Re@ct! - European Commissionec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/sites/...Pilot project Belgium 2018 5 Pool of Researchers Researcher: Federica Bressan Field: Digital humanities,

Re@ct!

Researchers at school and at university

When fun meets Science!

Pilot project Belgium 2018 2

Table of Contents

Description of Re@ct .......................................................................................... 3 Pool of Researchers ........................................................................................... 5

Researcher: Federica Bressan ......................................................................... 5 Researcher: Johann Wolfschwenger................................................................10 Researcher: Massimo Taronna .......................................................................12 Researcher: Wine Tisseur ..............................................................................13 Researcher: Mathieu Bourguignon ..................................................................15 Researcher: Michalina Oplatowska .................................................................17 Researcher: Jan Völkel .................................................................................20 Researcher: Xoana G. Troncoso .....................................................................23 Researcher: Maryline Calonne .......................................................................26 Researcher: Jean Lacroix ..............................................................................28 Researcher: Aurore Burietz ...........................................................................30 Researcher: Matthieu Gosselin .......................................................................32 Researcher: Yves Mollet ................................................................................34 Researcher: Patricia Bonnavion ......................................................................38 Researcher: Jonàs Juan Mateu .......................................................................41 Researcher: Willeke de Haan .........................................................................45 Researcher: Gwendolyn Bailey .......................................................................47 Researcher: Dr. Karl J. Duffy .........................................................................49 Researcher: Enriqueta Alós ...........................................................................50 Researcher: Dimitris Gakis ............................................................................51 Researcher: Elise Kalokerinos ........................................................................54 Researcher: Carmen Mirabelli ........................................................................55 Researcher: Niels van Duijkeren ....................................................................58 Researcher: GM Velpula ................................................................................61 Researcher: Christine Vos .............................................................................62 Researcher: Mouna Abdesselem .....................................................................65 Researcher: Gangamallaiah Velpula................................................................67 Researcher: David Soto ................................................................................68 Researcher: Mirko Sinico ...............................................................................69 Researcher: Maria Livia Sassano ....................................................................71 Researcher: Saba Safdar ..............................................................................73 Researcher: Gabriel Probst ............................................................................74 Researcher: Sugosh R. Prabhu ......................................................................76 Researcher: Mohamed Mounir .......................................................................77 Researcher: Luca Michele Martulli ..................................................................79 Researcher: Chaoyun Li ................................................................................81 Researcher: Raphaëlle Lesage .......................................................................82 Researcher: Arijit Karmakar ..........................................................................84 Researcher: Hans Kainz ................................................................................85 Researcher: Thomas Haas .............................................................................86 Researcher: Yamid Ali Gomez Rueda ..............................................................87 Researcher: Francisco García Cirujano ............................................................89 Researcher: Veerle de Rond ..........................................................................91 Researcher: Luigi Criscuolo ...........................................................................92 Researcher: Wenchao Cao ............................................................................93 Researcher: Fabio Cameli ..............................................................................94 Researcher: Mattia Bellotti ............................................................................95 Researcher: Marta Barniol Xicota ...................................................................96 Researcher: Sergio Alvarez Pérez ...................................................................98


Description of Re@ct

(EN Version)

Researchers at school and at university: 'Re@ct!'

Re@ct aims to promote research careers among youngsters and dispel stereotypes

about researchers and research. For this purpose, the European Commission

envisages bringing Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSC) researchers closer to learners at

schools and universities. Re@ct is a pilot project and limited to Belgium in 2016.

The action is split into two strands. First and with the collaboration of the

Representation of European Commission in Belgium, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Unit

will organise several presentations at Belgian schools in order that they benefit from

the outstanding research projects and experience of MSC fellows located in the

country (or possibly elsewhere). In addition, several sessions within Belgian

universities will be organised to inform students about the opportunities that a

research career may provide them, including through the MSC actions.

In the event that your school would like to book a timeslot with a specific researcher

please send a message to: [email protected]

Technical requirements for the schools: big screen (for a pwp presentation) and

internet connexion (for online videos).

All the information concerning the title of the talk session, abstract, potential

questions for the teachers to prepare the session with the pupils in advance, dates of

availability and language skills can be found in the section "Pool of Researchers".

First come, first served!

The schools need to be reachable by public transport from Brussels (for those out of

Brussels).

Further information at: http://ec.europa.eu/msca

(Version FR)

Chercheurs dans les écoles et dans les universités: 'Re@ct!'

Re@ct a pour but de promouvoir les carrières de recherche parmi les jeunes et

dissiper les clichés concernant les chercheurs et la recherche. Dans ce but, la

Commission européenne envisage de mettre en contact les boursiers Marie

Skłodowska-Curie (MSC) avec les étudiants des écoles et des universités. Re@ct a

dest donc un projet pilote limité à la Belgique.

L'action se divise en deux parties. D'une part, c'est avec la collaboration de la

Représentation de la Commission européenne en Belgique que l'Unité responsable des

actions Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) organisera plusieurs présentations des

chercheurs au sein d'écoles belges afin que ces écoles et leurs élèves bénéficient

d'excellents projets de recherche et de l'expérience des boursiers MSC qui se trouvent

en Belgique ou dans les pays voisins. D'autre part, quelques séances dans des

Universités belges seront organisées afin d'informer les étudiants des opportunités de

carrière dans la recherche pour leur avenir, les actions MSC incluses.

mailto:[email protected]

http://ec.europa.eu/msca


Si votre école souhaite organiser une telle séance avec les chercheurs, je vous prie de

bien vouloir réserver un créneau horaire et envoyer votre choix à: EAC-MSCA-

[email protected]

Les besoins techniques demandés aux écoles pour l'organisation d'une séance sont:

un grand écran (pour des présentations Powerpoint) et une connexion internet (pour

les vidéos on-line) le cas échéant.

Toutes les informations concernant le titre de la séance, le résumé, les questions

potentielles fournies par les chercheurs à l'avance afin que les professeurs puissent

préparer la séance avec les élèves, la disponibilité des dates et les langues offertes

sont disponibles dans la section "Pool of Researchers".

Premier arrivé, premier servi !

L'école doit pouvoir être accessible facilement en transport en commun à partir de

Bruxelles (pour les écoles en dehors de Bruxelles).

Pour plus d'informations: http://ec.europa.eu/msca

(NL version)

Onderzoekers op school en op de universiteit: 'Re@ct!'

Re@ct heeft als doel onderzoekcarrières onder jongeren te promoten en vooroordelen

over onderzoekers en onderzoek te bestrijden. Daartoe probeert de Europese

Commissie Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSC) onderzoekers dichter bij leerlingen op

scholen en universiteiten te brengen. Re@ct is een proefproject beperkt.

De actie is opgesplitst in twee luiken. Vooreerst en met de medewerking van de

Vertegenwoordiging van de Europese Commissie in België, zal de Marie Skłodowska-

Curie-afdeling een aantal presentaties op Belgische scholen organiseren zodat deze

kunnen profiteren van de uitstekende onderzoeksprojecten en van de ervaring van

onderzoekers met een MSC beurs in eigen land (of eventueel ook uit het buitenland).

Daarnaast zullen een aantal sessies aan Belgische universiteiten georganiseerd

worden om studenten te informeren over de mogelijkheden die een onderzoekcarrière

hen kan bieden, onder meer met de steun van de MSC acties.

Indien je school graag een tijdslot met een specifiek onderzoeker wenst te boeken,

stuur dan een berichtje naar: [email protected]

Technische vereisten voor de scholen: een groot projectiescherm (PowerPoint

presentaties) en een internet aansluiting (voor het tonen van online video's).

