomatic reactions in rocks, chemical weathering, mineral replacement mechanisms in CO2 sequestration, the aqueous durability of nuclear waste materials, remediation of contaminated water by mineral reaction, and the preservation of stone-based cultural heritage. The research methods bring together a range of complementary expertise, from field-related studies to nano-scale investigations of reaction interfaces using state-of-the-art high resolution analytical methods. The application of fundamental principles of mineral reequilibration to a wide range of applications, together with industrial involvement at all levels will ensure that the project provides a strong platform for training. LE LABORATOIRE : Laboratoire des Mécanismes de Transferts en Géologie (Université Paul Sabatier, CNRS)

RESEAU MYPLANET LE PROJET : "The MyPlanet collaborative initial training network represents a European initiative to train a new generation of engineers in the field of high performance computing applied to the numerical combustion simulation, energy conversion processes and related atmospheric pollution issues. Indeed, the project is based on the recognised lack on European level of highly skilled engineers that are equally well-trained in both combustion technologies and high-performance computing (HPC) techniques. The project will contribute to the structuring of existing high-quality initial research training capacities in fluid mechanics and the HPC field through combining both public and private (industrial) sectors. The research is motivated by the fact that in today’s industrial society more than 80% of the energy consumed on Earth is produced by burning fossil fuels, i.e. through combustion. It is widely recognised that important technological progress is required in order to optimize these combustion processes in the context of growing pollution, fuel depletion and global Earth warming. The computer simulation of combustion appears as a prerequisite to a better understanding of the underlying physical and chemical processes. The main objective is to develop an ambitious training programme in the field of high-performance computations of reacting flows on massively parallel machines. Through the training actions they will learn both the fundamental physics behind combustion processes as well as software implementation aspects of high-performance computing as a prerequisite to the numerical simulation of reacting flows. Such training is necessary for developing future energy- and carbon-efficient devices based on biofuels. Thanks to the industrial partners involved in the project, the trainees will experience the industrial use of these new simulation tools while industry will obtain a first-hand experience with new methodologies." LES LABORATOIRES : - Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse (Université Paul Sabatier, Université Toulouse 1, Université de Toulouse Le Mirail, INPT, CNRS) - Computational and Fluid Dynamics Group (Centre Européen de Recherche et de Formation Avancée en Calcul Scientifique)

RESEAU CONTROLLED SYSTEMS LE PROJET : "Experienced Researchers from the Universities of Iasi, Brest, Jena, Manchester, Marrakech and Milano propose an Initial Training Network Marie Curie on the theme ""Deterministic and Stochastic Controlled Systems and Applications"". This project aims to unite the six teams with their complementary competences in - Controlled Systems: Deterministic and Stochastic Control, Game Theory, - Stochastic Equations: Stochastic Differential Equations, Stochastic Partial Differential Equations , Backward Stochastic Differential Equations, and - Levy processes as well as fractal processes, in order to investigate problems arising in the interaction between these competences and allowing to study, in cooperation with our industrial partners (coming from the bank and insurance sector), related problems in - Finance and Insurance, but also in - Natural Sciences, namely, the problem of transport in porous media. The Early-Stage Researchers and the Experienced Researchers recruited by the network will be integrated from the early beginning in research projects between teams with complementary competences which should allow them (as well as the qualified researchers from the different teams) to profit from synergy effects and find quite new answers to the research problems. Besides an individual research training under supervision of qualified researchers and a local training programme the young researcher will also profit from network-wide training offers including namely - annual schools on subjects reflecting the different competences of the network teams, - a first professional experience in research with one of our industrial partners, as well as - workshops and international conferences which will give to the young researchers the possibility to present and discuss their results in research and to find contacts also with researchers outside the network and representatives of all the industrial partners of our network." LE LABORATOIRE : Laboratoire de Mathématiques (Université de Bretagne Occidentale, CNRS)

RESEAU HERODOT LE PROJET : Recent progress in the fabrication of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals has led to a wide range of quantum dots with a high oscillator strength, photoluminescence efficiency and size-tunable emission spectrum. The present proposal ‘Heterogeneous quantum rod and quantum dot nanomaterials’ aims at a comprehensive research and training program on the opto-electronic properties of heterostructured nanomaterials based on quantum rod and dot building blocks. More specifically, we will study quantum dot molecules, binary quantum dot solids, superstructures of aligned quantum rods and hybrid organic/inorganic systems with specific band alignment (type II heterostructures). The optical properties of these systems, e.g. polarizability, exciton lifetime and emission spectrum are determined by the delocalized, indirect nature of the exciton; while optical anisotropy can be achieved by alignment of quantum rods. Such systems can exhibit a large Stokes shift, enhanced nonlinear refraction, and an absorbance and emission spectrum that can be tailored by the architecture of the superstructure and external fields. This forms a direct route to applications of these materials in optimizing light sources and realizing fast and compact optical modulators and switches. The proposed training and research program is based on three research lines, synthesis and processing, characterization and modeling, and manipulation and application. With this program, we form researchers that can cope with the complex, multidisciplinary problems that the European opto-electronic industry will face in the implementation of nanotechnology and nanophotonics. LE LABORATOIRE : Institut d’Electronique de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (Université Lille 1, Université de Valenciennes, ISEN, CNRS)

RESEAU MID-FREQUENCY LE PROJET : "Effective and efficient vibration and acoustic analysis, modelling and design methods are required to produce world-leading products with good noise and vibration performance. Noise and vibration levels must remain within safe limits, there are issues regarding human comfort and a need for robust, optimal, efficient designs. There is also an increasing trend towards virtual design and prototyping, to reduce costs and development times. For all these reasons good analysis and modeling tools are essential. Ideally such tools would be applicable over the whole frequency range of interest, which is the audio-frequency range for automotive and aerospace structures, for instance. In practice, specific methods are applicable in a limited frequency region. Finite element analysis (FEA) is a “low frequency” method which is both well developed and well established. At “high frequencies” statistical energy analysis (SEA) is a valuable, but less well-established, tool. There is however a “mid-frequency” gap in our modelling capabilities: too high for FEA, too low for SEA. This is important, since it strongly affects product performance and competitiveness, and forms the target for this ITN. Substantial challenges exist in this “mid-frequency” range. New analysis approaches are essential to produce world-leading products. This ITN brings together academic and industrial partners who will together host researchers, drawing together skills and expertise in a range of different technical approaches. The industrial partners bring specific applications, behind which are generic difficulties associated with the mid-frequency region. The academic partners bring a diverse range of potential research approaches and the capability of research training, provision of courses and dissemination to the wider community. Together they can develop and promote research, knowledge and application of mid-frequency vibration and acoustics analysis techniques within EU industry." LES LABORATOIRES : - Laboratoire de Mécanique et Technologie (Université Paris VI, ENS Cachan, CNRS) - EADS Astrium Space Transportation - Laboratoire de Tribologie et de Dynamique des Systèmes (Ecole Centrale de Lyon, CNRS) - Laboratoire Vibration et Acoustique (INSA Lyon)

RESEAU NANO-HOST LE PROJET : "This proposal is aimed at generating new fundamental knowledge and fostering new prospects and frontiers, training and transfer of knowledge in the field of highly efficient, highly selective, supported, recyclable catalysts. Target of the research programme are strongly innovative methodologies for the preparation, recovery and reuse of single-site, multipurpose, nanostructured catalytic materials, and the engineering of reactors based on these catalysts, as this represents an essential part towards the elaboration of sustainable production processes of high-added value fine chemicals. The approach pursued will be the immobilization of homogeneous catalysts, and particularly transition metal complexes, onto preformed (in)soluble supports (heterogenised catalysts). Materials defined at the nanometric level obtained by surface organometallic chemistry will be also included. The focus will be thereupon on their applications on specific, selected reactions. In this project, we plan to use advanced catalyst design to develop catalysts in which the support allows improvements in terms of activity, selectivity, catalyst lifetime and versatility, compared to their homogeneous counterparts. This will be an interdisciplinary, jointly executed research project encompassing complementary, synthetic (inorganic supports, ligands, organometallic compounds, functionalized polymers, dendrimers, nanoparticles), reactivity (homo- and heterogeneous catalyst screening and recycle, product analysis), characterization (advanced techniques for materials and in situ investigations), engineering (continuous-flow / supercritical flow reactors) and modelling activities." LE LABORATOIRE : Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (Université Montpellier II, ENSCM, CNRS)

RESEAU ELIXIR LE PROJET : "This network proposes to develop European expertise in searches for primeval galaxies and in the extraction of key physical information from deep sky observations, to ensure the maximum scientific return of the European instrument NIRSpec on board the future James Webb Space Telescope that will be launched in 2013. The accomplishment of this goal requires the combined expertise of four different communities: 1. Observational astronomers with expertise in deep sky surveys and in spatially resolved studies of distant galaxies. 2. Experts in spectral models of galaxies, to interpret the light emitted by distant galaxies in terms of physical parameters such as star formation rate, metallicity and dust content. 3. Theoreticians with expertise in modelling galaxy formation in its proper cosmological context. 4. Industrial engineers who are responsible for the performance and calibration of NIRSpec. This network will bring together these communities to work on the interpretation of the physical properties of distant galaxies deduced from their spectra and images and to develop practical analysis tools of interest to the exploitation of NIRSpec. It will serve as a training ground for a new generation of young researchers, who will gain broad insights into the problem of galaxy formation --- both in the area of theoretical models and in the preparation and analysis of state-of-the-art observations --- and into the development and implementation of an astronomical space project." LE LABORATOIRE : Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris (Université Paris VI, CNRS)

RESEAU SEMI SPIN NET LE PROJET : "We propose an Initial Training Network for advanced nanoscale semiconductor spintronics. This is a coordinated programme of technological, experimental and theoretical research, training and knowledge transfer, by a consortium of leading European academic and industrial research groups. Spintronics is becoming increasingly important as downscaling and power usage in microelectronics approaches fundamental limits. This ITN will provide a framework for structuring research and training efforts in this field and exploiting the new technology. The programme will move well beyond the worldwide state-of-the-art, through development of novel multifunctional nanospintronic devices, by transfer of device concepts to room temperature operation, and by exploration of the potential of low-dimensional systems. This coordinated wide-ranging and multidisciplinary programme is only achievable through a cross-European approach. The ITN will supply the required multidisciplinary and intersectorial training in materials development, device physics and technology and theory, which is crucial for ensuring a highly developed research infrastructure and a critical mass of qualified researchers in this key research area. Researcher mobility will be encouraged, with all appointed fellows spending periods at academic and industrial hosts. Industrial partners will be central to the training programme, ensuring that fellows have an understanding of the needs of end-users of the research. Transferable skills training will be supplied to meet wider employment market needs. The proposal is highly relevant to the ITN objectives, the Information Society Technologies and Nanotechnologies thematic areas of FP7, and ERA strategies to network centres of excellence, increase researcher mobility, and improve cohesion in research. The ITN will provide a body of highly skilled scientists, equipped with the expertise to ensure that European research continues to flourish in this vital area." LE LABORATOIRE : Unité Mixte de Physique (CNRS, Thales) en association avec Université Paris Sud

RESEAU COSI LE PROJET : COSI integrates young researchers in a network of 10 leading European research centres, including Bayer BioScience as industrial partner. We aim at identification of regulatory principles governing chloroplast metabolism, a crucial factor for agricultural productivity. Specifically we want to identify chloroplast-related protein kinases and their targets and associated calcium signals. A long term objective of COSI is increased plant productivity under stress conditions. COSI has expertise in various aspects of photosynthesis in algae and higher plants and in plant signal transduction. This unique combination will be used to identify major regulatory principles of plant organellar metabolism principally also applying far beyond the plant field. Thus training and knowledge can be transferred to many other fields in life sciences. An integrated working programme consisting of working packages, jointly coordinated by two groups of the network, guarantees maximal use of complementary expertises and strengthens ongoing interactions between partners. In addition to intensive exchange and collaboration of the involved young researchers, special training courses will introduce the young researchers in basic methods, which are required for their work and furthermore help them to develop complementary skills. Early stage researchers will be supported by a mentoring programme to enhance their personnel development. Special emphasis will be placed on promotion of women. A training course at Bayer BioScience will expose young researchers to an industrial environment and provide them with industrial relevant skills. COSI will offer hands-on training in cutting-edge technologies such as bioinformatics, live-cell imaging, mass spectrometry and metabolomics and establish an outstanding European research community in organellar signal transduction, an emerging new and competitive research field of central importance in life sciences. LE LABORATOIRE : Institut de Biotechnologie des Plantes (Université Paris Sud, CNRS)

RESEAU ELDEL LE PROJET : The scientific aims of the ELDEL project are: 1) to produce a model elucidating the relationships among psychological (psycholinguistic, cognitive) and environmental (orthographic, linguistic, educational/instructional, cultural) factors determining the development of literacy skills in European languages, and 2) to uncover the key components of an effective, culture-appropriate intervention program for the prevention and remediation of literacy problems in the languages under study. The research program comprises a number of overlapping cross-linguistic studies that will reveal the language-specific and language-general factors affecting literacy development. This multidisciplinary network includes partners with expertise in developmental, educational, and clinical psychology, experimental psycholinguistics, speech and language therapy, and an industrial partner specialising in the creation of software for the assessment and training of literacy skills. Each partner will also contribute to the network’s training aims, to provide training in generic as well as in state-of-the-art domain-specific research skills. Participants will offer training in one or more of the following specialist areas: (a) specific literacy skills (e.g., phonological skills, spelling, reading comprehension), (b) typical vs. clinical populations (e.g., children with developmental disorders, dyslexia), (c) research methodology (e.g., longitudinal, intervention, experimental psycholinguistic, naturalistic), and (d) use and development of measurement tools (computer-generated, eye tracking, cross-linguistic tests). Additional training in relevant skills will be provided by visiting researchers during workshops and short courses. The projects are conceived to promote mobility within the network and allow young researchers to benefit from the training most relevant to them. This ITN will equip Early Stage and Experienced Researchers for successful careers in cutting-edge literacy research. LES LABORATOIRES : - Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive (Université Blaise Pascal, CNRS) - Laboratoire Mémoire et Développement Cognitif (Université Poitiers, CNRS)

RESEAU SOPRANO LE PROJET : The remarkable physical properties of transition metal oxides result from the strong interactions between orbitals, charges, spins and lattice. The discovery and the understanding of these properties – superconductivity, thermoelectricity, magnetoresistance – is based on a close relationship between solid-state chemists, able to design new crystallographic structures in which the ligand field stabilizes different types of cations, and solid-state physicists and specialists of spectroscopic techniques, such as absorption at the transition-metals and oxygen edges or local probes, who are able to extract the characteristic electronic and magnetic features of these cations. In the scope of this network, the search for new compounds will be made by standard solid state chemistry in Caen (CRISMAT) and Bordeaux (ICMB) laboratories, also in charge of the structural and physical property characterizations, by high pressure techniques in Liverpool and Madrid, and by hydrothermal synthesis in Timisoara. The origin of physical properties will be studied in close relationship by different spectroscopy techniques (XANES, dichroïsm: Köln University; Raman, IR conductivity, inelastic neutron scattering: MPI Stuttgart). The collaboration between new oxides discoverers and specialists of the orbital/spin physics will allow the creation of a unique training and research potential on metal-transition oxides. Furthermore, the involvement of the industrial partner (NXP) will provide strong benefit to all members of the network by demonstrating how to iterate fundamental science advances into technology and process development. The proposed investigation, being at the spearhead of the modern condensed matter physics and solid state chemistry, will give an excellent opportunity to teach and train young researchers in this new and challenging field. LES LABORATOIRES : - Laboratoire de Cristallographie en Sciences des Matériaux (Université de Caen, ENSI Caen, CNRS) - NXP Semiconductors

RESEAU GASMEMS LE PROJET : "Gas flows in microsystems are of great interest for various applications that touch almost every industrial field. This diversity is typified through the following examples: fluidic microactuators for active control of aerodynamic flows, vacuum generators for extracting biological samples, mass flow and temperature micro-sensors, pressure gauges, micro heat-exchangers for the cooling of electronic components or for chemical applications, micropumps and microsystems for mixing or separation for local gas analysis, mass spectrometers, vacuum and dosing valves. The main characteristic of gas microflows is their rarefaction, the level of which often requires a modelling both by continuous and molecular approaches. The role played by the interaction between the gas and the wall becomes essential and is generally badly known. Numerous models of boundary conditions are currently in confrontation and require an empirical adjustment strongly dependent on the micro manufacturing techniques. On the other hand, the experimental data are fragmentary and difficult to confront. Most of them do not address heat transfer and gas mixtures issues. The proposed network has been built from several existing collaborations within bilateral programmes, from scientific collaborations and national networks. However, there was no global coordination of the research efforts in the field of gas microflows at the European level. Thus, the two primary objectives of this ITN project are: (i) to structure research in Europe in the field of micro gas flows to improve global fundamental knowledge and enable technological applications to an industrial and commercial level; (ii) to train ESR and ER at a pan-European level, with the aim to providing both a global overview on problems linked to gas flow and heat transfer in microsystems, and advanced skills in specific domains of this research field." LES LABORATOIRES : - Institut Universitaire des Systèmes Thermiques Industriels (Université de Provence, CNRS) - Laboratoire de Génie Mécanique de Toulouse (Université Paul Sabatier, INSA, CNRS)

RESEAU RAINBOW LE PROJET : "Indium nitride is a new narrow gap semiconductor (<0.7 eV), which alloys with GaN (3.5 eV) and AlN (6.2 eV) will allow the spectral range from telecom to hard UV wavelengths to be covered. This narrow band gap makes InN an exciting material from which to develop highest efficiency solar cells. Moreover, due to an electron mobility of around 4000 cm2/Vs and very high saturation velocities, InN is an ideal material for the development of high electron mobility devices capable of operating in the Terahertz range. To ensure the production of reliable commercial devices, rigorous fundamental research is required to understand the layer growth mechanisms and optimize material properties. In RAINBOW, academic and industrial consortium, the theoretical work will encompass modelling of the atomic structure and properties of the material from empirical potentials to ab initio techniques. Experiments will provide correlated structural, electronic, optical and chemical information from the nano to the macroscopic scale. In a closely concerted effort, we will determine the best conditions for the growth of highest quality InN and In rich (In,Ga,Al)N alloys by the main growth techniques (MOVPE, PAMBE,HVPE ). Under the supervision of world leading experts, numerous young researchers will directly benefit from this interdisciplinary and multisectorial research and training effort. The young researchers involved in this programme will also learn to manage research and industrial projects." Black Hole Universe Black holes are some of the most exotic astronomical objects in the universe, and are accordingly the focus of much speculation and study. By definition invisible, they are only detectable when interacting with their environment, either by bending surrounding light or gravitationally capturing enough matter to power other processes whose radiation we can detect. Depending on the spin of the black hole (BH), its mass-to-energy conversion efficiency can be over 50 times higher than that of nuclear fusion. The gravitational energy liberated via this accretion process powers many phenomena around BHs and significantly impacts the surrounding regions. Because many of these phenomena involve complicated geometries, high-energy electromagnetic fields and strong gravity, they are still not well understood. By observing and modeling the radiation originating from the more extreme regions of BHs and their associated structures in our Galaxy, the planned ITN network intends to reconstruct a more complete picture of the complex physics involved in the accretion process through observations from the radio band to the X-rays and through theoretical work. Training on these subjects will be provided through summer schools on multi-wavelength astronomical techniques and on black hole astrophysics and through dedicated PhD projects. LES LABORATOIRES : - Structure et Fonctionnalité des Couches Minces (Université Caen, ENSI Caen, CNRS) - Alcatel-Thales III 5 lab

RESEAU AMID LE PROJET : "Development Economics has seen an explosion of high quality empirical work in the past ten years. But despite the quality of many individual researchers, Europe is lagging behind the US in terms of number of students, faculty, and publications. Remedying this gap is important, not only for scientific reasons, but also because development research is a critical input to decision making by Governments and international Institutions. The partners in the proposed ITN are dedicated to producing the next generation of research scholars working on development issues in Europe. The ITN will harness and combine intellectual resources which are scattered across Europe to offer doctoral students a first rate training, comparable to the best opportunities available worldwide. The Network will emphasise rigorous empirical methods put to the service of fundamental questions in development economics. The work will evolve around three workpackages: WP1 (Human capital and policy evaluation) will investigate how households respond to incentives, design policies to improve education and health, and evaluate their impact. WP2 (Market access for the poor) will study market imperfections in insurance, credit, product and labour markets and evaluate the effectiveness of innovative schemes to address them. WP3 (Institutions: Micro evidence) will study the emergence of social norms, the legacy of historical institutions, and their implications for governance and accountability. Training will involve student exchanges across nodes, participation in team research projects, and support for students’ travel and field work. The distinguishing features are: (a) formal coursework with emphasis on rigorous empirical methods and exposure to other disciplines in PhD courses, workshops and summer schools. (b) active participation in data collection and field projects in developing countries, attained through participation in (often multidisciplinary) team research projects an" LE LABORATOIRE : Paris School of Economics (fondation rassemblant des unités de recherche de plusieurs établissements : Université Paris 1, CNRS, EHESS, ENPC, ENS, INRA)

RESEAU IMVUL LE PROJET : There has been an increasing realization over the last 30 years that to preserve water quality and quantity in Europe, measures at both European and national levels are needed. Our groundwater resources are at risk from a wide variety of stresses including point and diffuse sources of contamination, over-abstraction and saline intrusion. Minimizing this risk requires a good understanding of the physical, chemical and biological processes involved and the development of tools to assess groundwater vulnerability, aid water management and design protection strategies. To meet the challenges imposed by the new EU Water and Ground Water Framework Directives, the water industry throughout Europe is already significantly expanding, creating an increasing demand for appropriately educated graduates. The proposed ITN network, IMVUL, is aimed at training researchers in the major issues and processes relevant to groundwater vulnerability. The network consists of 8 partners in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Israel and Norway and 13 associated partners from the water industry. The research objectives are to increase our understanding of the fundamental processes relevant to groundwater vulnerability and develop improved prediction tools that can contribute to the protection and sustainable use of Europe's groundwater resources. This will be achieved through investigations of case study aquifers and their vulnerability issues, laboratory experiments of contaminant transport in the subsurface, and numerical and analytical modelling of the processes pertinent to groundwater vulnerability. The proposed network will contribute to satisfying a growing skill demand in groundwater research and the water industry by producing graduates with not only a sound knowledge of the scientific basis of groundwater vulnerability, but also good investigatory skills through their research experience and additional training relevant to the water industry. LES LABORATOIRES : - Geosciences Rennes (Université Rennes 1, CNRS) - Structure et fonctionnement des systèmes hydriques continentaux (Université Paris VI, ENSMP, CNRS)

RESEAU INTERMAL TRAINING LE PROJET : "Malaria exacts a devastating social and economic cost across the globe. Europe is at the forefront of the battle against this disease. It contains many of the leading malaria research groups, most of which are members of at least one of two consortia; BioMalPar, a Network of Excellence focused on basic research into the biology and pathology of malaria; and AntiMal, an integrated project aiming to develop a portfolio of new antimalarial drugs, urgently needed to meet the problems of drug-resistant malaria. To sustain the competitiveness of European malaria research into the future, there is a need to integrate these initiatives by the establishment of a broad-based training programme that emphasises the path from fundamental research to translation into disease control strategies. To address this need, it is proposed to establish an international training programme called InterMalTraining which will train a cohort of early stage researchers (ESR) to PhD level by means of collaborative malaria research projects. Each project will be jointly supervised by two principal investigators from separate partner institutions and usually different countries, affording a multicultural and multidisciplinary element to the training. Through this and additional broad-based, intensive training provided by experts from both the malaria research community and the industrial sector, it is intended to create a new generation of mobile, highly skilled young scientists who will be well acquainted with each other and with the leading malaria groups in Europe and beyond, enhancing their prospects for a career in their chosen area and suiting them to be future leaders in research institutions and industry. The cross-disciplinary nature of the training will have the breadth to ensure that it is applicable across and beyond the field of infectious diseases, allowing mobility of the young scientists into these areas and forging future links across the life sciences and into industry." LES LABORATOIRES : - Dynamique des interactions membranaires (Université Montpellier II, Université Montpellier I, CNRS) - Parasitologie et Mycologie (Institut Pasteur)

RESEAU ENEFP LE PROJET : "This project intends to use directed evolution as tool to reproduce Nature's remarkable ability to generate molecular machines - in particular enzymes – that perform at levels near perfection. By harnessing the forces of Darwinian evolution in the laboratory we want to (i) screen large and diverse genome libraries for protein with new and useful functions, (ii) optimize existing proteins for applications in medicine, biotechnology and cell biology and (iii) provide a better understanding of how existing enzymes evolved and study enzyme mechanisms in general. The proposed Network brings together leading academic and industrial groups with diverse and complementary skills: the development of a variety of innovative biotechnology tools for the generation and exploitation of large genomic and man-made libraries, expertise in mechanistic enzymology and an unrivalled technology platform including phage display, in vitro compartmentalization, ribosome display, selective protein labelling and high-throughput screening that will be key to achieve the ambitious goals of this project. The project is a continuation of a highly successful framework 5 network. The partnership has now been extended by two successful SMEs at different stages of their development and one of Europe’s premier medium-sized biotech companies that are keen to utilise and market the expected results of this collaborative effort." LE LABORATOIRE : Institut de Sciences et d’Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (Université Louis Pasteur, CNRS)

RESEAU DENDREAMERS LE PROJET : "Dendrimers are new materials obtained with a highly controlled molecular structure in several space orientations. Liquid Crystals (LC) Dendrimers are a part of them that incorporate directional properties to these materials. If we append active molecules into these engineered molecules, we can obtain multifunctional anisotropic molecules that open the possibility of achieving a wide variety of physical properties and new applications. Among the numerous possibilities to be explored within this field, we have chosen two fundamental lines, which are Biomedicine and Advanced Molecular Materials. Training of multidisciplinary personnel in this field of research will contribute to concentrate the knowledge spread in different countries and to accelerate the development within Europe by means of industrial collaboration. This collaboration will provide an up-to-date list of requirements for better planning the research lines that ensure a rapid evolution of the existing ones in Europe, all of which are oriented to the synthesis of compounds easily transferable to industrial use. The aim is to reduce the existing gap between academically developed new materials and their industrial application. Multidisciplinary training will include modelling of new materials, chemical synthesis and controlled chemical orientation, structural functional studies, physical characterization of structural properties, biological modelling, molecular activity analyses, technology oriented samples and product escalation towards industry processes. These training aspects will go parallel to a research career, complementary formation and cooperation key-events." LE LABORATOIRE : Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux (Université Louis Pasteur, CNRS)

RESEAU CALMARO LE PROJET : "CalMarO aims at the comprehensive training of twelve young researchers in the field of calcification by marine organisms based on a Network of thirteen research institutions and four SMEs. The Network participants are acknowledged experts with complementary research or commercial approaches in this field. Calcification is a fundamental physiological process of marine organisms that is largely determined by the characteristics of seawater. Calcifying marine organisms differ in their adaptability to variations in environmental conditions, in particular temperature and seawater pH. If global CO2 emissions continue to rise at current trends seawater pH may decrease to levels that are probably lower than have been experienced for tens of millions of years and, critically, at a rate of change 100 times greater than at any time over this period, with dramatic effects on productivity and marine ecosystems. CalMarO comprises investigation of calcification processes and the sensitivities to changes in environmental conditions at all scales ranging from cellular, organism, population to ecosystem, and regional to global levels. Covering this important topic in a training Network will offer young researchers an integrated perspective on an emerging problem and position their own work within the framework of a concerted effort to better understand the risks and consequences associated with ocean change. Three pillars support the training programme: personalised programmes, Network activities and dissemination. The principle of co-supervision by at least two senior scientists and SME placement on the basis of an individual mentoring plan represents the core piece of the training programme, with links to joint activities across the Network. These include annual meetings and theme oriented workshops. CalMarO participants will disseminate the Network achievements in a special session at a major conference and a major joint publication." LES LABORATOIRES : - Interactions et Dynamique des Environnements de Surface (Université Paris Sud, CNRS) - Physiologie Fonctionnelle des Organismes Marins (IFREMER)