Alle informatie met betrekking tot de titel van de gespreksronde, abstract, mogelijke

vragen voor de docenten om de sessie met hun leerlingen voor te bereiden, data van

beschikbaarheid en vereiste taalvaardigheden zijn in de sectie "Pool of Researchers" te

verkrijgen.

"First come, first served!"

De scholen (buiten Brussel gelegen) moeten vanuit Brussel bereikbaar zijn met het

openbaar vervoer.

Meer informatie op: http://ec.europa.eu/msca







Pool of Researchers

Researcher: Federica Bressan

Field: Digital humanities, Cultural heritage preservation, Audio and multimedia

Availability: 20/03-24/03/2018, 16/04-20/04/2018, 15/05-25/05/2018, open to

negotiate other dates.

Languages: English, Italian, Slovenian, French, Dutch, Spanish

In English:

Title: Dynamic Preservation of Interactive Art: The Next Frontier of

Multimedia Cultural Heritage

We have all experienced not being able to find a file on our computer. We can’t search

for a file like we search for an object in a room: retrieval is mainly based on structured

textual descriptors of the digital objects we’re looking for, called metadata. Bad

metadata makes it very difficult or impossible to find things. And not finding things

often equals to not having them: you can’t use something you don’t have.

With my research project, I address the question of how to produce optimal metadata

for interactive art, in order to facilitate the archiving, access and re-purposing of

interactive artworks. Due to its influence on other art forms as well as on the

contemporary culture, the evolution of interactive art may be considered as important

as the evolution of opera in the XVII century. This research contributes to the

promotion and capitalisation of the European multimedia cultural patrimony, informing

and transforming other cultural and industrial sectors, attracting more young

researchers to engage in this field, and opening new career opportunities for young

professionals within and without academia (in museums, information technology,

tourism, history and philology – in cultural industries and creative economy).

My profile: http://research.federicabressan.com/

Project website: http://daphnet.federicabressan.com/

The project on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daphnet4art/

Possible questions:

http://research.federicabressan.com/

http://daphnet.federicabressan.com/

https://www.facebook.com/daphnet4art/


- Are video games interactive art?

- How do you write metadata? Is it a language?

- What happens when different metadata sets are used to describe the same objects?

- Have you ever imagined what it would be like not to have any information on our -

recent past? Or conversely, what it would be like to have… Leonardo da Vinci’s

Facebook wall?

In Italian:

Titolo: Conservazione dinamica dell'arte interattiva: La prossima frontiera del

patrimonio culturale multimediale

Tutti abbiamo provato almeno una volta a non riuscire a trovare un file sul nostro

computer. Un file non si può cercare come cerchiamo un oggetto nella nostra stanza: il

suo reperimento si basa principalmente su una descrizione testuale strutturata degli

oggetti digitali che stiamo cercando; tale descrizione forma l’insieme dei metadati.

Metadati fatti male rendono il reperimento molto difficile o impossibile. E non trovare

le cose spesso equivale a non averle: non si può usare qualcosa che non si ha.

Il mio progetto di ricerca ha lo scopo di individuare una maniera ottimale di descrivere

l’arte interattiva, al fine di facilitarne l'archiviazione, l'accesso e la riutilizzazione in

contesti diversi. L’importanza dello sviluppo dell’arte interattiva si può paragonare a

quello dell’opera nel XVII secolo, per l’influenza che ha esercitato su altre forme d'arte

e sulla cultura contemporanea. Il mio lavoro di ricerca contribuisce alla promozione e

alla capitalizzazione del patrimonio culturale multimediale europeo, all'informazione e

alla trasformazione di altri settori culturali e industriali, invogliando nuovi giovani

ricercatori a impegnarsi in questo settore e aprendo nuove opportunità di carriera per

giovani professionisti all'interno e all'esterno del mondo accademico (nei musei, nelle

ICT e le tecnologie dell'informazione, nel turismo, nella storia e nella filologia - nelle

industrie culturali e nell'economia creativa).

Il mio profilo: http://research.federicabressan.com/

Sito web del progetto: http://daphnet.federicabressan.com/

Il progetto su Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daphnet4art/

Domande possibili:

- I videogiochi si possono considerare arte interattiva?

- Come vengono scritti i metadati? Hanno una loro lingua?

- Cosa succede quando vengono utilizzati metadati diversi per descrivere gli stessi

oggetti?

- Hai mai immaginato come sarebbe non avere alcuna informazione sul nostro passato

recente? O viceversa, come sarebbe avere... la bacheca di Facebook di Leonardo da

Vinci?

In French:

Titre: Préservation dynamique de l'art interactif: La prochaine frontière du

patrimoine culturel multimédia

Nous avons tous expérimenté ne pas être capable de trouver un fichier sur notre

ordinateur. On ne peut pas rechercher un fichier comme on cherche un objet dans une

pièce: la recherche (in English it's "retrieval", pas "search": is it pareil en FR?) est

principalement basée sur un texte structuré qui décrit les objets numériques qu'on

cherche, appelés metadata. De mauvaises metadata rendent très difficile, voire


impossible, de trouver ce qu'on recherche. Ce qui équivaut souvent à ne pas pouvoir

utiliser quelque chose que l'on n'a pas pu obtenir.

Et ne pas trouver les choses équivaut souvent à ne pas les avoir: on ne peut pas

utiliser quelque chose qu'on n'a pas.

Avec mon projet de recherche, j'aborde la question de savoir comment produire des

métadonnées optimales pour l'art interactif, afin de faciliter l'archivage, l'accès et la

bonne réorientation des œuvres d'art interactives. En raison de son influence sur

d'autres formes d'art ainsi que sur la culture contemporaine, l'évolution de l'art

interactif peut être considérée comme aussi importante que l'évolution de l'opéra au

XVIIe siècle. Cette recherche contribue à la promotion et à la capitalisation du

patrimoine culturel multimédia européen, informant et transformant d'autres secteurs

culturels et industriels, attirant plus de jeunes chercheurs dans ce domaine et ouvrant

de nouvelles perspectives de carrière pour les jeunes professionnels au sein et en

dehors des universités (musés, technologie de l'information, tourisme, histoire et

philologie - dans les industries culturelles et l'économie créative).

Mon profil: http://research.federicabressan.com/

Site web du projet: http://daphnet.federicabressan.com/

Le projet sur Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daphnet4art/

Questions possibles:

- Les jeux vidéo sont-ils un art interactif?

- Comment on écrit les métadonnées? Est-ce une langue?

- Que se passe-t-il lorsque différents métadonnées sont utilisés pour décrire les

mêmes objets?

- Avez-vous déjà imaginé ce que ce serait de ne pas avoir d'informations sur notre

passé récent? Ou inversement, ce que ce serait d'avoir ... la page Facebook de

Léonard de Vinci?

In Dutch:

Titel: Dynamische conservatie (bewaring, bescherming) van interactieve

kunst: De volgende grens van multimedia erfgoed

We hebben het allemaal al eens ervaren dat we een bestand op onze computer niet

kunnen terugvinden. We kunnen niet naar een bestand zoeken zoals we naar een

voorwerp in een kamer zoeken: het ophalen (het zoeken ernaar) is voornamelijk

gebaseerd op gestructureerde tekstuele beschrijvingen van de digitale bestanden

waarnaar we op zoek zijn, genaamd metadata. Slechte metadata maken het heel

moeilijk zoniet onmogelijk om dingen terug te vinden. En het niet terugvinden van

dingen is vaak gelijk aan het niet hebben ervan: je kunt niet iets gebruiken dat je niet

hebt.

Met mijn onderzoeksproject ga ik in op de vraag hoe optimale metadata voor

interactieve kunst kunnen worden geproduceerd, om de archivering, de toegang en

het hergebruik van interactieve kunstwerken te vergemakkelijken.