RESEAU GTSNEXT LE PROJET : "Geological time is inextricably linked with Earth Sciences and the Geological Time Scale (GTS) is the yardstick to measure it. As such the GTS is the key to reconstruct Earth history. Recent developments in numerical dating now permit to build a much improved next generation GTS for the last 100 million years by integrating independent state-of-the-art techniques; this time scale will have an unprecedented accuracy, precision, resolution and stability. Within GTSnext a consortium of world leading European experts will be brought together for the first time to integrate their expertise and provide young scientists with a top training in all these methods. This training is the prime objective of GTSnext, and crucial to its success. Together this team of newly trained scientists is well equipped to construct the new GTS. GTSnext is part of a broader international initiative - EARTHTIME - a community-based scientific effort aimed at sequencing Earth history through an integrated geochronologic and stratigraphic approach. It is our ambition to broaden the Earthtime platform in Europe with GTSnext, which combined with an ESF funded Research Network run in parallel, will also serve as the basis for wider outreach towards the Earth Science community. The expected scientific contributions and breakthroughs are 1) a full integration and intercalibration of different numerical dating techniques, leading to 2) a significant improvement in the consistency of these same techniques; 3) progress towards a fully integrated and astronomical-tuned GTS over the last 100 million years; 4) an essentially stable time scale that is highly beneficial for both academia and industry, and 5) new insights in key geological processes including climate change, catastrophic impacts, and volcanic hazards. Finally, a more fundamental comprehension of geological time and the time scales at which key processes occur in Earth history is highly relevant in view of the impact we have on System Earth." LES LABORATOIRES : - Interactions et Dynamique des Environnements de Surface (Université Paris Sud, CNRS) - Institut de mécanique céleste et de calcul des éphémérides (Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris VI, Université Lille 1)

RESEAU RED CAT LE PROJET : "Intracellular redox processes are pivotal for cell survival and proliferation. Redox active natural products, enzymes and their mimics may therefore be considered as regulators of various cellular processes which may, for instance, control inflammatory processes, cancer formation and proliferation, but also bacterial, fungal and microbial growth. It is now apparent that redox control exerted by such natural and synthetic products may be used for prevention and therapy in Medicine and for the development of ‘green’ pesticides in Agriculture. This training network will study chemical, biochemical and biological aspects of the modulation of cellular redox balances by selected natural agents and their mimics. It relies on expertise of 10 full and 7 associated partners (1 SME) in a range of scientific disciplines, including synthetic, analytical, biological and pharmaceutical chemistry, biochemistry, cell biology, microbiology, cancer research and agricultural research. The network will address 4 36-month work packages (WP): A WP on natural antioxidants, inflammation and cancer; a WP studying intracellular redox control and signalling events triggered by external redox agents; a WP on green antibiotics and pesticides from plants and fungi; a WP on redox catalysts as agents selective against cancer and inflammatory cells. The network will provide interdisciplinary training for 4 experienced and 10 early stage researchers, all of which will acquire expertise in 3 or more of scientific disciplines. Each researcher will develop a training portfolio when joining the network. All early stage researchers are expected to obtain international recognised PhD degrees. In addition to intensive scientific training at various host institutes, there will be a framework programme offering training in science related matters and soft skills, such as logical and ethical aspects of research, IP, patenting and commercialisation, communication skills and cultural and gender issues." LES LABORATOIRES : - Laboratoire d’Ingénierie Moléculaire et Biochimie Pharmacologique (Université Metz) - Thérapeutiques Innovantes des Maladies du Foie (Université Paris V)

RESEAU FASTQUAST LE PROJET : "The objective of this project is to set up an Initial Training Network on advanced techniques for ultrafast manipulation of atoms and molecules by strong femtosecond laser pulses. The project comprises a diverse range of applications of strong-field coherent control to ultrafast spectroscopy and microscopy; nuclear and electron wavepacket dynamics; alignment of molecules with applications to collisions, high harmonic generation and adsorption; characterization and control of dissipation; stabilization of cold atoms and molecules; quantum state and process tomography; and ultrafast information processing. The use of strong shaped femtosecond laser pulses opens a novel avenue to control of quantum dynamics via hitherto inaccessible physical mechanisms. The new control scenarios require the development of novel versatile femtosecond sources in the UV and VUV range of high shaping capabilities, to which a part of the research will be dedicated, with anticipated spin-offs of great multidisciplinary interest, e.g. in chemistry and biology. The combined expertise of the network - a joint effort of 10 universities and 3 industrial companies - represents the cutting edge of research and training in femtosecond light-matter interactions in Europe. The network will train 18 doctoral students and about 11 young postdoctoral researchers. The training activities will combine several dedicated instruments of network-wide training, capitalizing on their synergy with a backbone of specialized training inside the groups. The training program will be adapted to the ESRs, with elementary, advanced and expert phases initiated at the network schools and workshops. Prominent scientists from Europe and overseas, and industry leaders from the companies in the network and from outside, will contribute to the schools and workshops. Special attention will be focused on developing important complementary skills, such as communication, presentation, project planning and management." LES LABORATOIRES : - Institut Carnot Bourgogne (Université Dijon, CNRS) - Laboratoire Collisions Agrégats Réactivité (Université Paul Sabatier, CNRS) - Fastlite SARL

RESEAU MINILUBES LE PROJET : "Recently, ionic liquids (IL) are employed as substitute for traditional solvents in catalysis, synthesis and electrochemistry. But little research work or actual applications have been published until now concerning the utilization of IL as lubricants. Generally, IL show no or very low vapour pressures, satisfying viscosity-temperature behaviour, no inflammability and high thermal stabilities up to 250°C. The choice of cation and anion as well as the design of side chains determine fundamental IL properties. These properties desirable for lubricants and the possibility to create tailor-made compounds give rise to the demand of in-depth investigations of IL in tribology. To our best knowledge, the project will be the first extensive and integral approach of IL towards potential future applications as lubricants for metals, ceramics and polymers as well as base for wear and friction reducing nanoparticles. The investigations will involve molecular design and synthesis of new IL as well as preparation of advanced materials containing or based on IL. Evaluation of lubricant and material performance will range from determination of physico-chemical properties including artificial aging of IL and mechanical testing (e.g. tensile and impact strength) to tribometrical experiments. Wear and friction properties will be completed by thorough surface characterization, in particular towards tribochemical reaction layers. Parameters gained from these experiments will be used for modelling of triboprocesses in nanoscale and for molecular design of new ionic lubricants. Studies on biodegradability, toxicology and economical aspects will be studied in detail, too, to verify legal requirements and opportunities for highly potential applications. The overall objective of this interdisciplinary and intersectorial approach is the generation of unique and comprehensive knowledge about IL on a sustainable basis for future implementations as high performance lubricants." LE LABORATOIRE : Laboratoire de Thermodynamique des Solutions et Polymères (Université Clermont 2, CNRS)

RESEAU FINELUMEN LE PROJET : "FINELUMEN" is a 4-year project aiming at the preparation and extensive characterization of luminescent materials in which suitably designed organic and inorganic luminophores are encapsulated within nano-containers (carbon nanotubes and coordination cages) in which they can preserve and even improve their emission output. The ultimate goal is to create a library of luminescent modules emitting throughout the VIS-NIR region for producing superior functional hybrid materials. The emission colour tunability is defined by the emitting guest, while the versatility in the final application is controlled via tailored chemical functionalisation of the host. The versatile properties of these materials will make them attractive in at least 3 applicative areas, i.e. bioimaging, optoelectronic devices and sensors. The participation of a giant company and a high-tech SME in the consortium ensures a quick patenting and industrial scale up of the most promising luminescent materials, strengthening Europe’s competitiveness in a field of huge growth potential in the next decade. The research endeavour inside “FINELUMEN” calls for a multidisciplinary team in which key groups, experts in many different fields of chemistry, physics and engineering tightly interact. For this reason training and exchange of young researchers represents the core of the“FINELUMEN” activity To both early-stage and experienced researchers, a multidisciplinary training in the realm of synthetic/supramolecular/physical chemistry, photosciences, and engineering as well as management, communication, and IPR is offered, preparing them for positions in academia, industry, and government labs. The local and network-wide training and transfer of knowledge activities are strengthened by 2 authoritative visiting scientists, enriched by 3 FINELUMEN international summer schools and conferences, and complemented via PhD programmes in co-tutoring among partners based in different countries. LE LABORATOIRE : Laboratoire Chimie de Coordination (CNRS) en association avec l’Université Paul Sabatier

RESEAU AXREGEN LE PROJET : This is a multi-disciplinary training programme focussed on the experimental and clinical problems associated with axonal damage and repair in the central nervous system. This is a central feature of a wide variety of disorders of the CNS. Future advances in this area depend on training a cohort of young researches with multiple skills. The programme encompasses ten academic and three commercial organisations (SMEs). Each student will be trained in a variety of theoretical and technical approaches, based on the complementary expertise of the collaborating partners. In addition, there will be a strong emphasis on the commercial exploitation and development of potential new therapies. The individual projects are strongly cross-disciplinary, and a series of workshops, seminars and online tutorials will ensure the collective resources of each participant being available to each student. These will foster a sense of collegiality amongst the students themselves, and knowledge of the work going on in the labs of the consortium. The programme will have a common organisation strategy, with a balance between control by the coordinators and delegation to individual laboratories. The topics themselves range from studies on the molecular biology of gene expression during axonal damage and regeneration, through cellular approaches for rescuing axons, artificial systems for growing and studying axons in vitro, the use of stem cells as regenerative procedures, advanced imaging techniques for assessing axonal integrity, studies on ways to alter axonal plasticity, pharmacological approaches to preventing or restoring axonal damage, new surgical and experimental methods for studying axonal structure and function, tests of recovery (including both physiological and behavioural techniques) and the contribution of axonal malfunction to animal models of specific diseases. Students will also be taught the avenues available for commercial exploitation of experimental findings LES LABORATOIRES : - Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille Luminy (Université Aix 2, CNRS) - Pharmaxon

RESEAU FINSYSB LE PROJET : "The vision of the FINSysB Network is to generate bright, ambitious and well-trained young researchers capable of contributing significantly to the knowledge-base and economy of the European Union. We will achieve this goal by providing a strong, multidisciplinary training for early stage and experienced researchers in the pathobiology, genomics, molecular biology, bioinformatics and systems biology of the medically important fungus, Candida albicans. This microbe causes frequent infections in otherwise healthy individuals and is a common cause of potentially lethal hospital acquired infections in intensive care patients in the EU. Our well-integrated research programme will dissect and model the molecular interactions that take place between this fungal pathogen and its human host during disease progression. FINSysB partners are all internationally renowned, contributing complementary expertise in pathobiology, genomics, molecular biology, bioinformatics and systems biology. Our two SME partners provide a well-defined route for the translation of our research into the development of novel, clinically useful diagnostic tools and antifungal therapies. Our research activities will be supplemented by well-structured training programmes in research skills and complementary transferable skills. This training extends successful programmes that were established during FP6. They will impart state-of-the-art skills in modern predictive and experimental biology as well as useful generic skills. The personal development plans of our young researchers will be enhanced further by secondments to industrial and academic partners and by attendance at advanced summer schools (e.g. on Human Fungal Pathogens, and Yeast Systems Biology). Using this combination of approaches we will provide our early stage and experienced researchers with well-defined career opportunities and equip them with the tools to compete effectively on the international stage." LES LABORATOIRES : - Unité de Biologie et Pathogénicité fongiques (Institut Pasteur, INRA) - Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaire (INRA)

RESEAU CODDE LE PROJET : Everyday actions and social interactions depend on making prompt decisions in a dynamic world. Despite the seeming ease with which we are able to recognise targets for attention and direct our actions, understanding how the brain extracts the key information from the complex input of the natural world to support successful behaviour is one of the greatest open scientific challenges. Meeting this challenge has clear intersectorial benefits: helping to tailor technology to the user, improve interventions for training and rehabilitation, and preserve abilities in old age. Codde addresses the challenge through a multidisciplinary approach that integrates techniques and methodologies from Human-, Physical-, Life- and Computational sciences. This novel synthesis of techniques and approaches between disciplines and sectors offers real potential to improve understanding of the brain processes that support successful behaviour. The eight host centres in the training network represent leading groups with excellent international reputations and state-of-the-art equipment. The training programme combines local activities with network workshops, training courses and personnel- and information- exchange to deliver an unrivalled breadth of training in sensorimotor research. Exchanges are designed to deliver research training significantly beyond that typical for early-stage researchers by exploiting complementary expertise in controlling and quantifying sensory input, with advanced virtual reality interfaces, tools for studying dynamics developed in motor control, insight into neural processing gained from functional brain imaging and system-level operational principles used by the brain gleaned by applying advanced theoretical models. The high-level involvement of industry in the network is exceptional for the field, and will assist us in delivering researchers with excellent technical and transferable skills that will be of lifelong use across disciplines and sectors. LE LABORATOIRE : Laboratoire de Psychologie de la perception (Université Paris V, CNRS)

RESEAU IMAGE DDR LE PROJET : "Background: The DNA damage response (DDR) is a specialised stress response fundamental to maintaining genome integrity and suppressing tumour formation. Traditional molecular and cellular biology, combined with genetics and biochemistry, have led to an understanding of the architecture of the DDR in a variety of model organisms and in human cells. These studies have employed populations of cells/molecules and their results are of necessity an average of the response. High sensitivity imaging technologies make it feasible to study events in single cells and to do experiments with small numbers of molecules in vitro. These can now be applied to the DDR. Project Objectives: To provide an interdisciplinary training in single cell and single molecule studies to graduate students in Physics, Chemistry, LS, Maths and Computer sciences. The focus of the research will be the study of the DDR and genome stability. The main technologies to be developed concern high resolution molecular imaging methodologies. Specific aims: To train eight early stage researchers to doctoral level to utilize an interdisciplinary approach to address specific scientific questions and to communicate between disciplines. Study Design: We will achieve our objective by building a network comprising four “local” groups, each a collaboration between an imaging specialist and a cell biologist / molecular geneticists engaged in research on genome stability. The collaborating scientists will serve as co-advisors and will develop a personalised interdisciplinary research training programme for each recruit. Local training will be augmented by specially designed network-wide summer schools, workshops and meetings encompassing all network participants and invited experts. An industrial partner is integral to the network in order to share methods and provide secondments and input into workshops to train researchers in technology exploitation." LES LABORATOIRES : - Genomic Vision - Dynamique nucléaire et plasticité du génome (Institut Curie, CNRS)

RESEAU DITANET LE PROJET : "The Council of the European Union expressively welcomed the development of a first European roadmap for research infrastructures. The aim of this recently published roadmap was to identify vital new infrastructures that are crucial for the future European research area, in particular for capacity building. These multi-disciplinary projects require substantial investments, forty percent of which are directly linked to new infrastructures using particle accelerators. This drastically underlines the importance of this field to ensure long-term European competitiveness in the sciences. The future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), the X-ray Free Electron Laser (FEL) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will provide a new set of beams to a truly interdisciplinary community. In addition, smaller scale projects are emerging that aim for novel studies with merged molecular beams or experiments with cooled antiprotons at lowest energies to pave the way for fundamental studies in a number of different fields. The development of new particle accelerators with unprecedented beam characteristics drives the need for an intense R&D program in diagnostic techniques. The successful operation of these machines will only be possible with adequate beam instrumentation. The aim of the here-proposed Marie Curie Initial Training Network is to develop beyond-state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques for future accelerator facilities and to train students and young researchers within a European network between several major research centres, leading Universities, and partners from industry." LE LABORATOIRE : Laboratoire d’études et de développements pour les accélérateurs (CEA)

RESEAU UEPHA-MS LE PROJET : Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory, disabling disease of the central nervous system. Recent studies suggest that over the last 50 years a disproportional increase in incidence of MS in women has taken place. The lifetime costs of MS exceed 1.5 million € per case in the UK, and are likely to be similar in other European countries. There is no definitive cure for MS. Immunomodulatory therapies, such as interferon-ß (IFN-ß) and glatiramer acetate (GA), are only partially effective. Hence, there is a pressing need both for novel therapeutic targets and for approaches toward increasing the effectiveness of these existing treatments. The focus of the proposed “United Europeans for the development of PHArmacogenomics in MS” (‘UEPHA-MS’) network will be to promote and improve training opportunities in the novel areas of pharmacogenomics, biomarker research and systems biology applied to MS. The main scientific goals of this network are both to improve our knowledge of the mechanisms determining response outcome of existing immunomodulatory therapies and to identify novel therapeutic opportunities. UEPHA-MS is composed of ten internationally recognised research teams from 6 countries with an assortment of expertise in complementary disciplines. UEPHA-MS partners are among Europe’s most pro-active groups in pioneering the novel, supra-disciplinary area of integrated genomics / bioinformatics / systems biology research. The UEPHA-MS network will provide a coherent and internationally competitive platform for training of young scientists based on a series of state-of-the-art lab-based and network-wide activities. UEPHA-MS will boost employment perspectives of young researchers in Europe’s knowledge-based economy by shaping a new generation of scientists with greatly enhanced multidisciplinary aptitudes. This network will be crucial in priming young scientists for Europe’s collective effort toward improved provision of health care based on “personalized medicine”. LE LABORATOIRE : Centre de Physiopathologie Toulouse Purpan (Université Paul Sabatier, INSERM)

RESEAU SAGA LE PROJET : "SAGA aims at advancing the mathematical foundations of CAD technology. Based on some exploratory work, we believe that this technology can be greatly enhanced by exploiting results and techniques from many different fields in mathematics: Algebraic Geometry, Symbolic Computation, but also Numerical Analysis and Approximation Theory. The main goal of the proposal is to exploit the diverse knowledge of the partners (from universities, research institutes, and industry) for training a new generation of mathematicians. To master the challenges of combining CAD and Algebraic Geometry, Europe needs new experts with experience from different schools of thought and applications, who have built their own Europe-wide contact net and have either gathered important industrial experience before pursuing an academic career or have academic research experience before entering industry. SAGA offers an environment of researchers from different areas with a common vision, and tailor-made training opportunities to learn geometric modeling both from the industrial and the fundamental mathematics perspective. The network-wide training will offer one large training event per year, i.e. a school, two study groups for joint problem solving, and a final workshop. Complementary skills will be trained both locally and also at the annual events that are open also for external researchers. The topics envisaged for training-through-research include how current CAD algorithms can be improved when several representations for the same object are available, with easily performed conversion between them; how algebraic and geometrical tools can be adapted to solve CAD problems; how concrete CAD challenges (like hole filling, offsets, singularities) can be dealt with using Algebraic Geometry; as well as practical problems posed by industry." LES LABORATOIRES : - Missler Software - INRIA

RESEAU STEP LE LABORATOIRE : "Naturally occurring polysaccharides constitute the largest segment of all available polymers, and hence exhibit the greatest potential as renewable, sustainable, and eco-friendly replacements for man-made polymers derived from fossil-resources. That this potential remains untapped to a large degree is testament to the inherent challenges in converting polysaccharides from natural sources to forms more suited for human use. One of the major challenges in the conversion of polysaccharides is overcoming the non-covalent interactions that characterize polysaccharide structures and lead to significant restraints on their processability. The non-covalent interactions exert strong influence on polysaccharide conversion by restricting polymer dissolution in solvents, limiting thermal processability of polysaccharides, and dictating the feasibility and extent of polymer functionalization. The objective of the STEP-ITN is to gain fundamental understanding of the non-covalent interactions in polysaccharide structures and utilize the knowledge to develop ways and means of overcoming their influence on polysaccharide conversion processes. This concerted and coherent multi-disciplinary effort spanning diverse areas of specialization and an active participation of the industry sector will generate significant advances in the science and technology of polysaccharide conversion. An intimate involvement in all aspects of the collaboration (research, knowledge transfer, dissemination, coordination) along with an extensive program of training in a wide variety of fields will allow early-stage and early researchers to develop the technical proficiency and complementary skills required to make significant contributions to science and technology in their professional careers." LE LABORATOIRE : Spontex R&D

RESEAU EUROGLYCOARRAYS LE PROJET : The development and production of glycoarrays will provide the foreground knowledge necessary to lead to a step change in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases ranging from cancers to autoimmune diseases. Carbohydrates play a pivotal role in the molecular interactions that govern biological events at the centre of health and disease. This has become more evident as the characterisation and identification of proteins and their interactions through proteomics has advanced during the last decade. Whilst proteomics is providing a wealth of information, it does not deal with the results of post-translational modifications such as glycosylation which are frequently the driving force behind the biological activity of proteins. This lack of information is beginning to be addressed by the emerging field of glycomics, the mapping of all carbohydrate-protein interactions. The proposed training network is multidisciplinary involving carbohydrate chemistry, array technology and application. The programme offers young scientist an outstanding opportunity to be involved in the development stages of the glycoarray technology and apply this technology to important biological questions. LE LABORATOIRE : Centre de Recherche sur les Macromolécules Végétales (CNRS) en association avec l’Université Joseph Fourrier

RESEAU LIMOUSINE LE PROJET : In LIMOUSINE multi-disciplinary research and training is provided to address the problem and provide tools to design and operate gas turbine engines in a robust way with a diversity of fuels and operation conditions. Their robustness is dependent on their design and operation however. The major risk of failure is due to mechanical failure of combustor components. This failure is most often caused by fatigue of liner or burner parts, that have been exposed to an anomalous oscillating pressure load. This load is caused by thermo-acoustic instabilities. LIMOUSINE is a multi-disciplinary project providing training in mathematics, structural mechanics, acoustics, fluid mechanics, combustion experimental techniques, and control systems theory. The project objective in research is to predict the mechanical vibration in a gas turbine engine and the resulting fatigue and time to failure. Active and passive control processes will be developed to allow safe operation of the gas turbine on a variety of fuels and operating conditions. LE LABORATOIRE : Computational and Fluid Dynamics Group (Centre Européen de Recherche et de Formation Avancée en Calcul Scientifique)

RESEAU WAVETRAIN 2 LE PROJET : "The proposed action builds strongly up on the logics of its predecessor with the same name. The overall objective is to create a pool of specialised wave energy research professionals to support an emerging industry in a field with a very strong anticipated growth and no dedicated existing training curriculum. Although most jobs can be done being a trained engineer in one of the adjacent fields, the existance of interdisciplinary skilled researchers trained in direct connection to the technology development is vital for successful development. In the predecessor, almost all fellows where immediatley absorbed by industrial players in the field or continued research in the host institution. The work plan for WAVETRAIN 2 fellows is specifically directed towards a wide range of challenges that industrial-scale wave energy implementation faces in the present situation, with some bias towards technical issues, from hydrodynamic and PTO (Power-Take-Off) design, to instrumentation issues and energy storage and cost reduction show to be critical for successful deployment. On the other hand, also non-technical “barriers”, typically less tangible difficulties related to legal issues (licensing, conflicts of use, EIA procedures, grid connection, regional differences) and the non-sufficient representation of socio-economic benefits of the sector, will be dealt with, as they are seen as a major obstacel for fast implementation on a European scale. The methodology to achieve the desired results is to provide (i) in-depth training in one applied research topic (host institution), (ii) good interdisciplinary background and understanding of industry environment (short courses and secondments), and (iii) active participation in wave power plant testing in the sea (some of the profiles; others: site visits). The in-depth training at the host institution will be incorporated in relevant research topics, where typically an advance the state-of-the-art is expected." LE LABORATOIRE : Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides (Ecole Centrale de Nantes)

RESEAU GIST LE PROJET : "Services are currently of great interest and importance to both policy-makers and businesses in Europe, and are a major factor in maintaining European growth and competitiveness over the coming decades. Previously, data relating to the interactions between trade flows, regulatory regimes and the European political economy has been inconsistent and fragmented. Now, thanks to the efforts of the EC, OECD and World Bank, more harmonised and accessible data is available. This provides an important opportunity for the introduction and development of doctoral dissertations. The goal of the proposed network Globalization, Investment, and Services Trade - GIST is to develop a cohort of researchers in Europe focused on international trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the service sectors, and to integrate this network with the policy community. The service sector has traditionally been treated as a sector whose outputs are purely non-tradable. As a result, the existing body of research on international trade and trade policy is focused almost entirely on agriculture and manufacturing and research on multinationals and foreign direct investment is also focused on manufacturing firms and industries. Yet, while economists, political scientists, geographers, and institutional scholars remain focused on the set of international regulatory systems governing merchandise trade, dramatic changes have moved services from non-tradable to the realm of tradability. The geographic anchor of services has been cast loose, as the telecommunications revolution has changed the nature of activities that can be traded. The proposed network will explore these developments in the work package Theory of cross-boarder trade and FDI which will explore the growing importance of services in all OECD countries, the limited tradability of many services, the deregulation of service markets and FDI liberalization policies. Real world changes in the ownership and structure of service-sector indus" LE LABORATOIRE : Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne (Université Paris I, CNRS)

RESEAU CROSS-TALK LE PROJET : "The multi-partner initial training network entitled “Health-Promoting Cross-talk between Intestinal Microbiota and Humans (CROSS-TALK)” aims at: • Preparing qualified young professionals/researchers and future scientific leaders in the field of an emerging supra-discipline, the human microbiome metagenomics (which calls for new researcher curricula and fosters a dynamic scientific community) through a personal and adapted training program, • Answering key questions on the role of the host-gut microbiota cross-talk in the development and maintenance of a healthy gut. • Developing new concepts and trans-discipline training based on, the integrated scientific programme, laboratory exchanges and dedicated education proposed in CROSS-TALK In order to reach these objectives, CROSS-TALK establishes a collaborative research and training network of 8 network participants and 3 associated partners. This network gathers expertises in complementary disciplines (i.e. microbiology, immunology, cell biology [in-vitro] and molecular biology, in-vivo biology [animal models, humans], biochemistry, proteomics, transcriptomics) and participants from both the academic and private sectors with an excellent track record of collaborative research. The network also offers a complete range of theoretical, practical and complementary training as well as scientific workshops. The excellent scientific network of CROSS-TALK will work together with the young researchers to develop and implement effective training plans tailored to each individual’s requirements. Regular meetings, active networking, connections with other scientific projects in the field and with commercial participants will ensure the success of this project and give the recruited researchers an excellent opportunity to reach their career objectives." LE LABORATOIRE : Unité Génétique Microbienne (INRA)

RESEAU VECOM LE PROJET : The aim of the proposed training network is to provide dedicated research training in the emerging field of vehicle concept modelling for up-front pre-CAD functional performance engineering, bridging between industry and academia across Europe. The research area is of highly strategic importance to European automotive OEMs, who must launch products on an ever shorter time frame, at increased quality of multiple performance attributes. When simulation results become available in an early design stage, problems can already be solved before the first detailed CAD model is created, which will increase the quality of the first detailed simulation models and reduce the time to market. Moreover, early what-if studies can be performed to balance and optimize possibly conflicting performance attributes (safety, NVH, dynamics, durability ...) at an increased feasibility and at reduced costs. Novel methods will be developed to address this industrial need for a novel engineering process in which analysis leads the design. Applications will be worked out across partners and application fields, fully embedded in the vehicle industry context. Apart from benefits to researchers, partners and supervisors (OEMs and other industry), the proposed project will strengthen the competitive position of the European vehicle industry in the increasingly global market. LE LABORATOIRE : Engine CFD and Simulation Department (IFP)

RESEAU LECHE LE PROJET : The ideal training for future researchers in Europe, draws together leading groups in the world, state-of-the-art methods and a clearly focused, important and emotive questions with widespread repercussions, and integrates them using sophisticated tools and training devices; welcome to LeCHE. This large (14 researcher, 24 participant) training network explores the origin and impact of dairying Europe. The ITN will draw on the latest genetic studies of modern humans and domestic animals to identify markers of specific traits, but will also travel back in time and search for these in ancient remains. The Lactase Persistence trait is under extreme selection in humans; ancient DNA analyses suggesting that it was absent in the first Neolithic farmers. Modern phylogeographic patterning indicates a high degree of co-evolution of humans and domesticates. We will test these hypotheses by using sophisticated chemical and isotopic geochemical analyses of artefacts and bones, combined with traditional archaeology to obtain direct evidence of milk consumption and explore husbandry practices. All these data will be integrated into a large database. Mathematical modelling of gene flow and selection in Neolithic populations, constrained by archaeological data, will be compared with modern distribution of genetic diversity and ancient remains. Each student will have their own research project, but will be encouraged to think and work as a team, by network activities, including a sophisticated set of Web 2.0 tools for communication, summer schools and their co-authorship of a book, the latter to teach them writing, editing and team-working skills. The students will benefit from industrial involvement, both instrument/analytical, but also the involvement of the modern diary industry. They will help organize a final conference, for which we have already agreed sponsorship from a Spanish foundation, sponsors of the meeting at which this proposal was born. LE LABORATOIRE : Archéozoologie, Histoire des Sociétés humaines et des Peuplements animaux (CNRS, MNHN)