Vanwege zijn invloed op andere kunstvormen alsook op de hedendaagse cultuur, kan

de evolutie van interactieve kunst even belangrijk worden geacht als de evolutie van

de opera in de zeventiende eeuw. Dit onderzoek draagt bij tot de promotie en

kapitalisatie van het Europese cultureel multimediaal erfgoed, informeert en

transformeert andere culturele en industriële sectoren, trekt meer jonge onderzoekers

aan om zich op dit gebied in te zetten en opent nieuwe carrièrekansen voor jonge

professionals binnen en buiten de academische wereld (in musea,

informatietechnologie, toerisme, geschiedenis en filologie - in culturele industrieën en

creatieve economie).





Mijn profiel: http://research.federicabressan.com/

Website van het project: http://daphnet.federicabressan.com/

Het project op Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daphnet4art/

Vragen:

- Zijn videogames interactieve kunst?

- Hoe schrijf je metadata? Is het een taal?

- Wat gebeurt er wanneer verschillende metadata worden gebruikt om dezelfde

objecten te omschrijven?

- Heb je je ooit voorgesteld hoe het zou zijn om geen informatie te hebben over ons

recente verleden? Of omgekeerd, hoe het zou zijn om... de Facebook pagina van

Leonardo da Vinci te hebben?

In Slovenian:

Naslov: Dinamično ohranjanje interaktivne umetnosti: Naslednja meja

multimedijske kulturne dediščine

Vsi smo že doživeli, da nismo uspeli najti datoteke na svojem računalniku. Datoteke

ne moremo iskati, kot iščemo objekte v prostoru: pridobivanje datoteke temelji

predvsem na strukturiranih besedilnih deskriptorjih digitalnih predmetov, ki jih

iščemo, imenovanih metapodatki. Zaradi slabih metapodatkov je stvari težko ali celo

nemogoče najti. In če nekaj ne najdemo, to pogosto pomeni, da tega nimamo: nekaj,

česar nimamo, pa ne moremo uporabiti.

V svojem raziskovalnem projektu se ukvarjam z vprašanjem, kako izdelati optimalne

metapodatke za interaktivno umetnost, da bi olajšali arhiviranje, dostopnost in

ponovno uporabo interaktivnih umetniških del. Razvoj interaktivne umetnosti se lahko

zaradi vpliva, ki ga ima na druge umetniške oblike in tudi na sodobno kulturo, šteje za

tako pomembnega kot razvoj opere v XVII. stoletju. Ta raziskava prispeva k

promoviranju in kapitalizaciji evropske multimedijske kulturne dediščine, obveščanju

in preoblikovanju drugih kulturnih in industrijskih sektorjev, privabljanju več mladih

raziskovalcev na to področje in odpiranju novih poklicnih priložnosti za mlade

strokovnjake znotraj in zunaj akademskega sveta (v muzejih, informacijski tehnologiji,

turizmu, zgodovini in filologiji – v kulturni industriji in kreativnem gospodarstvu).

Moj profil: http://research.federicabressan.com/

Spletna stran projekta: http://daphnet.federicabressan.com/

Projekt na Facebooku: https://www.facebook.com/daphnet4art/

Vprašanja:

- Ali so video igre interaktivna umetnost?

- Kako napišete metapodatke? Je to jezik?

- Kaj se zgodi, če se za opisovanje istih predmetov uporabljajo različni metapodatki?

- Ali ste kdaj pomislili, kako bi bilo, če ne bi imeli nobenih informacij o naši nedavni

preteklosti? Ali nasprotno, kako bi bilo, če bi si lahko ogledali... Facebook stran

Leonarda da Vincija?

In Spanish:

Título: Preservación dinámica del arte interactivo: La próxima frontera del

patrimonio cultural multimedia

Todos hemos experimentado no poder encontrar un archivo en nuestra computadora.

No es posible buscar un archivo como se busca un objeto en un cuarto: la






recuperación se basa principalmente en descripciones textuales estructuradas de los

objetos digitales que estamos buscando, llamados metadatos. Los metadatos

inadecuados hacen que sea muy difícil o imposible encontrar cosas. Y no encontrarlas

a menudo equivale a no tenerlas: no se puede usar algo que no se tiene.

Con mi proyecto de investigación, abordo la cuestión de cómo producir metadatos

óptimos para el arte interactivo, con el fin de facilitar el archivo, acceso y reutilización

de obras de arte interactiva. Debido a su influencia en otras formas de arte, como en

la cultura contemporánea, la evolución del arte interactivo se puede considerar tan

importante como la evolución de la ópera en el siglo XVII. Esta investigación

contribuye a la promoción y capitalización del patrimonio cultural multimedia europeo,

informando y transformando otros sectores culturales e industriales, atrayendo a más

investigadores jóvenes para participar en este campo y abriendo nuevas

oportunidades de carrera para jóvenes profesionales dentro y fuera de la academia

(en museos, tecnología de la información, turismo, historia y filología – industrias

culturales y la economía creativa).

Mi perfil: http://research.federicabressan.com/

Sitio web del proyecto: http://daphnet.federicabressan.com/

El proyecto en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daphnet4art/

Preguntas:

- ¿Los videojuegos son arte interactivo?

- ¿Cómo se escriben los metadatos? Tienen un lenguaje?

- ¿Qué ocurre cuando se usan diferentes metadatos para describir los mismos objetos?

- ¿Alguna vez has imaginado como sería no tener ninguna información sobre nuestro

pasado reciente? O a la inversa, ¿cómo sería tener... el perfil de Facebook de

Leonardo da Vinci?


Researcher: Johann Wolfschwenger

Field: International Relations and EU Studies

Availability: Until 09/2018

Languages: English and German

In English:

Title: What are International Organizations good for? The case of EU-Russia

relations

Since centuries nations states are the principal units of organizations of peoples. This

hegemony of the nation state has recently been challenged by International

Organizations such as the EU, the UNO or the OSCE. Those organizations are

constituted by the states themselves and have taken over significant tasks from them.

By providing fora of cooperation and legal harmonization those international

organization help to find solutions for problems shared by a number of states and

contribute to peace and economic prosperity. Sometimes, however, the differences of

views and interest between some states are that grave that no dialog is possible and

no solution for common problems can be found. This has happened recently between

the EU and Russia where distrust and the self-serving pursuit of interests has become

the standard way of dealing with each other.

In my research I analyse the work and functioning of International Organizations such

as the EU or the OSCE and the domestic politics of nation states such as Russia, the

EU member states or the states between Russia and the EU, such as Ukraine. I am

trying to find out how an International Organizations should be designed in order to

maintain trust, peace and economic cooperation between Russia and the EU.

Possible questions:

- Why can we travel to other countries?

- Why can we buy fruits from Spain, TVs from China and cars from Germany or Japan?

- What is diplomacy and how has it developed historically?

- The history of an International Organization – let’s say the European Union?

- How and why maintain states relations to each other?


In German:

Titel: Wozu dienen Internationale Organisationen? Am Beispiel der EU-

Russland Beziehungen

Seit Jahrhunderten sind Nationalstaaten die wichtigste Organisationsform von

Gesellschaften. Diese Vormachtstellung der Nationalstaaten ist seit Kurzem durch

Internationalen Organisationen wie die EU, die UNO oder die OSZE in Frage gestellt.