RESEAU TRANSYS LE PROJET : Membrane proteins are macromolecules of huge academic and biotechnological importance. They account for ~30% of genes in prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes, and perform a spectrum of essential cellular functions. Despite their importance, these proteins are poorly understood with respect to membrane insertion, folding and complex formation. Even less is known of the interactions between membrane protein complexes, or with other compartments in the cell. This application aims to establish a multidisciplinary initial training network for early-stage researchers in which leading European groups in membrane protein chemistry, bacterial systems biology and biotechnological applications join forces to achieve top-level training in an ambitious academic and industrial setting. Training and research will be fully integrated in a systems approach for the hierarchical analysis of membrane proteins. Key objectives are to understand how individual membrane proteins insert and adopt a unique structure (Research Topic 1), how they assemble into multimeric complexes (Research Topic 2), and how they communicate ('network') with each other and the rest of the cell (Research Topic 3). Novel quantitative approaches combined with mathematical modelling will be used to accurately predict membrane protein behaviour at a systems level (Research Topic 4). Throughout the program, special emphasis will be focused on biotechnologically relevant protein secretion systems. Major scientific deliverables will be knowledge models of complex assembly and inter-complex interaction hubs. The proposed training program will be individually-tailored to provide a coherent grounding in multidisciplinary approaches, both theoretical and experimental. It will deliver network-wide systems biology training, and a comprehensive suite of local complementary skills training. In this way, we will provide our trainees with formidable starting points for careers in European science and industry. LE LABORATOIRE : Unité Génétique Microbienne (INRA)

RESEAU SPAM LE PROJET : "Today, markets demand smaller, cheaper, energy friendly and more different consumer products. Last decades micro technology has opened possibilities for mobile communication, safety and health science products. To meet these demands, the industry is encountering technological barriers that prevent the industry from evolving from the micro to a nanotechnology era. To resolve these barriers, the industry and research institutes need to initiate research programmes, and need to structure and integrate its research programmes and transfer the knowledge that as been acquired in these programmes. “New” researchers have to be trained with excellent research skills, knowledge on the specific technology, and understanding of market demands, application development, etc. For this 4 industrial, 5 academic and 3 research institutes have defined the 4 year SPAM research and training program; “a Supra-disciplinary approach to research and training in surface Physics for Advanced Manufacturing - SPAM”. Research objectives are: • identify and develop crucial knowledge in the field of surface physics, • enable the manufacturing of smaller semi-conductors and hence technology to print under 32 nm; extreme positional accuracy (< 4 nm); 20 years component lifetime; at competitive cost, • use this knowledge to further develop lithography technologies/tools needed for cost efficient development of nano-electronic devices, including manufacturing processes. Training objectives are: • provide personalised individual training, in particular for 16 ESR but also for 6 ER, to prepare and optimise their research in SRTs, with the help of 9 VS. • provide a network-wide training, fully exploiting the network potential and complementarities. • transfer existing knowledge between partners through the SRTs and to transfer newly gained knowledge. Meeting the objectives are the responsibility of 4 Supra-disciplinary Research Teams (SRT) and 5 interlinking Training Exchange Pools." LE LABORATOIRE : Alcatel Vacuum Technology France

RESEAU BLACK HOLE LE PROJET : Black holes are some of the most exotic astronomical objects in the universe, and are accordingly the focus of much speculation and study. By definition invisible, they are only detectable when interacting with their environment, either by bending surrounding light or gravitationally capturing enough matter to power other processes whose radiation we can detect. Depending on the spin of the black hole (BH), its mass-to-energy conversion efficiency can be over 50 times higher than that of nuclear fusion. The gravitational energy liberated via this accretion process powers many phenomena around BHs and significantly impacts the surrounding regions. Because many of these phenomena involve complicated geometries, high-energy electromagnetic fields and strong gravity, they are still not well understood. By observing and modeling the radiation originating from the more extreme regions of BHs and their associated structures in our Galaxy, the planned ITN network intends to reconstruct a more complete picture of the complex physics involved in the accretion process through observations from the radio band to the X-rays and through theoretical work. Training on these subjects will be provided through summer schools on multi-wavelength astronomical techniques and on black hole astrophysics and through dedicated PhD projects. LE LABORATOIRE : Service d’Astrophysique (CEA)

LES LABORATOIRES PARTENAIRES DANS LES RESEAUX 74 anglais, 71 allemands, 37 hollandais, 31 italiens, 28 espagnols, 18 autrichiens, 17 belges, 13 suisses, 13 suédois, 11 polonais, 9 grecs, 8 israéliens, 8 portugais, 7 norvégiens, 7 danois, 7 tchèques, 6 irlandais, 4 roumains, 3 slovènes, 2 bulgares, 2 hongrois, 2 lituaniens, 2 russes, 2 finlandais, 1 chypriote, 1 croate, 1 islandais, 1 luxembourgeois, 1 turc, 1 thaïlandais, 1 américain, 1 marocain… PAYS RESEAU ORGANISME BE AMID Facultes Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix à Namur FR AMID Paris School of Economics IT AMID Università Commerciale, Luigi Bocconi SE AMID Stockholm University / Institute for International Economic Studies UK AMID London School of Economics and Political Science CH AXREGEN University of Zurich CZ AXREGEN Institute of Experimental Medicine, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic DE AXREGEN Miltenyi Biotec GmbH ES AXREGEN Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona FR AXREGEN Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique FR AXREGEN Pharmaxon IT AXREGEN University of Torino IT AXREGEN Fondazione Santa Lucia NL AXREGEN Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience PL AXREGEN Nencki Institute SE AXREGEN Lund University UK AXREGEN University of Cambridge AT BIOMINTEC Nano S Biotechnologie GmbH DE BIOMINTEC Johannes Gutenberg-Universität DE BIOMINTEC BIOTECmarin GmbH EL BIOMINTEC NCSR “Demokritos” FR BIOMINTEC Université de Bourgogne IT BIOMINTEC Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biomedicina e di Immunologia Molecolare “Alberto Monroy” NL BIOMINTEC University of Amsterdam UK BIOMINTEC Nottingham Trent University DE Black Hole Universe Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg FR Black Hole Universe Commissariat à l'énergie atomique IT Black Hole Universe Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica IT Black Hole Universe Universita' degli Studi di Cagliari NL Black Hole Universe Universiteit van Amsterdam TR Black Hole Universe Sabanci University UK Black Hole Universe University of Southampton AT CalMarO Graz University of Technology DE CalMarO Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften DE CalMarO Center for Tropical Marine Ecology DE CalMarO Alfred Wegener Institut fuer Polar- und Meeresforschung FR CalMarO Paris Sud University, UMR IDES FR CalMarO Institut Francais de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer IL CalMarO Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel NL CalMarO Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen - Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie NO CalMarO Universitetet i Bergen TH CalMarO Phuket Marine Biological Center UK CalMarO University of Southampton UK CalMarO Natural Environment Research Council UK CalMarO Marine Biological Association of the UK DE CODDE Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen EL CODDE Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ES CODDE Universitat Pompeu Fabra FR CODDE Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique NL CODDE Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam NL CODDE Brain Innovation B.V. UK CODDE Royal Holloway and Bedford New College UK CODDE University of Birmingham DE Controlled Systems Friedrich-Schiller-Universitat Jena

FR Controlled Systems Universite de Bretagne Occidentale IT Controlled Systems Universita di Milano – BICOCCA MA Controlled Systems Universite Cadi Ayyad RO Controlled Systems Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza Iasi UK Controlled Systems University of Manchester AT COSI University of Vienna AT COSI Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology BE COSI Bayer BioScience Gent N.V. CH COSI University of Geneva DE COSI Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München FI COSI University of Turku FR COSI Universite Paris sud XI IT COSI Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn PL COSI Jagiellonian University of Krakow UK COSI University of Newcastle upon Tyne CZ CROSS-TALK Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i. FR CROSS-TALK Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique HU CROSS-TALK University of Debrecen, Medical and Health Science Center IT CROSS-TALK Istituto Europeo di Oncologia S.r.l. NL CROSS-TALK Wageningen University NO CROSS-TALK University of Oslo, LIIPAT, Pathology Clinic SE CROSS-TALK Karolinska Institutet UK CROSS-TALK Rowett Research Institute DE Delta-Min Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster EL Delta-Min Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas ES Delta-Min Universidad de Granada ES Delta-Min Enviros Spain S.L. FR Delta-Min Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique IS Delta-Min Science Institute, University of Iceland NO Delta-Min Physics of Geological Processes, University of Oslo SE Delta-Min Department of Geology and Geochemistry, Stockholm University UK Delta-Min Natural History Museum DE Dendreamers Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. EL Dendreamers University of Patras ES Dendreamers UNIVERSIDAD DE ZARAGOZA ES Dendreamers PHARMAMAR, S.A.U FR Dendreamers Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique LT Dendreamers Kauno technologijos universitetas PT Dendreamers Instituto Superior Técnico SE Dendreamers Nanologica AB UK Dendreamers University of Hull CH DITANET European Organization for Nuclear Research DE DITANET Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg DE DITANET Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DE DITANET Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung DE DITANET Heidelberg Ion-Beam Therapy Centre ES DITANET Universidad de Sevilla FR DITANET Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique RO DITANET Institutul National de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Fizica si Inginerie Nucleara Horia Hulubei SE DITANET Stockholms universitet UK DITANET ROYAL HOLLOWAY AND BEDFORD NEW COLLEGE CZ ELCAT J.Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of ASCR, v.v.i. DE ELCAT University of Ulm ES ELCAT UNIVERSIDAD DE ALICANTE NL ELCAT Universiteit Leiden SE ELCAT Göteborgs universitet SE ELCAT Permascand UK ELCAT University of Liverpool UK ELCAT The University of Birmingham UK ELCAT Johnson Matthey PLC CZ ELDEL Faculty of Education, Charles University Prague ES ELDEL UNIVERSIDAD DE GRANADA FR ELDEL Université Blaise Pascal FR ELDEL University of Poitiers SK ELDEL Comenius University in Bratislava UK ELDEL The University of Liverpool UK ELDEL University of York

UK ELDEL Lucid Research Limited DE ELIXIR Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Wissenschaften e.V. ES ELIXIR Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas FR ELIXIR Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique IT ELIXIR Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica NL ELIXIR Universiteit Leiden UK ELIXIR The University of Exeter BE ENEFP Université catholique de Louvain CH ENEFP Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne CH ENEFP Covalys Biosciences AG DE ENEFP Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald DE ENEFP BRAIN - Biotechnology Research And Information Network AG FR ENEFP Université Louis Pasteur IL ENEFP Ben-Gurion University of the Negev NL ENEFP University of Groningen UK ENEFP The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge UK ENEFP Cambridge Antibody Technology plc AT EuroGlycoArrays Universität für Bodenkultur Wien CH EuroGlycoArrays Swiss Federal Institute of Technology DE EuroGlycoArrays Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum DE EuroGlycoArrays Universität Bayreuth DE EuroGlycoArrays GALAB Laboratories GmbH DK EuroGlycoArrays University of Copenhagen ES EuroGlycoArrays Centre for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials-CIC biomaGUNE FR EuroGlycoArrays Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique HR EuroGlycoArrays University of Zagreb Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry IE EuroGlycoArrays National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training Ltd RU EuroGlycoArrays Shemyakin & Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences SE EuroGlycoArrays Stockholms universitet UK EuroGlycoArrays University of Manchester UK EuroGlycoArrays THE UNIVERSITY OF READING UK EuroGlycoArrays Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine UK EuroGlycoArrays Ludger Ltd AT FASTQUAST Femtolasers Produktions GmbH BG FASTQUAST Sofia University DE FASTQUAST Universitaet Kassel DK FASTQUAST University of Aarhus EL FASTQUAST Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas ES FASTQUAST Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas FR FASTQUAST Universite de Bourgogne FR FASTQUAST Université Paul Sabatier FR FASTQUAST FASTLITE SARL IL FASTQUAST Weizmann Institute of Science UK FASTQUAST The Masters Chancellors and Scholars of the University of Oxford UK FASTQUAST Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine BE FINELUMEN Faculte´s Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Pais BE FINELUMEN Universiteit Gent BE FINELUMEN NANOCYL SA DE FINELUMEN Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften DE FINELUMEN Philips Technologie GmbH Forschungslaboratorien FR FINELUMEN Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique HU FINELUMEN Research Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences IT FINELUMEN CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE IT FINELUMEN Università di Parma PL FINELUMEN Insitute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences DE FINSysB Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology e.V. DE FINSysB Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Duesseldorf DE FINSysB Max-Planck-Gesellschaft FR FINSysB Institut Pasteur FR FINSysB Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique IL FINSysB Weizmann Institute of Science IT FINSysB Università degli Studi di Perugia NL FINSysB Universiteit van Amsterdam NL FINSysB Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center UK FINSysB The University Court of The University of Aberdeen UK FINSysB Haptogen Ltd UK FINSysB F2G Ltd