Diese Organisationen werden von ihren Mitgliedstaaten selbst geformt und haben

einige ihrer bedeutenden Aufgaben übernommen. Indem sie Raum für Kooperation

und rechtliche Harmonisierung eröffnen, helfen diese Internationalen Organisationen

gemeinsame Probleme zu lösen und tragen damit zur Erhaltung von Frieden und

Prosperität bei. Manchmal jedoch, sind die Unterschiede der Ansichten und Interessen

der Nationalstaaten so stark, dass ein Dialog nicht möglich ist und keine gemeinsamen

Lösungen gefunden werden können. So etwas ist kürzlich zwischen der EU und

Russland geschehen, wo nun Misstrauen und das Vorantreiben eigennütziger

Interessen der normale Umgangs miteinander ist.

In meiner Forschung analysiere ich die Arbeit und Funktionsweise von Internationalen

Organisationen wie die EU oder die OSZE, die Innenpolitik von Staaten wie Russland,

den EU Mitgliedstaaten, aber auch den Staaten zwischen Russland und der EU, wie die

Ukraine. Ich versuche herauszufinden, wie eine International Organisation

funktionieren sollte, um Vertrauen, Friede und wirtschaftliche Kooperation zwischen

Russland und der EU zu erhalten bzw. wieder herzustellenden.

Mögliche Fragen:

- Warum kann man in andere Länder reisen?

- Warum kann man Früchte aus Spanien, Fernseher aus China und Autos aus

Deutschland oder Japan kaufen?

- Was ist Diplomatie und wie hat sich diese historisch entwickelt?

- Die historische Entwicklung einer Internationalen Organisation – sagen wir der EU?

- Wie und warum unterhalten Staaten Beziehungen zueinander?


Researcher: Massimo Taronna

Field: Quantum Field Theory

Availability: via Skype due to his MSCA fellowship at Princeton University

Languages: English

In English:

Title: Symmetries in Quantum Field Theory

Phase transitions are among the most beautiful physical occurrences in nature. They

describe everyday phenomena from boiling water or liquid-crystal transitions, to

ferromagnetism and superconductors and many others.

Among the most simple and basic properties of phase transitions is that when they

occur the state of matter have uniform physical properties while certain properties of

the medium change discontinuously. Furthermore, a very interesting class of phase

transitions has the additional property that the correlation length of the system grows

exponentially, suggesting the appearance of a new symmetry: scale invariance.

My project aims to develop tools which can lead to methods to solve such phase

transitions analytically, employing symmetry and quantum mechanics to uniquely fix

the dynamics of the transition which in more technical terms is described by a special

type of quantum field theory known as conformal field theory.

Possible questions:

- How can we describe water/gas phase transition? What does it mean to say that

water boils at 100°C: can water boil at different temperatures? How is the boiling

temperature defined? What is the temperature of the vapor when water is boiling? Is it

possible to increase the boiling temperature?

- What is the latent heat?

- What happens to a magnet when it is heated up above a certain temperature? How

can I restore the initial state of the magnet?


Researcher: Wine Tisseur

Field: Translation

Languages: English and Dutch

In English:

Title: Researching language and translation: what is it, how do you do it, and

is it for you?

I was in the final year of secondary school, deciding what to study. I loved languages,

and there were several options. My teachers said: “Whatever you do, choose a

university degree. You need a challenge, a programme that goes into depth and is

broad enough”. I found that a difficult idea: no one in my family had gone to

university. Could I really do that? The academic world seemed hardly accessible to

me, and the idea of one day doing a PhD seemed impossible and even ridiculous.

Research on languages, wasn’t that something that was done by dusty grey men

(especially men) who seemed to live in the library?

But I was wrong, so it seems. Now, many years later, I have finished my PhD, and I

continue doing research on languages and translation. How that happened and what it

is exactly that I do as a researcher is what I would like to share with you. Because no:

I don’t live in the library. As a starting researcher I was financed by the European

Commission with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, and I moved to Birmingham

(UK) to do my PhD. My research was on languages and translation at the global

human rights organisation Amnesty International, and I did internships with Amnesty

in Paris, Madrid and Antwerp.

Nowadays I do similar research on languages in the work of development

organisations like Oxfam and Save the Children. What I like most about my research

are the unique opportunities to collaborate with so many different people, to visit so

many different places and countries, and to do something useful for these

organisations with my research. It’s very different from sitting in the library all day.

Maybe it’s also something for you?

Possible questions:


-Why did you decide to start doing research after your university degree?

-What exactly is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship? How does it work?

-How did you find out about this Fellowship?

-Why did you move abroad? Did you choose the country?

-Do you like living in the UK? What do you miss most about Belgium?

-How many languages do you speak?

-What is it like to work with Amnesty International?

The event will be split into two parts: the entertainment and the institutional parts.

In Dutch:

Titel: Een carrière als onderzoeker in talen en vertalen: kan dat en wat is dat?

Ik zat in het zesde middelbaar. Studiekeuze. Ik deed graag talen, en er waren

verschillende mogelijkheden. Mijn leerkrachten zeiden: “Wat je ook kiest, ga naar de

universiteit.. Jij hebt een uitdaging nodig, een opleiding die breed en diep genoeg

gaat”. Dat vond ik een moeilijk idee: niemand in mijn familie had “unief” gedaan. Was

dat wel voor mij? De academische wereld leek mij maar moeilijk toegankelijk, en dat

ik misschien ooit zou kunnen doctoreren leek een onmogelijk en zelfs een onnozel

idee. Onderzoek naar talen, werd dat niet gedaan door stoffige grijze mannen (vooral

mannen) die in de bibliotheek leken te wonen?

Ik had het mis, zo blijkt. Nu, zoveel jaren later ben ik gedoctoreerd, en doe ik

onderzoek naar talen en vertalen. Hoe dat gebeurde en wat ik zoal doe als

onderzoeker dag in dag uit deel ik graag met jullie. Want neen: ik woon niet in de

bibliotheek. Als beginnend onderzoeker werd ik gefinancierd door de Europese

Commissie met een Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, en ik verhuisde naar

Birmingham (VK) om daar te doctoreren. Mijn onderzoek ging over talen en vertalen

bij Amnesty International, de wereldwijde mensenrechtenorganisatie, en ik deed

stages bij de organisatie in Parijs, Madrid en Antwerpen.

Ook nu doe ik gelijkaardig onderzoek over talen in het werk van hulporganisaties zoals

Oxfam en Save the Children. Het allerleukste aan mijn onderzoek vind ik de unieke

kansen om met zoveel verschillende mensen samen te werken, zo veel verschillende

plaatsen en landen te bezoeken, en met mijn onderzoek iets nuttigs te doen voor deze

organisaties. Dat is heel wat anders dan in de bibliotheek zitten. Het is misschien ook

wel iets voor jou?

Mogelijke vragen:

- Waarom besliste je om met onderzoek te beginnen nadat je afgestudeerd was?

- Wat is een Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship precies? Hoe werkt het?

- Hoe hoorde je over die Fellowship?

- Waarom verhuisde je naar het buitenland? Koos je zelf het land?

- Woon je graag in het Verenigd Koninkrijk? Wat mis je het meest aan België?

- Hoeveel talen spreek je?

- Hoe is het om samen te werken met Amnesty International?


Researcher: Mathieu Bourguignon

Field: Neuroscience, neuroimaging, developmental neuropsychology, signal

processing

Availability: not available from 30/04/2018 until 08/05/2018

Languages: English and French

In English:

Title: Dyslexia seen through the lens of neuroimaging

My name is Mathieu Bourguignon. I am a physics engineer with a PhD in biomedical

sciences, working at the Institute of Neuroscience of the ULB on the neuronal basis of

dyslexia. Children with dyslexia have reading and spelling difficulties despite normal

intelligence. Given the importance of reading in our society, one can understand that

dyslexia may have severe consequences when not dealt with adequately and early

enough.

The goal of my MSCA fellowship is to develop novel techniques based on neuroimaging

to identify and remedy dyslexia earlier than currently possible. To that aim, I mainly

use magnetoencephalography, a technique to record brain activity with a high

precision in time.