BG GASMEMS Institute of Mechanics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences DE GASMEMS Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH DE GASMEMS Technische Universität Dresden EL GASMEMS University of Thessaly FR GASMEMS Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Toulouse FR GASMEMS Université de Provence Aix-Marseille I IE GASMEMS University of Limerick IT GASMEMS Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna IT GASMEMS Università degli studi di Udine NL GASMEMS Eindhoven University of Technology NL GASMEMS Advanced Operations and Engineering Services Group BV UK GASMEMS The Science and Technology Facilities Council UK GASMEMS University of Strathclyde AT GIST Johannes Kepler Universität Linz FR GIST Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique IE GIST University College Dublin, National University of Ireland, Dublin IT GIST Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano SE GIST Stockholm University SI GIST Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana CH GTSnext University of Geneva DE GTSnext Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität DK GTSnext Roskilde University FR GTSnext Observatoire de Paris FR GTSnext Université Paris-Sud 11 IT GTSnext Instituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero (CNR) NL GTSnext Universiteit Utrecht NL GTSnext Universiteit Utrecht NL GTSnext Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam UK GTSnext Natural Environment Research Council UK GTSnext University of Southampton BE Herodot Ghent University BE Herodot Interuniversitair Micro-Electronica Centrum vzw BE Herodot Katholieke Universiteit Leuven CH Herodot IBM Research GmbH DE Herodot Universitaet Dortmund FR Herodot Institut Supérieur d'Electronique et du Numérique NL Herodot University of Utrecht NL Herodot Philips Electronics Nederland B.V. CH Image DDR Novartis Forschungsstiftung, Zweigniederlassung Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research FR Image DDR Genomic Vision SA FR Image DDR Institut Curie IL Image DDR Ben Gurion University of the Negev IT Image DDR Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca UK Image DDR University of Sussex ES IMVUL Consejo Superior de investigaciones Cientificas FR IMVUL Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique FR IMVUL Université Pierre et Marie Curie Laboratoire Sisyphe IL IMVUL Weizmann Institute of Science IT IMVUL Politecnico di Milano NO IMVUL Geological Survey of Norway UK IMVUL University of Leeds UK IMVUL The University of Edinburgh CH InterMalTraining University of Geneva DE InterMalTraining Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg EL InterMalTraining Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas FR InterMalTraining Institut Pasteur FR InterMalTraining Universite Montpelllier 2 IT InterMalTraining Istituto Superiore di Sanità IT InterMalTraining Università degli Studi di Siena PT InterMalTraining Instituto de Medicina Molecular UK InterMalTraining Medical Research Council UK InterMalTraining St George's Hospital Medical School UK InterMalTraining Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine UK InterMalTraining University of Oxford DE ITN-LAN Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen FR ITN-LAN University Paris Descartes IL ITN-LAN University of Haifa

IL ITN-LAN Biokeshev: Quantitative EEG and EEG-biofeedback IT ITN-LAN University of Rome, “La Sapienza” PL ITN-LAN University of Finance and Managment UK ITN-LAN University of Hull UK ITN-LAN University College London DE LeCHE Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz DE LeCHE Römisch-Germanische Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts DE LeCHE Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen DK LeCHE University of Copenhagen FR LeCHE Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique IE LeCHE The Provost, Fellows and Scholars of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin NL LeCHE Vereniging voor christelijk hoger onderwijs, wetenschappelijk onderzoek en patientenzorg/vereniging SE LeCHE Uppsala University SE LeCHE Stockholm University UK LeCHE University of Bristol UK LeCHE University of York UK LeCHE University College London UK LeCHE University of Oxford CZ LIMOUSINE Brno University of Technology DE LIMOUSINE Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. DE LIMOUSINE IfTA Ingenieurbuero für Thermoakustik GmbH DE LIMOUSINE SIEMENS AG ES LIMOUSINE Universidad de Zaragoza FR LIMOUSINE Centre Européen de Recherche et de Formation Avancée en Calcul Scientifique NL LIMOUSINE University of Twente NL LIMOUSINE Universiteit Twente NL LIMOUSINE Electrabel Nederland NV NL LIMOUSINE Sulzer Elbar B.V. UK LIMOUSINE The University of Keele UK LIMOUSINE IMPERIAL COLLEGE of SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE UK LIMOUSINE ANSYS Europe Limited US LIMOUSINE Boston University AT MID-FREQUENCY Acoustic Competence Centre Graz BE MID-FREQUENCY Katholieke Universiteit Leuven BE MID-FREQUENCY LMS International NV DE MID-FREQUENCY DaimlerChrysler AG FR MID-FREQUENCY Laboratoire de Mecanique et de Technologie de CACHAN FR MID-FREQUENCY EADS ASTRIUM SPACE TRANSPORTATION FR MID-FREQUENCY Ecole Centrale de Lyon FR MID-FREQUENCY Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon IT MID-FREQUENCY Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza SE MID-FREQUENCY Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan UK MID-FREQUENCY The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge UK MID-FREQUENCY University of Southampton AT MINILUBES AC²T research GmbH AT MINILUBES Collini Wien GmbH DE MINILUBES Martin-Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg DE MINILUBES ESK Ceramics GmbH & Co.KG ES MINILUBES Fundación Tekniker ES MINILUBES Universidade de Vigo ES MINILUBES Green Solutions Chemicals, S.L. FR MINILUBES Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Université Blaise Pascal Clermont-Ferrand IT MINILUBES GKN Sintermetals S.p.A. PL MINILUBES University of Gdansk RO MINILUBES Petru Poni Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry (Romanian Academy ) SI MINILUBES Univerza v Ljubljani UK MINILUBES Cardiff University CY MyPlanet University of Cyprus DE MyPlanet Genias Graphics Gmbh & Co KG DE MyPlanet Technische Universität München ES MyPlanet Universidad Carlos III de Madrid FR MyPlanet Centre Européen de Recherche et de Formation Avancée en Calcul Scientifique FR MyPlanet Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse PL MyPlanet Czestochowa University of Technology UK MyPlanet Rolls-Royce plc UK MyPlanet The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge BE NANO-HOST Katholieke Universiteit Leuven ES NANO-HOST Consejo superior de investigaciones cientificas

FR NANO-HOST Centre National De La Recherche scientifique IT NANO-HOST Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche NL NANO-HOST National Research School Combination Catalysis NL NANO-HOST BASF Nederland bv UK NANO-HOST University Court of The University of St.Andrews CH RAINBOW Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne DE RAINBOW Technische Universität Berlin DE RAINBOW AIXTRON AG DE RAINBOW Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena DE RAINBOW Technische Universität Ilmenau ES RAINBOW Universidad Politécnica de Madrid FI RAINBOW Helsinki University of Technology FR RAINBOW Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique FR RAINBOW Alcatel Thales III-V Lab IT RAINBOW University of Bologna Department of Physics PL RAINBOW Instytut Fizyki Polskiej Akademi Nauk UK RAINBOW University of Strathclyde UK RAINBOW Univeristy of Warwick DE Red Cat Universitaet des Saarlandes DE Red Cat RWTH Aachen University DE Red Cat Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum DE Red Cat ursapharm arzneimittel gmbh &co.kg FR Red Cat Université Paul Verlaine - Metz FR Red Cat Universite Paris 5, Faculte de medecine Paris Descartes, EA 1833 LU Red Cat Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire du Cancer PT Red Cat University of Aveiro UK Red Cat EcoSpray Ltd. UK Red Cat University of Exeter AT SAGA Universität Linz AT SAGA Kongsberg SIM GmbH EL SAGA NATIONAL KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS ES SAGA Universidad de Cantabria FR SAGA Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique FR SAGA Missler Software IT SAGA Fondazione Graphitech LT SAGA Vilnius University NO SAGA SINTEF - Stiftelsen for industriell og teknisk forskning ved Norges Tekniske Høgskole NO SAGA Universitetet i Oslo CH SBMPs Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne DE SBMPs Technische Universität Dresden DE SBMPs Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e.V. FR SBMPs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique NL SBMPs ZoBio BV PL SBMPs International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology PT SBMPs Instituto Tecnologia Química Biológica- Universidade Nova Lisboa BE SemiSpinNet Interuniversitair Micro-Electronica Centrum vzw CZ SemiSpinNet Fyzikalni ustav AVCR, v.v.i. DE SemiSpinNet Julius-Maximilians Universitaet Wuerzburg FR SemiSpinNet centre national de la recherche scientifique FR SemiSpinNet THALES IE SemiSpinNet INTEL PERFORMANCE LEARNING SOLUTIONS LIMITED IT SemiSpinNet Scuola Normale Superiore NL SemiSpinNet Eindhoven Univeristy of Technology PL SemiSpinNet Instytut Fizyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk PL SemiSpinNet UNIWERSYTET WARSZAWSKI UK SemiSpinNet University of Nottingham UK SemiSpinNet Hitachi Europe Ltd. DE SOPRANO Universität zu Köln DE SOPRANO MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ES SOPRANO Laboratorio de Quimica del Estado Solido / UCM FR SOPRANO Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique FR SOPRANO NXP Semiconductors RO SOPRANO National Institute R&D Electrochemistry and Condensed Matter Timisoara UK SOPRANO University of Liverpool BE SPAM Interuniversitair Micro-Electronica Centrum VZW DE SPAM Carl Zeiss SMT AG DE SPAM Universität Stuttgart

DE SPAM LaVision GmbH DE SPAM Julius-Maximilians Universität Würzburg EL SPAM National Center of Scientific Research - Demokritos FR SPAM Alcatel Vacuum Technology France NL SPAM ASML Netherlands BV NL SPAM TNO - Organisatie voor Toegepast-Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek NL SPAM Technische Universiteit Delft NL SPAM Universiteit Wageningen NL SPAM University of Twente AT STEP Research Institute for Textile Chemistry and Textile Physics, University Innsbruck AT STEP Lenzing Aktiengesellschaft AT STEP registered association to promote R&D in the textile industry AT STEP Glanzstoff Austria GmbH & Co.KG DE STEP Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena DE STEP Ostthüringische Materialprüfgesellschaft für Textil und Kunststoff mbH DE STEP Thüringisches Institut für Textil- und Kunststoff-Forschung FR STEP SPONTEX SNC NL STEP Unilever Research and Development Vlaardingen B.V. PL STEP INSTYTUT BIOPOLIMEROW I WLOKIEN CHEMICZNYCH (Institute of Biopolymers and Chemical Fibres) SI STEP University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering UK STEP University of Nottingham UK STEP Institute of Food Research UK STEP Biolpolymer Solutions Ltd CH TranSys DSM Nutritional Products Ltd. DK TranSys Novozymes A/S FR TranSys INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE AGRONOMIQUE NL TranSys University Hospital Groningen / University Medical Center Groningen SE TranSys Stockholm University UK TranSys University of Warwick DE UEPHA-MS Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf DE UEPHA-MS University of Rostock - Medical faculty DE UEPHA-MS Charite - Universitätsmedizin Berlin ES UEPHA-MS Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea ES UEPHA-MS UNIVERSITY OF NAVARRA ES UEPHA-MS Institut de Recerca Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron ES UEPHA-MS Progenika Biopharma SA FR UEPHA-MS Centre de physiopathologie Toulouse Purpan NL UEPHA-MS Erasmus MC RU UEPHA-MS Lab. of Bioinformatics, Institute of Genetics and Selection of Industrial Microrganisms, AT VECOM Österreichisches Forschungs- und Prüfzentrum Arsenal Ges.m.b.H. - arsenal research AT VECOM AVL List GmbH BE VECOM Katholieke Universiteit Leuven BE VECOM LMS International NV CZ VECOM Ceské vysoké ucení technické v Praze DE VECOM Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. DE VECOM BMW Group EL VECOM ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI ES VECOM Universidad Politécnica de Valencia FR VECOM IFP IT VECOM Politecnico di Torino IT VECOM Università degli Studi di Firenze IT VECOM Centro Ricerche Fiat S.C.p.A. PT VECOM INSTITUTO DE ENGENHARIA MECANICA DK WAVETRAIN 2 Aalborg University DK WAVETRAIN 2 SPOK ApS ES WAVETRAIN 2 Fundacion ROBOTIKER FR WAVETRAIN 2 ECOLE CENTRALE de NANTES IE WAVETRAIN 2 University College Cork NL WAVETRAIN 2 Delft University of Technology NO WAVETRAIN 2 Norwegian University of Science and Technology PT WAVETRAIN 2 Wave Energy Centre - Centro de Energia das Ondas PT WAVETRAIN 2 INstituto Superior Técnico PT WAVETRAIN 2 Instituto Nacional de Engenharia, Tecnologia e Inovação, IP UK WAVETRAIN 2 Queen's University Belfast UK WAVETRAIN 2 University of Edinburgh UK WAVETRAIN 2 Wave Dragon Ltd UK WAVETRAIN 2 AWS Ocean Ltd

CARTE DE FRANCE DES PARTICIPANTS FRANCAIS Gestion EPST/EPIC (dont UMR) Gestion Universités/Ecoles (dont UMR) Gestion Entreprises/Fondations

Poitiers

Clermont

Toulouse

Lyon

Dijon

Metz Strasbourg

Grenoble

Montpellier Marseille

Nantes

Caen

Brest

Paris

Lille

NEMO The production of a young highly trained scientific group which will stimulate the development of a protection philosophy to disease is urgently needed in the European aquaculture and ornamental fisheries sector. The expansion of this important European commercial sector is also severely affected because of the lack of an industrial critical mass which would allow individual enterprises to establish an appropriate training programme. NEMO will address these important European issues with a co-ordinated scientific and complementary skills programme incorporating the training expertise available in Universities, Research Institutes and Industry. It will also meet the numerous challenges that face the application of biofuel to energy generation and in particular, the use of biofuel byproducts i.e. ß glucan, as a natural, environmentally friendly, protective immunomodulator in the warm water aquaculture and ornamental sector. In meeting this scientific aim NEMO will also attain its training aim which is to provide a cohort of young scientists trained in generic and commercial skills, and the necessary specialised cellular, molecular and structural techniques who will become a catalyst for innovative developments in the utilization of biofuel byproducts in a range of scientific areas including fisheries, agriculture in general, and health. The project incorporates expertise and training courses in both Western and Eastern Europe giving reciprocal access to specialised facilities. NEMO will therefore benefit the sixteen young scientists, both early stage and experienced researchers, by giving them access research methods individually matched to their requirements and career aspirations. It will also provide the necessary complementary and cultural skills, together with a commercial awareness which enable these highly trained individuals to disseminate techniques, skills and knowledge throughout the EU.

MC-PAD "The challenging questions of particle physics, like the origin of mass, the existence of new forms and states of matter, can only be addressed in technically complex and expensive large-scale research facilities. Well coordinated international effort is required to design, build and operate world class infrastructure comprising accelerators of highest energy and/or intensity and detector systems of unprecedented performance. Frequently the quality of the results and hence the progress of science is limited by the quality of the detectors and by the level of understanding of their characteristics and performance. Future detectors need to cap current state-of-the art performance in terms of position and energy resolution, number and density of read-out channels, dynamic range and noise, speed, radiation tolerance, robustness and reliability. We propose an Initial Training Network on Particle Detectors which spans 4 years. A multi-site network has been formed which comprises nine academic participants, three associated industrial partners and one associated academic partner from eight European countries. It will provide extraordinary training opportunities to young researchers (physicists and engineers) in the field of radiation detectors. The proposed Training Network will play an essential role to form a new generation of excellent detector scientist which is required to conceive, design, build and exploit the next generation of experiments which may come into operation in the years 2012-2020. Internationally renowned supervisors will provide scientific and technical training at the highest level. The trainees will be integrated in existing collaborative structures and profit from a unique spectrum of expertise and facilities available in the network. Complementary training, involving particularly our industrial partners, e.g. in communication skills, project and financial management, is an integral part of the programme."

CLOUD-ITN "The aim of the proposed Marie Curie Initial Training Network is to establish a multi-site network of early stage researchers (ESRs, here predominantly PhD students) at 10 partner institiutions across Europe to investigate various aspects of the interactions of cosmic rays with aerosols and clouds, which bears on the possibility of a ""solar indirect"" contribution to climate change. Besides the individual research of the ESRs at their hosting institutions, the major focus of the network will be two sets of common experiments on ion-induced nucleation and ion-aerosol interaction carried out at CERN to which all ESRs contribute. These experiments are conducted at an aerosol chamber that is exposed to a CERN elementary particle beam where the effects of cosmic rays on aerosol and cloud formation can be efficiently simulated. A comprehensive training programme is set up for the network participants. Additional to the experiments at CERN, the trainees are brought together by several network training events such as annual summer schools and workshops. Here, courses and lectures by world leading experts are taught spanning from ""aerosol chemistry and physics"" in general to specialized sessions on subjects such as ""ion-induced aerosol nucleation"" or ""influences of galactic cosmic rays on paleo-climate"". The summer schools and workshops are scheduled in addition to the national PhD programmes of their hosting institutions where a variety of courses is available to the ESRs . The summer schools will include training on complementary skills such as ""writing scientific publications"", ""preparing and presenting talks and seminars"", ""interaction with media"", ""commercializing scientific results"". A multitude of secondments are proposed in which individual ESRs visit other institutions of the network to conduct specific research tasks there that will broaden their research experience and skills."

MAMINA "The use of titanium, nickel-base, and cobalt-base alloys is necessary for the production of turbine parts and other components in the aerospace and the power generation industry due to their high strength even at elevated temperatures. On the other hand, these materials are known as the most difficult-to-machine metallic materials and so far, only small progress has been made to improve their machinability. During the production of turbine components up to 50% of the manufacturing costs can be related to machining. The reduction of the production costs by the optimization of the cutting process is mandatory for European manufacturers to remain internationally competitive. The MAMINA project will combine the work of 19 European universities, research institutions and industrial companies to analyse and improve the machinability of three selected alloys that are widely used in industry, namely Ti15V3Cr3Al3Sn, a titanium alloy, Inconel IN706, a nickel-base superalloy and X40, a cobalt-base alloy. As the chip formation is one of the key factors influencing the machinability of these materials, this process will be studied in detail in a multidisciplinary approach. 24 ESR from the fields of theoretical physics, material science and mechanical engineering will be trained and work under the supervision of experienced scientists on cutting experiments, material analyses and simulations at the macro, micro- and nano-scale. Three different approaches will be made to improve the cutting process of the investigated alloys: 1. the introduction of enhanced manufacturing techniques, 2. the production of progressive tools with extended endurance, and 3. the development of free-machining alloys by the use of permanent and temporary alloying elements. The results will be transferred to applications by the industrial partners of the consortium. It is expected that the production costs during machining will be reduced up to 20%."

FUNMOLS "The FUNMOLS network will tackle major challenges in the field of molecular electronics. Ten internationally-leading European research groups from five different countries [including one of Europe’s leading industrial electronics-research groups (IBM Zurich)] have joined forces as full participants, combining expertise in synthetic chemistry, nanoscale physics and device engineering, surface electrochemistry and electronic structure calculations. Our highly-integrated approach involves a convergence of experiments – including syntheses – and theory in electron transport through single molecules, which will represent a major step towards the realisation of future scalable molecular electronics technologies and processes. In the longer term, the insights gained will contribute to the fabrication of functional nanoscopic architectures and their integration into a higher hierarchical level. System parameters like electric field, light, temperature or chemical reactivity are envisaged as possible triggers of future nanoelectronic devices. This European consortium is committed to promote breakthroughs at the frontier of science. The training dimension of the FUNMOLS network is reflected in the high priority we will give to a series of actions specifically aimed at early stage researchers (ESRs). These include: education and knowledge dissemination through the organisation of Workshops, Tutorial Courses, Annual Network Meetings, Training Schools, International Conferences and Mobility Programmes. The network as a whole builds on several fruitful collaborations between the PIs and seeks to close an existing educational gap in the European Research Arena. The development of complementary skills (presentation, management, technology transfer, IP protection) will be implemented actively throughout the lifetime of the project. A constant interaction beyond those involved primarily in research will provide the wider scientific community with information on our new technology."

SPECIATION The aim of this Network is to train eight young scientists to PhD level in the biological disciplines needed to understand the evolutionary origin of biological diversity. This understanding is critical to the proper management of biodiversity, especially at a time of rapid environmental change. Our approach is to select powerful model systems with which to investigate the process of speciation and related mechanisms and to apply modern techniques from quantitative and behavioural genetics, molecular ecology and environmental genomics. Students will receive advanced training through their projects, through institutional training programmes, through workshops and conferences organised by the Network and from visiting scientists. They will also be seconded to non-academic institutions that represent both end-users of our research and potential employers, including a commercial laboratory, a museum, a conservation organisation and a publisher.

SIREN The focus of SIREN’s network partners within this present project is to train young biologists in using integrated approaches to study and understand SIgnals and REgulatory Networks (SIREN) in early plant embryogenesis at their internationally acknowledged European research sites. The multidisciplinary, interface-oriented approach will give fundamental insight into the regulatory system of early plant embryogenesis and synthesize a plausible descriptive and predictive mathematical model. Early plant embryogenesis represents the first time in plant life that new cell fates are established, and is an excellent model for de novo establishment of meristems, plant stem cell niches. Plant early embryogenesis research has been notoriously difficult to address experimentally. SIREN’s network partners together represent the European critical mass in plant embryogenesis research and now join their knowledge and different technologies such as flow-sorting and microarray technology, sensitive proteomics technology, high-throughput mRNA ISH technology and SPIM microscopy within an exclusive technological platform. The recent identification of a number of key regulators of early embryogenesis provide a unique starting point for an integrated, multidisciplinary and intersectorial approach that will identify the regulatory networks that underlie early plant embryogenesis. Ultimately, these networks will be abstracted by mathematical modeling. Knowledge gained from studying this biological problem will be of high interest for agro-industry in optimizing plant biomass. Furthermore, the integrated approach can serve as a model for similar studies on other aspects of plant growth and development. Last but not least, SIREN’s trainees will get an excellent career perspective through the wide range of technical and methodical skills and knowledge learnt within SIREN.

BRAVISSIMO A future challenge for the European agriculture is to satisfy the growing demands for food in a sustainable manner. Understanding the basic mechanics of plant growth will ultimately lead to our ability to increase yield, while decreasing the need for fertilizer and pesticides. Plant growth is regulated by developmental programmes that can be modified by environmental cues acting through endogenous signalling molecules such as plant hormones. Brassinosteroids (BRs) are the growth-promoting polyhydroxylated steroid hormones of plants. BRs are implicated in multiple developmental processes and as such they determine important agronomic traits including biomass, crop yield, and stress and pathogen adaptation. In addition to the well-elucidated BR biosynthetic pathway, during the past decade a significant progress led to the identification of multiple BR signalling components. Despite this key issues remained unsolved. It is still unclear how BRs control growth, how the levels of BRs change throughout development and in response to environment and how different hormonal pathways interact within cells. It is still unknown if different signaling pathways mediated other non BRs effects and how the redundancy in BR signaling components fine tunes the pleiotropic action of those hormones. The BRAVISSIMO network will created a training programme which will guarantee the comprehensive education needed in future to establish a competitive and leading European science in the interdisciplinary field of plant signaling. BRAVISSIMO will strengthen the BR field of research in Europe and will increase its ability to compete effectively with non-EU researchers via coordination, integration and introduction of more interdisciplinary approaches.

ACEOLE "We propose a mono-site Initial Training Network (ITN) with CERN as main host instituition, and offering research training in the application of advanced microelectronics, optoelectronics, networking and real-time data processing technologies in the world’s state-of-the-art particle detector systems at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and a future upgraded Super-LHC (SLHC). This ITN will help strengthen Europe’s human resources in key technologies for enhancing industry competitiveness in domains where there exist technology gaps with other high-tech economies. The LHC will start operation in 2008. The commissioning, operation and future upgrades of the LHC detectors offer tremendous opportunities for research training in an international, multidisciplinary environment. Training projects will have concrete objectives and deliverables in the domains of precision particle tracking systems, electronics and optoelectronics for their readout, switching fabrics and real time processing systems for data acquisition. CERN contributes to overcoming fragmentation in European Research through its well-established international network of universities, partnerships with technology research centres, technology transfer policy, and history of joint developments with industry. This ITN will complement and reinforce that contribution. The young researchers will be supervised by internationally recognized experts and have access to state-of-the-art equipment. Hands-on project training will be supplemented with formal training courses in relevant and related fields, and a wide variety of complementary training courses, colloquia and seminars. Mobility within the ITN will ensure exposure to complementary research and industry environments. Supervision will follow a model similar to CERN’s established and successful Doctoral Student program, in which projects are defined and monitored by a CERN supervisor in collaboration with a university professor."

NEMOPUR "The NEMOPUR Initial Training Network will focus on creating a new generation of molecular purification technologies for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) manufacture, with a particular focus on removal of organic impurities from API production. New membranes with improved chemical stability in a wide range of solvents, and better controlled cutoff properties, novel molecularly imprinted polymers with readily scalable production chemistries, and composite molecularly imprinted film – macroporous support membranes will be developed. The applications of these technologies will be through the industrial partners. The project is multidisciplinary, involving chemists, materials scientists and chemical engineers. The consortium is intersectorial, comprising 3 universities/research institutes, 2 technology SMEs and 4 pharmaceutical manufacturers, and will have a strong emphasis on knowledge creation, technology commercialisation, and entrepreneurship. The training programme involves Early Stage Researchers (ESR), at both university and industrial partners, each of whom will complete a PhD thesis through a combination of local and network wide research experience. Experienced Researchers (ER) will complete their training, focussing on knowledge transfer, commercialisation and entreprenuership skills. In addition to their individual research, ESR and ER will complete complementary training through a series of Personal Skills Modules, and a course on Technology Commercialisation and Entrepreurship. NEMOPUR seeks to contribute to improving the European knowledge supply chain through this industry-academia programme of applied research aimed at developing engineers and scientists who are academically excellent and achieve PhD degrees, but who thrive at the interface between fundamental research and industrial application."

SCALE "All aspects of speech processing are rapidly growing in commercial importance. A leading market analyst reports 129.8 million USD were generated by speech products in North America in 2004, but predictsthese revenues will increase to nearly one billion USD by 2011. In order to accelerate the rate of advance in speech technology, a new elite of researchers are required who are well-versed in all aspects of speech processing, as opposed to the narrowly-concentrated specialists who are currently the norm. Educating such an elite class of researchers will be a primary goal of the SCALE, Speech Communication with Adaptive Learning, Initial Training Network. SCALE will be concerned with adaptive learning approaches to all areas of speech processing, with particular focuses on automatic speech recognition and synthesis, signal processing, human speech recognition, and machine learning. The primary goal of SCALE is to create an environment that will foster synergistic cooperation between researchers in each of the aforementioned disciplines. In particular, SCALE has three principal scientific objectives: 1. To bridge the gap between speech recognition and speech synthesis; 2. To bridge the gap between human and automatic speech recognition; 3. To bridge the gap between signal processing and adaptive learning. We plan to assess the improvements in these core technologies achieved in the course of the project through regular evaluations on standard benchmark tasks. We will also demonstrate the effectiveness of the interdiscplinary approach to research in speech processing proposed here through a series of high quality publications at international conferences and in prestigious journals. Finally, we propose to build cooperation between academia and industry through the inclusion of two major industrial partners in the consortium, whose presence will ensure the research training contributes directly to the next generation of speech products."

HIERARCHY "The mission of HIERARCHY is to train and educate young scientist in the rapidly developing field of nanosciences, in particular hierarchical self-assembly. The training programme educates early stage and experienced researches in many aspects of this highly interdisciplinary field, such as theory, materials chemistry and biochemistry, advanced characterisation techniques, physics and commercial device development. In addition, the training programme will address non-scientific issues, important for the career development of young scientists, e.g. communication and presentation skills, IPR and entrepreneurial skills, ethical issues, language enhancement and cultural awareness. The training takes place on a Network level and also locally at the host institutions. HIERARCHY’s training programme will deliver versatile individuals with a broad scientific knowledge, ready to pursue a successful career in the European industry or academia. The interdisciplinary research training is centralised around the novel concept of hierarchical assembly in controllable matrices. This concept exploits liquid crystalline media as controllable matrices for programmed self-organisation, which goes far beyond the possibilities of currently employed techniques. A liquid crystal matrix in combination with a variety of simultaneously or sequentially applied external stimuli will yield a unique toolbox to build functional macroscopic structures with nanometer control. Leading European laboratories in soft condensed matter and solid state matter will work towards new paradigms in nanosciences. HIERARCHY’s intention towards application of the designed structures, illustrated by the presence of three industrial partners in the consortium, is an important step towards commercialisation of nanosciences in Europe. With Europe’s desire to become the major player in the area of nanosciences, valorisation of developed technology is a key lesson for Europe’s new generation of nanoscientists."