Possible Questions:

- How frequent is dyslexia, and how do we identify it?

- What could be the cause of dyslexia?

- How can we take a picture of a living human brain?

- What are the different methods available to study the functioning of the brain?

How do they work?

- What do neuroimaging studies tell us about dyslexia?


- What is needed to become a researcher? What studies should be undertaken?

Is it possible/necessary to live abroad?

In French:

Titre: Mieux comprendre la dyslexie grâce à la neuroimagerie

Mon nom est Mathieu Bourguignon. Je suis un ingénieur physicien avec un doctorat en

science biomédicales, et je travaille à l’Institut des Neurosciences de l’ULB. Mes

recherches visent à mieux comprendre les bases neuronales de la dyslexie. Les

enfants atteints de dyslexie ont des difficultés de lecture et d’écriture, et ceci malgré

qu’ils soient aussi intelligents que les autres. Vu l’importance de la lecture dans notre

société, il est facile de comprendre que la dyslexie peut avoir des conséquences

sévères si elle n’est pas prise en charge de manière appropriée, et assez tôt.

L’objectif the mon projet de recherche MSCA est de développer de nouvelles

techniques basées sur la neuroimagerie pour identifier et remédier à la dyslexie plus

tôt que ce qui est possible pour le moment. A cette fin, j’utilise principalement la

magnétoencéphalographie, une technique d’enregistrement de l’activité du cerveau

caractérisée par une très haute précision temporelle.

Questions fréquemment posées:

- Avec quelle fréquence retrouve-t-on la dyslexie, et comment peut-on

l’identifier ?

- Quelle est la cause de la dyslexie ?

- Comment peut-on prendre une photo d’un cerveau humain vivant ?

- Quelles sont les différentes méthodes disponibles pour étudier le

fonctionnement du cerveau ? Comment fonctionnent-elles ?

- Qu’est-ce que les études de neuroimagerie nous apprennent sur la dyslexie ?

- Que faut-il faire pout devenir chercheur ? Quelles études ? Est-ce

possible/nécessaire de vivre à l’étranger ?


Researcher: Michalina Oplatowska

Field: Food safety

Languages: English and Polish

In English:

Title: safe food = our health

Dr. Michalina Oplatowska-Stachowiak is a scientist who works in the food safety area

that combines different subjects such as chemistry, biology and biotechnology.

After working for 8 years at the University in the United Kingdom, Michalina joined

EuroProxima company in the Netherlands. EuroProxima produces special tests for the

detection of harmful substances in food. These are for example natural toxins

produced by microorganisms in crops or residues of drugs in meat. These substances

should not be present in food as they can be really dangerous to your health. Special

detection methods are used by food producers and inspectors to control their presence

in food.

As a Marie Skłodowska -Curie Fellow, funded by the European Commission, Michalina

works on the MycoTest project at EuroProxima. Her main goal is to develop simple

methods to detect mycotoxins in food. Mycotoxins are produced by moulds – fungal

microorganisms that are in the environment around us. In certain conditions moulds

grow on food and produce mycotoxins. Even a tiny amount of mycotoxins, less than a

breadcrumb, can make you sick. Science knows more than 400 of these chemicals.

Michalina has selected a few of the most important ones and she is making new tests

to detect them in food. These tests are very fast and simple to use. They will be

offered to food producers and inspectors so they can easily test for mycotoxins in

food. It is all about making our food safer!

Preliminary presentation plan, duration approximately 30 min

1. Food safety.

2. What kind of contaminants can be present in food?

3. How is food tested for contaminants?


4. Moulds and toxins produced by them.

5. Marie Sklodowska-Curie project MycoTest: developing news tests to detect toxins

produced by moulds in food.

Possible Questions:

What type of contaminants can be present in food? Think about examples of both

microorganisms and chemicals. What is the food you like the most: meat, fish,

vegetables, candies or chips? Do you know what kind of contaminants can be

present in your favourite food? Can you remember any recent cases of food

contamination from the news?

Some examples: Salmonella bacteria in chicken, mycotoxins in cereals, pesticide

residues in vegetables, melamine in baby milk, antibiotics in milk, harmful dyes in

spices, mercury in fish

What are fungi and moulds?

In Polish:

Title: bezpieczna żywność = nasze zdrowie

Dr. Michalina Opłatowska-Stachowiak, naukowiec w dziedzinie bezpieczeństwa

żywności

Dr. Michalina Opłatowska-Stachowiak jest naukowcem i zajmuje się bezpieczeństwem

żywności, dziedziną badań łączącą w sobie chemię, biologię i biotechnologię.

Michalina pracowała przez 8 lat na uniwersytecie w Wielkiej Brytanii. W tamtym roku

przeniosła się do Holandii, gdzie zaczęła współpracę z firmą EuroProxima. EuroProxima

produkuje specjalne testy do wykrywania w żywności szkodliwych dla naszego zdrowia

substancji. Są to na przykład naturalne toksyny produkowane przez mikroorganizmy w

produktach rolnych albo pozostałości leków w mięsie ze zwierząt hodowlanych.

Substancje te nie powinny znajdować się w żywności, ponieważ mogą być szkodliwe

dla zdrowia. Producenci i kontrolerzy żywności używaja specjalnych metod do

monitorowania obecności zanieczyszczeń w jedzeniu.

Michalina jest obecnie stypendystką programu Maria Skłodowska-Curie Komisji

Europejskiej i pracuje nad projektem MycoTest w firmie EuroProxima. Jej celem jest

opracowanie prostych metod wykrywania mykotoksyn w żywności. Mykotoksyny są

produkowane przez pleśnie – mikroogranizmy grzybowe występujące w środowisku. W

odpowiednich warunkach pleśnie rosną na żywności sprawiając, że nie nadaje się ona

do spożycia przez ludzi. Czasami jest to bardzo niebezpieczne, ponieważ pleśnie mogą

też produkować toksyny. Nawet mniejsza od okruszka ilość tych toksyn może być

przyczyną poważnych chorób. Obecnie znamy więcej niż 400 takich substancji.

Michalina wybrała kilka najważniejszych z nich i pracuje nad nowymi testami do ich

wykrywanie w żywności. Testy te są bardzo szybkie i proste w użyciu. Znajdą one

zastosowanie u producentów i kontrolerów żywności, a wszystko po to, żeby nasze

jedzenie było bezpieczniejsze!

Wstępny plan prezentacji, czas około 30 minut

1. Bezpieczeństwo żywności.

2. Jakie rodzaje zanieczyszczeń mogą występować w żywności?

3. Jak się tetsuje żywność pod kątem zanieczyszczeń?

4. Pleśnie i toksyny przez nie produkowane.


5. Maria Skłodowska-Curie projekt MycoTest: opracowywanie nowych metod

wykrywania toksyn produkowanych przez pleśnie w żywności.

Pytania do dyskusji przed prezentacją

Jakie rodzaje zanieczyszczeń mogą występować w żywności? Czy znasz przykłady

zanieczyszczeń mikroorganizmami i związkami chemicznymi? Jakie jest twoje

ulubione jedzenie: mięso, ryby, warzywa, słodycze, a moze czipsy? Czy wiesz jakie

zanieczyszczenia mogą w nich występować? Czy słyszałes o jakichś niedawnych

przypadkach zanieczyszczeń żywności?

Przykłady: Salmonella w kurczaku, mykotoksyny w zbożach, pestycydy w

warzywach, melamina w mleku dla dzieci, antybiotyki w mleku, szkodliwe barwniki

w przyprawach, rtęć w rybie

Co to są grzyby i pleśnie?