RoPACS "The search for life bearing planets elsewhere is one of the major themes in contemporary astronomy, and much science investment is committed or being directed to seek and study extra-solar planets, with projects like Corot, Kepler, JWST, and Darwin. Previous search efforts focus on finding earth-like planets around Sun-like stars, however, cool stars are by far the most populous potential planet hosts, and in recent years a prevailing view has developed that biological viability could benefit greatly from planets in their habitable zone. Our new large scale WFCAM Transit Survey (WTS) has just been awarded 200 nights on the UK Infrared Telescope, and will use the transit method to seek out small rocky planets around cool stars. The mass, radius, density and atmospheres of transiting planets can be directly measured, with previous discoveries around Sun-like stars being highly inhospitable gas giants known as hot-Jupiters. Around cool stars however, smaller, rocky planets can be detected by the transit method, and could be warm habitable worlds. The discovery of such planets would be extremely high profile both in the field and to the public, and impact a wide range of scientific areas. We propose an Initial Training Network to exploit the WTS for planet detection and characterisation, and to contribute to the future study of these and other planets via design phase work at our industrial node EADS Astrium. The network will have a large impact on our understanding of the diversity of habitable planets, and inspire both the general public through high profile discoveries, and schools/colleges through the provision of themed educational materials. Network researchers will gain a broad range of training in astronomical, computational, mathematical techniques during their research, as well as aquiring a wide variety of transferable skills in the use of mathematical algorithms, spectroscopy, databases, engineering design techniques, education and outreach."

FANTOMAS "The aim of this proposal is to create a training network in the newly-emerging multidisciplinary field of “nano-opto-magnetism”, a new scientific area with novel technological opportunities at the junction of coherent nonlinear optics, nanoscience and magnetism. The impact on society of this newly emerging field is potentially very high, therefore it is decisive that now young researchers are trained and equipped, so that they can become future leaders. We aim at achieving this by an integrated combination of a high-quality training program and their direct involvement in front-line research. In the research program we want to investigate nonthermal effects of light on nanomagnets in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of physical mechanisms leading to a highly efficient ultrafast (10-12 seconds and faster) optical control of magnetism at the nanoscale. Such scientific breakthroughs are expected to develop novel technology for unprecedented fast (THz) opto-magnetic recording. A high-level training program firmly embedded in a consortium of both academic and industrial partners is designed to create a unique training environment to educate a new generation of young researchers in this interdisciplinary, recently emerging area of nano-opto-magnetism. In order to advance the young researchers career development, the industrial relevance of this research as well as the involvement of industrial partners is fully exploited. In addition to the scientific and networking training, this offers unique opportunities for training of complementary skills of the fellows such as training in intellectual property rights, patent writing, commercial exploitation of the results and research-and-development policy."

GOODWATER On 1st January 2007 the Ground Water sub-directive (COM/2003/550) complementing the European Water Framework Directive (COM/2000/60/EC) came into force. These two directives enforce the protection, maintenance and sustainable use of groundwater resources in the European Union. However, today around 750 000 sites are contaminated with substances including hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, and diffuse organic contaminants throughout Europe. Microbial processes can play an important role in the remediation and protection of groundwater resources and there is an urgent need for a better integration of microbial process understanding in current management schemes. Groundwater management must take into account different characteristics and degradation capacities for pollutants and sites, and requires a comprehensive understanding of contaminant fate, degradation pathways, and remediation potentials. Today, in Europe there is a shortage of scientists and environmental engineers with the interdisciplinary understanding of groundwater contaminant behaviour required when embarking on the tasks of protecting and sustainably managing groundwater resources, remediating existing contaminations, and performing risk assessment. The aim of the GOODWATER ITN is to educate a new generation of groundwater professionals with targeted multidisciplinary expertise and process understanding, including microbiological, hydrogeological, chemical, and stable isotope aspects. For this purpose, some of Europe’s most esteemed groundwater experts from the different fields join forces to guarantee a cutting-edge scientific research training platform. The network will offer individual expert training by research, and network-wide training by workshops, summer schools, and laboratory exchange. Moreover, stakeholders from industry and authorities will be involved as associated partners to steer the project towards socio-economic relevance and tutor relevant complementary skills.

IMVUL There has been an increasing realization over the last 30 years that to preserve water quality and quantity in Europe, measures at both European and national levels are needed. Our groundwater resources are at risk from a wide variety of stresses including point and diffuse sources of contamination, over-abstraction and saline intrusion. Minimizing this risk requires a good understanding of the physical, chemical and biological processes involved and the development of tools to assess groundwater vulnerability, aid water management and design protection strategies. To meet the challenges imposed by the new EU Water and Ground Water Framework Directives, the water industry throughout Europe is already significantly expanding, creating an increasing demand for appropriately educated graduates. The proposed ITN network, IMVUL, is aimed at training researchers in the major issues and processes relevant to groundwater vulnerability. The network consists of 8 partners in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Israel and Norway and 13 associated partners from the water industry. The research objectives are to increase our understanding of the fundamental processes relevant to groundwater vulnerability and develop improved prediction tools that can contribute to the protection and sustainable use of Europe's groundwater resources. This will be achieved through investigations of case study aquifers and their vulnerability issues, laboratory experiments of contaminant transport in the subsurface, and numerical and analytical modelling of the processes pertinent to groundwater vulnerability. The proposed network will contribute to satisfying a growing skill demand in groundwater research and the water industry by producing graduates with not only a sound knowledge of the scientific basis of groundwater vulnerability, but also good investigatory skills through their research experience and additional training relevant to the water industry.

NSINK The NSINK Initial Stage Network training network targets one of the most vital, interdisciplinary problems facing future Arctic environmental management: namely the enrichment of Arctic terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems by reactive atmospheric nitrogen from low latitude emission centres. This problem will greatly exacerbate ecosystem response to climate change, and urgently requires holistic, sources to sinks type studies of nitrogen dynamics. Thus training in atmospheric sciences, snow physics, hydrology, biogeochemistry and aquatic/terrestrial ecology is necessary, bringing UK, Norwegian, Swedish, Austrian and German expertise (already operative in Svalbard) into a single interdisciplinary project at Ny Ålesund, the site of Europe’s most significant high Arctic environmental monitoring infrastructure. Further, in order to constrain recent change in the nitrogen accumulation in this environment, training in the interpretation of ice core and lake sediment archives will also be offered, and a reanalysis of instrumental observations collected over the last 15 years will be undertaken. NSINK will therefore prepare talented researchers for careers as independent scientists/practitioners across a range of environmental sciences (e.g. biogeochemistry, atmospheric sciences, hydrology) and related sectors either in academia or in industry. The scale of the NSINK ITN is significant (nine Early Stage Researchers, three Experienced Researchers, four training partners and 9 associated or industrial partners) because it addresses the demand for training in this area resulting from the urgent science problem and a major growth in public interest in the environmental sciences that is being experienced by universities across the entire EU.

NEUROMODEL Neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Huntington’s disease (HD) still lack treatments that are disease modifying. The proposed network is going to address the three most important bottlenecks for finding more effective medicine in brain disorders. Those are: (i) identification and validation of pre-symptomatic and surrogate marker for disease progression, (ii) Development of model systems that translate to human pathology and are predictive of clinical efficacy, and (iii) better understanding of disease mechanisms leading to better target selection. We believe that a joint effort putting together industry and academia offers a great opportunity to cope with those bottlenecks. Therefore, we have assembled a unique consortium to which industry (4 partners) and academia (6 partners) contribute equally. Through putting together these partners into one network Neuromodel is going to achieve both organization of an excellent training program and performance of excellent research projects with a pronounced focus on intersectional transfer of knowledge. The gain for individual early stage researchers as well as for the participating research teams is obvious. On the one hand, the career chances of young researchers will improve enormously by receiving high quality training (for and by research) in areas of high demand on the employment market. On the other hand, the intersectional, interconnected and integrated research effort pursued by Neuromodel will definitively contribute towards finding more effective treatments in PD and HD. Expertise available within the consortium has lead to the definition of four structural elements – (i) understanding disease mechanisms leading to target identification, (ii) approaches towards treatment, (iii) development of models predictive for efficacy and translating to human pathology, (iv) behavioural markers of animal models - that determines the training as well as the research program.

EVONET "Genetic and mutant analyses in Drosophila and other standard model organisms have revealed hierarchical gene networks and identified some key regulatory genes acting in animal development. While surprising conservation exists on a broad scale between distant phyla, significant differences have also been detected. Systems biology approaches in the main model systems have now revealed more complex gene regulatory networks (GRNs). To understand the logics and evolution of GRNs more basal animal phyla need to be studied. The comparative analysis of GRNs has thus become a new major focus of systems biology. The key questions are: (1) Does the higher complexity of some species correlate with an increase in complexity in GRNs? (2) How do GRNs evolve to drive changes in body plans? The major challenge for the next generation of researchers will be to integrate knowledge of developmental biology, bioinformatics, functional genomics and evolutionary biology. This requires a new combination of interdisciplinary training to bridge the gap between what are currently quite separate disciplines. In this ITN we will gather and compare information on GRNs from diverse animal systems, representing all major animal lineages, with particular emphases on the mesoderm specification network and the head regionalization network. To this end, we will provide early researchers with the skills necessary to apply state of the art systems biology, genomics and bioinformatics tools to emerging model organisms. The early researchers will receive an in-depth introduction into the selected model systems and training in how to conduct and analyze genomic experiments by the members of this ITN, which includes a company specialized in array technology. We will organize joint ITN/EMBO training courses and summer schools attended by three visiting renowned scientist, an exchange program between the ITN labs and a professional seminar in complementary skills."

NETSIM "The overarching objective of the ITN is to offer an intercalated study environment for young and talented researchers in the field of coronary artery disease (CAD) research. 12 PhD fellows operating in a unique training environment will work as a multi-disciplinary team to perform research spanning the full spectrum from basic to translational to bring novel inventions to the bedside. The fellows will be mentored by world-leading experts to shape a new generation of European leaders in biomedical science and overcome current fragmentation in Europe. The research is at the forefront of biomedical science because of the UK genome-wide association study in 2000 myocardial infarction (MI) patients and our EU-FP6 integrated projects Bloodomics and Cardiogenics. We will exploit our knowledge about the genetic architecture of MI to investigate the hypothesis whether sequence variation of genes encoding network hubs poses a greater risk for network destabilisation compared to genes encoding regular nodes. Focusing on three hub genes we postulate that genetic/bio-markers associated with hubs can be integrated in algorithms for MI/CAD risk prediction. Success will critically depend on new developments in computing, machine learning, pattern recognition and advanced data mining and statistical analysis. To have a free development path from basic discovery to health care improvement young scientists must be taught to cross the classic barriers between academic disciplines. We offer a timely and necessary alternative to Europe’s classic PhD programmes by providing a seamlessly integrated multi-disciplinary environment in an academic-private sector partnership free of boundaries. Our aim is a targeted strategy for prevention and treatment based on a better understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanism of disease. This will deliver major advances in public health and patient care, which can only be achieved if a new scientific cadre is developed."

DESIRE "Today’s economic environment is characterised by a high level of competitiveness emphasised by globalisation which enables access to low cost skills and services. Competing in a global economy and facing the challenges of tomorrow requires a movement towards innovation that recognises the key importance of creativity and design. The proposed project aims to establish an interdisciplinary network of researchers investigating creative design in various applied domains including interaction design, industrial design and arts design. The goal is to create an internationally recognised programme of research that will expand the current state-of-the-art in creative design. This research proposal aims to strengthen the dialogue among the different disciplines contributing to creative design and to provide a basis for interdisciplinary investigation of technological creativity and innovation. This network seeks to provide new researchers with knowledge and skills needed to investigate and support creative design, as well as apply it in practice in technological fields such as human–computer interaction and ubiquitous computing. The research programme will focus on the following topics: Creative problem solving in design; Studying creative design process; Supporting creativity; Modelling creativity; and Innovation in teaching/learning design."

PARTNER "Cancer is a major societal health problem. Each year 1.8 million Europeans develop tumours and about 50% of these are cured. Traditional X-ray radiotherapy (RT) accounts for 40% of this cure rate. RT also plays an important role in symptom control and pain relief for incurable patients. RT is by far the most cost-effective modality for cancer treatment with the added advantage of conserving tissue function. Owing to the high dose needed around radiation resistant tumours treated with photon beams, conventional RT may have a major disadvantage of damaging local healthy tissues. On the other hand, RT with hadrons can overcome the limitations of photon beams since hadrons deposit most of their energy at the end of their range and the hadron beams can be shaped with great precision. A Particle Training Network for European Radiotherapy (PARTNER) has been established in response to the crucial need for reinforcing research in ion therapy and for training of the professionals needed in Europe. PARTNER comprises 10 academic institutes and research centres of excellence and 3 European particle therapy companies. It is an interdisciplinary, multinational initiative, whose main goal is the preparation of researchers to help with the improvement of the overall efficiency of ion therapy in cancer treatment, promoting clinical, biological and technical development at a pan-European level, for the benefit of all European inhabitants. This need has particular urgency since two dual ion therapy facilities will become operational towards the end of 2007 and early 2008 in Heidelberg (HIT) and Pavia (CNAO). They are the first such facilities to be built in Europe. PARTNER will benefit from the existence of ENLIGHT++, a multidisciplinary European platform that fosters and co-coordinates research activities related to hadron therapy. Thus the establishment and funding of PARTNER will lead to faster progress towards hadron therapy being adopted."

AUDIS "The rapid advance in embedded digital signal processing technology has recently led to significantly enhanced hearing devices. Besides the very basic task of restoring loudness, modern hearing aids and cochlear implants feature a range of advanced processing capabilities such as beamforming microphone arrays, noise reduction and automatic controls. While some of these features have already resulted in improved performance, advanced approaches to signal enhancement, to auditory scene analysis and to signal reproduction strategies promise much improved user benefits. The application of advanced signal processing schemes in hearing instruments for the improved rehabilitation of hearing impaired users, however, requires close collaboration of researchers in digital signal processing, audiology and psychoacoustics. The ITN AUDIS will perform research and training in digital signal processing for applications in hearing instruments. The unique approach lies in the research and development of advanced statistical signal processing algorithms in the interdisciplinary area of audiology. This network thus reacts to the strong demand of hearing aid and cochlear implant companies for highly qualified researchers who are proficient in both the advanced signal processing methodologies and their application in the context of hearing instruments, and who are thoroughly familiar with user requirements in this domain. This network consists of 4 university and 2 industrial partners and associated partners. A key characteristic of this network is that all partners have substantial experience in interdisciplinary work and can thus provide exciting research opportunities to network fellows."