Researcher: Jan Völkel

Field: Political Science, Area Studies Middle East and North Africa

Availability: 01/2018-03/2018, 05/2018-06/018, 11/2018-01/2019

Languages: English, German

In English:

Title: Democracy in the making? The Middle East and North Africa after the

Arab Spring

I am a political scientist who analyses the current developments in the Middle East and

North Africa (MENA) region in a comparative perspective. My Marie Skłodowska-Curie

research project considers the contributions of parliaments in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco

and Tunisia to their countries’ individual policy processes, in particularly since the

“Arab Spring” uprisings in 2011. Hope was high back then that the political systems

across the Arab world would open up and democratise. This, in conclusion, would

inevitably lead to more relevance for the national legislatures as representatives of

people’s will. However, with the exception of Tunisia, this has hardly happened. The

project analyses the major obstacles for more parliamentary relevance, and develops

strategies how these assemblies could effectively strengthened, also from the

European side. Besides, I work as MENA region’s regional coordinator for the

Transformation Index of the Bertelsmann Foundation (BTI, www.bti-project.org), a bi-

annual assessment of political and economic reform in 129 transformation countries

around the globe. Here, I follow very closely all relevant internal and external

developments in 19 MENA countries. side.

Jan Völkel at the Institute for European Studies: https://ies.be/users/jan-völkel

Recent Blog contributions:

As Populists rise in the West, Arab Autocrats rejoice. Social Europe, 10 May

2017

https://www.socialeurope.eu/2017/05/populists-rise-west-arab-autocrats-

rejoice;

http://www.bti-project.org/

https://ies.be/users/jan-völkel

https://www.socialeurope.eu/2017/05/populists-rise-west-arab-autocrats-rejoice



re-published in BTI Blog, 19 May 2017, https://blog.bti-

project.org/2017/05/19/populists-rise-west-arab-autocrats-rejoice

(with Paul Esber, University of Sydney) Moving the German anti-IS troops from

Turkey to Jordan: a jump from the frying pan into the fire? Global Policy, 24

July 2017

http://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/24/07/2017/moving-german-anti-

troops-turkey-jordan-jump-frying-pan-fire

republished in BTI Blog, 2 August 2017, https://blog.bti-

project.org/2017/08/02/moving-german-anti-troops-turkey-jordan-jump-

frying-pan-fire/.

Possible Questions:

- What differentiates democracy from autocracy?

- How can democracy be measured?

- Success strategies of populist leaders?

- What role should religion play in politics?

- Economic development under authoritarian leadership – pros and cons?

In German:

Title: “Demokra – nie? Der Nahe Osten und Nordafrika nach dem Arabischen

Frühling”

Als Politikwissenschaftler analysiere ich die aktuellen Entwicklungen in Nahost und

Nordafrika aus vergleichender Perspektive heraus. Mein Marie Skłodowska-Curie

Forschungsprojekt untersucht dabei die Beiträge der nationalen Parlamente von

Ägypten, Jordanien, Marokko und Tunesien im Politikgestaltungsprozess ihrer

jeweiligen Länder, insbesondere seit den Aufständen des “Arabischen Frühlings” im

Jahre 2011. Damals hofften viele, dass sich die starren politischen Systeme der

arabischen Welt nach Jahrzehnten autokratischer Herrschaft öffnen und

demokratisieren würden – was wiederum zu stärkeren Parlamenten führen würde.

Mit Ausnahme Tunesiens ist daraus leider nichts geworden. Das Projekt analysiert

deswegen die größten Hürden, die einer effektiveren Rolle der arabischen Parlamente

im Wege stehen, und entwickelt Strategien, wie diese Parlamente entsprechend

gestärkt werden könnten, auch von europäischer Seite aus.

Neben diesem Projekt, das ich an der Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) durchführe,

arbeite ich als Regionalkoordinator Nahost/Nordafrika beim “Transformationsindex der

Bertelsmann-Stiftung” (BTI, www.bti-project.org), einem alle zwei Jahre

erscheinenden Ranking von weltweit 129 Transformationsländern. Hier verfolge ich

sehr eng alle relevanten internen und externen Entwicklungen in insgesamt 19

Ländern der Region.

Jan Völkel am Institut für European Studies: https://ies.be/users/jan-völkel

Aktuelle Blogbeiträge:

As Populists rise in the West, Arab Autocrats rejoice. Social Europe, 10 May

2017, https://www.socialeurope.eu/2017/05/populists-rise-west-arab-

autocrats-rejoice;

re-published in BTI Blog, 19 May 2017, https://blog.bti-

project.org/2017/05/19/populists-rise-west-arab-autocrats-rejoice

https://blog.bti-project.org/2017/05/19/populists-rise-west-arab-autocrats-rejoice


http://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/24/07/2017/moving-german-anti-troops-turkey-jordan-jump-frying-pan-fire


https://blog.bti-project.org/2017/08/02/moving-german-anti-troops-turkey-jordan-jump-frying-pan-fire/



http://www.bti-project.org/

https://ies.be/users/jan-völkel






(with Paul Esber, University of Sydney) Moving the German anti-IS troops from

Turkey to Jordan: a jump from the frying pan into the fire? Global Policy, 24

July 2017, http://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/24/07/2017/moving-

german-anti-troops-turkey-jordan-jump-frying-pan-fire;

republished in BTI Blog, 2 August 2017, https://blog.bti-

project.org/2017/08/02/moving-german-anti-troops-turkey-jordan-jump-

frying-pan-fire/.

Mögliche Fragen:

- Was unterscheidet Demokratie von Autokratie?

- Wie kann Demokratie man messen?

- Was sin Erfolgsstrategien populistischer Führungspersonen?

- Welche Rolle sollte Religion in Politik spielen?

- Ökonomische Entwicklung unter autoritärer Führung- Pro und Contra?







Researcher: Xoana G. Troncoso

Field: Physics, optics, neurons

Languages: English, French, Spanish

In English:

Visual Illusions: trick your brain and learn from it!

Understanding how the brain works is one of the greatest scientific challenges of the

21st century. The human brain has around 100 billion specialized cells (called

neurons) making over 1 quadrillion connections among themselves. The connections

among neurons allow them to communicateinformation, creating every experience we

have of the world: everything we think, see, feel, touch, dream, imagine… everything

we do arises from communicating neurons!

But… does the brain ever get it wrong?? In this talk I will use different interactive

demos based on Visual Illusions to demonstrate how our brain can be tricked, making

us perceive things that are not there, not see things that are there, or see things

differently than they actually are. We will discover how these errors help

Neuroscientists learn how the brain works and how it constructs our perception of the

world. In this talk I will use different interactive demos based on Visual Illusions to

demonstrate how our brain can be tricked, making us perceive things that are not

there, not see things that are there, or see things differently than they actually are.

We will discover how these errors help Neuroscientists learn how the brain works and

how it constructs our perception of the world. We will also talk about the different

steps in the career of a Researcher and what path to follow to become an

interdisciplinary Neuroscientist.

Some questions to wonder about before the visit

What is the brain for? What is the function of the brain?

What are neurons? How do neurons communicate?

How do we see/recognize things so fast and with such high resolution? How come

robots/artificial vision systems are much worse than we are at recognizing

objects/people?


Who is in charge of doing research about the brain? What background/studies do

Neuroscientists need?

In French:

Title: Les Illusions: faire mentir son cerveau pour mieux le comprendre

Comprendre comment le cerveau fonctionne est l’un des plus grand défis scientifiques

du XXIe siècle. Chez l’Homme, le cerveau possède autour de 100 milliard de cellules

spécialisés (les neurones) qui font plus de 1 million milliard de connexions entre eux.

C'est-à-dire, il y a plus de neurones dans notre cerveau que d’habitants sur Terre, et

plus de connexions que d’étoiles dans la Voie Lactée! Ces connexions permettent aux

neurones de transmettre des informations, en créant ainsi toutes nos expériences:

tout ce que nous pensons, voyons, sentons, touchons, rêvons, imaginons… tout ce que

nous faisons est généré par des neurones qui communiquent! Mais… le cerveau ne se

trompe-t-il jamais??

Dans mon exposé plusieurs démonstrations interactives basées sur des Illusions

Visuelles illustreront comment notre cerveau peut être piégé et nous faire percevoir

des choses qui ne sont pas là, ou inversement ne pas voir de choses qui sont là, ou

voir les choses différemment de la réalité.

On découvrira comment ces erreurs aide les Chercheurs à mieux comprendre

comment le cerveau fonctionne et comment il construit notre perception du monde.

On parlera aussi des différentes étapes dans la carrière d’un Chercheur et le parcours

professionnel à suivre pour devenir Neuroscientifique interdisciplinaire.

Quelques questions à se poser avant la visite

Le cerveau, if fait quoi? Quelle est sa fonction?

Qu’est-ce que c’est un neurone? Comme est-ce que les neurones se

communiquent entre eux?

Comme est-ce que c’est possible qu’on voie/reconnaît les choses si vite et avec

une résolution tellement haute? Pourquoi les robots et les systèmes de vision

artificielle n’arrivent pas à avoir notre niveau?

Qui fait la recherche sur le cerveau? Quel licence/parcours suivre pour devenir

Neuroscientifique?


In Spanish:

Title: Las ilusiones visuales: engaña el cerebro para comprenderlo mejor

Comprender cómo funciona el cerebro es uno de los desafíos científicos más grandes

del siglo XXI. El celebro posee en torno a 100 millones de células especializadas (las

neuronas) que suponen más de un billón de conexiones entre ellas. Es decir, hay más

neuronas en nuestro cerebro que habitantes en la Tierra, y más conexiones que

estrellas en la Vía Láctea! Estas conexiones permiten a las neuronas transmitir las

informaciones, creando así todas nuestras experiencias:

Todo lo que pensamos, vemos, sentimos, tocamos, sonamos, imaginamos, … todo lo

que hacemos esta generado por neuronas que se comunican! Pero… ¿el cerebro no se

equivoca nunca?

En mi explicación, llevaré a cabo varias demostraciones interactivas basadas sobre las

ilusiones visuales para ilustrar cómo nuestro cerebro puede equivocarse y hacernos

percibir cosas que no son tales, o bien al contrario, no ver cosas que están ahí, o

verlas de manera diferente a como son en realidad.

Descubriremos cómo los errores ayudan a los investigadores a comprender mejor

cómo el cerebro funciona y como se construye nuestra percepción del mundo.

Hablaremos también de las diferentes etapas en la carrera de un investigador, de la

trayectoria profesional a seguir para poder ser un neurocientífico interdisciplinario.

Algunas preguntas para preparar el encuentro

El cerebro, ¿qué hace? ¿Cuál es su función?

¿Qué es una neurona? ¿Cómo se comunican entre ellas?

¿Cómo es posible que veamos y reconozcamos las cosas tan rápido y con una

resolución tan alta? Por qué los robots y los sistemas de visión artificial no llegan a

tener nuestro nivel?

De qué trata la investigación sobre el cerebro? Qué estudios y trayectoria se

pueden seguir para llegar a ser un neurocientífico?


Researcher: Maryline Calonne

Field: Biology


In English:

Title: Could plant and fungi remediate to polluted soils?

My name is Maryline Calonne. My area of expertise is the physiology of plants

associated to symbiotic fungi, the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. More specifically, I

investigate their interaction in presence of hydrocarbures. Because of their toxicity to

Human and its environment, it is necessary to remediate hydrocarbures-polluted soils,

which are numerous and worldwide distributed. My current Marie Curie research

project is thus focused on the development of alternative environmental friendly

methods to remediate to hydrocarbures-polluted soils, using plant associated to

arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The purpose of my research is to better understand the

role and benefits of these fungi used as tools for phytoremediation of hydrocarbures-

polluted soils.

Being granted by a two-year post-doctoral experience as a MSCA fellow has given me

the opportunity to continue my research started during my thesis in France and

allowed me to join an expert laboratory in my research topic (Laboratory of mycology

at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium). The Marie Curie fellowship has

contributed to my career development in the short-term (by the acquisition of novel

expertise in various domains from science to entrepreneurship) and will, in the long-

term, open large perspectives as full-time researcher in the academic environment.


Possible questions:

What are arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi ?

Is it possible to see these fungi in nature?

How these fungi act on soils depollution ?

What are the advantages of phytoremediation methods ?

Do another soil remediation technics exist ?

How much years of study are necessary to become a researcher?

How does a researcher work in a lab? What does a researcher do each days?

What is the Marie Curie Fellowship?

In French:

Titre : Les plantes et champignons peuvent-ils remédier aux sols pollués ?

Je m’appelle Maryline Calonne. Mon domaine de compétence concerne la physiologie

des plantes associées à des champignons symbiotiques, les champignons mycorhiziens

à arbuscules. Plus spécifiquement, j’étudie leur interaction en présence

d’hydrocarbures. Du fait de leur toxicité pour l’Homme et son environnement, il

devient crucial de remédier aux sols pollués par les hydrocarbures, très nombreux de

par le monde. Mon projet de recherche Marie Curie porte donc sur le développement

de techniques alternatives écologiques de remédiation des sols pollués par les

hydrocarbures, en utilisant les plantes associées à ces champignons mycorhiziens à

arbuscules. L’objectif de mes recherches est de mieux comprendre le rôle et les

bénéfices apportés par ces champignons utilisés comme outils de phytoremédiation

des sols pollués par les hydrocarbures.

Questions fréquemment posées :

Qu’est-ce qu’un champignon mycorhizien à arbuscules ?

Voit-on souvent ces champignons dans la nature ?

Comment ces champignons agissent sur la dépollution des sols ?

Quels sont les avantages de la phytoremédiation ?

Existe-t-il d’autres techniques de remédiation des sols pollués ?

Quel est le nombre d’années d’études pour devenir chercheur ?

Comment travaille-t-on dans un labo ? Comment travaille un chercheur ? Que fait

un chercheur ?

Qu’est-ce que la bourse Marie Curie ?


Researcher: Jean Lacroix

Field: Economics and democratisation


In English:

Title: How long should new democracies wait in order to attract foreign

investors?

Foreign investments matter for developing countries. They spur growth, technologies

and knowledge. Democracies have an advantage in attracting such investments.

Lowering the executive discretionary power decreases the risk of investing. However

democratization is maybe not the best solution to attract investors as it generates

uncertainty and often emerges from civil conflict. Therefore the impact of being

democratic on foreign investments inflows may vary over time. Our study measures

this effect.

Possible questions / related issues:

- Globalization / Investment flows. How developing countries are integrated into

international finance?

- What is democratization? The importance of free and fair elections and of a

democratic constitution. What is a constitution? What is a democratic constitution?

Notions of popular sovereignty and of checks and balances.

- Democratization and its effect on a country profile (corruption, education, growth…).

- Decision-making process in democracies. The role of the median voter.


In French:

Title: Combien de temps les nouvelles démocraties doivent-elles attendre

pour attirer les investisseurs étrangers?

Les investissements étrangers sont un enjeu majeur pour les pays en développement.

Ils sont vecteurs de croissance et permettent également la diffusion de nouvelles

technologies et de savoirs. Les démocraties semblent avoir un avantage pour attirer

ces investissements. Limiter les pouvoirs des dirigeants politiques réduit les risques

liés à l’investissement. Cependant se démocratiser n’est peut-être pas la meilleure

solution pour attirer les investisseurs. Les épisodes de démocratisation sont en effet

souvent le résultat de conflits internes et peuvent donc mener à un contexte

économique incertain. Par conséquent l’attrait d’un régime démocratique auprès des

investisseurs étrangers peut varier dans le temps. Notre étude mesure cet effet.


- La mondialisation et les flux d’investissements / Comment les pays en

développement sont intégrés au système financier mondial?

- Qu’est-ce que la démocratisation ? L’importance d’élections libres et équitables.

Qu’est-ce qu’une constitution ? Qu’est-ce qu’une constitution démocratique? Les

notions de souveraineté populaire et de pouvoir et contre-pouvoir.

- La démocratisation et son effet sur un pays (changement en termes de corruption,

éducation et croissance).

- Le processus de décision en démocratie. L’importance de l’électeur median


Researcher: Aurore Burietz

Field: Economics and democratisation


In English:

Title: Doing research: An exciting work to learn and travel

lPost-doc at ULB for one year within the MacroHist project (Marie Curie ITN Program),

I got my master at IESEG School of Management and my PhD at the University of

Picardie (both in France). With my coauthors, we are studying the interwar period

(1919-1938) and we are working on the contagion effect in financial markets during

the different crises that occurred at that time.

Possible questions:

- What do you do on a day-to-day basis?

- What are the opportunities to travel?

- What do you like in this job?

- What are the difficulties?

- How have you heard about this job?

- What are the different step to become a researcher?

- What are the topics you are working on?

- How have you picked up your topic? Why?


In French:

Title: Faire de la recherche: Un travail stimulant pour apprendre et voyager

Post-doc à l’ULB pour un an dans le cadre du project MacroHist (Marie Curie ITN

Program), j’ai obtenu mon master à l’IESEG School of Management et mon doctorat à

l’université de Picardie (toutes les deux situées en France). Avec mes co-auteurs, nous

étudions la période de l’entre-deux guerres (1919-1938)

et nous travaillons sur le phénomène de contagion sur les marchés financiers pendant

les différentes crises qui caractérisent cette période.


- En quoi consiste votre travail au quotidien?

- Comment cela vous amène-t-il à voyager?

- Qu'est-ce qui vous plait dans ce métier?

- Quelles sont les difficultés?

- Comment avez-vous découvert ce métier?

- Quel parcours faut-il suivre pour faire de la recherche son métier?

- Sur quels thèmes travaillez-vous?

- Comment avez-vous choisi votre sujet? Pour quoi?


Researcher: Matthieu Gosselin

Field: Gravitational waves, Physics


In English:

Title: "Listening to the Univers"

Matthieu is a PhD student at the European Gravitational Observatory in Italy. In this

laboratory they use a laser to detect gravitational waves coming from space. It is a

very huge project which takes into account every single detail. He is working on the

improvement of a part of the laser that will be used in the future.

Possible questions:

Can you get black by superposing two beams of light?

Is it easier to look or to listen to what is happening in space?

Is it possible to measure a change of distance by one hair's width between the

Earth and the Sun?

Why do we want to detect gravitational waves?

While graduated of telecommunication engineering, why did I finally decide to get

involved in this research project?


In French:

Title: "À l'écoute de l'Univers"

Matthieu est un doctorant à l'Observatoire Gravitationnel Européen en Italie. Dans ce

laboratoire ils utilisent un laser pour détecter les ondes gravitationnelles venant de

l'espace. C'est un immense projet qui tient compte du moindre petit détail. Il travaille

sur l'amélioration d'une partie de ce laser qui sera utilisée dans le futur.


Est-ce vous pouvez obtenir du noir en superposant deux faisceaux de lumière?

Est-il plus facile de regarder ou d'écouter ce qu'il se passe dans l'espace?

Est-ce qu'il est possible de mesurer un changement de distance de l'épaisseur d'un

cheveu entre la Terre et le Soleil?

Pourquoi est-ce qu'on veut détecter les ondes gravitationnelles?

Alors que j'ai un diplôme d'ingénieur en télécommunication, pourquoi ai-je décidé

de m'impliquer de ce projet de recherche?


Researcher: Yves Mollet

Field: Engineering

Languages: French, Dutch and English

In English:

Title: "Study, test and optimize electrical vehicles in order to increase their

competitiveness"

Electrical vehicles are progressively appearing on the roads but many challenges still

need to be taken in terms of autonomy, performance, but also vibrations and

acoustics. The substitution of the combustion engine with an electrical motor does

reduce the global noise level in the car interior, but the nature of the sounds can be

more annoying for the driver and for his passengers than in a classical vehicle.

The European project DeMoTestEV (for DEsign, Modelling and TESTing tools for

Electrical Vehicles powertrain drives) on which I am working as a PhD candidate at the

ULB with the collaboration of Siemens Industry Software NV (SISW, ex LMS

International) in Leuven and ICPE in Bucharest aims at solving vibration and acoustic

noise problems in electrical vehicles (EVs). The project also proposes new modelling

and testing tools in electromagnetic, vibrational and acoustic domains.

With Siemens I had the opportunity of performing simulations and experimental tests

on a particular and still rarely used machine (called “switched reluctance machine”)

and improve a test bench with more classical machines in order to reproduce typical

working conditions in an EV.


In ICPE I proposed a new winding to study short-circuits in a prototype of a

permanent-magnet machine for EV and realized a simulation model of that

machine.

Possible questions:

Which solutions can the EVs bring to better preserve our environment?

What are the challenges to be taken for a better competitiveness of EV on the

market?

What is the working principle of an electrical motor? What is a permanent magnet?

What is an electromagnet?

What is the resonance phenomenon? Where can it appear? Give examples from

everyday life.

What's a short-circuit ? What are the related dangers?

In French:

Title: 'Etudier, tester et optimiser les véhicules électriques pour améliorer

leur compétitivité'

Les véhicules électriques font timidement leur apparition sur nos routes alors que de

nombreux défis sont encore à relever en termes d’autonomie, de performances, mais

aussi de vibrations et d’acoustique. Le remplacement du moteur thermique par un

moteur électrique dans un véhicule réduit, certes, le niveau sonore global dans

l’habitacle, mais la nature des sons perçus peut s’avérer au final plus dérangeante

pour le conducteur et pour ses passagers que dans un véhicule classique.

C’est dans ce cadre que s’inscrit le projet européen DeMoTestEV (pour DEsign,

Modelling and TESTing tools for Electrical Vehicles powertrain drives) sur lequel je

travaille pour mon doctorat à l’ULB en collaboration avec Siemens Industry Software

NV (SISW, ex LMS International) à Louvain et ICPE à Bucarest. Le projet propose en

outre de nouveaux outils de modélisation et de tests dans les domaines

électromagnétique, vibratoire et acoustique.

Avec Siemens, j’ai eu l’occasion de faire des simulations et des tests vibro-acoustiques

sur une machine particulière (dite « à réluctance variable ») encore peu répandue et

de perfectionner un banc d’essais de machines plus classiques pour reproduire les

conditions de fonctionnement typiques d’un véhicule électrique.

Chez ICPE, j’ai proposé un nouveau bobinage pour l’étude de courts-circuits sur un

prototype de machine à aimants permanents pour véhicule et réalisé un modèle de

simulation de cette machine.



Quelles solutions les véhicules électriques apportent-ils pour une meilleure

préservation de l’environnement ?

Quels sont les défis à relever pour une meilleure compétitivité des véhicules

électriques ?

Quel est le principe de fonctionnement d’un moteur électrique ? Qu’est-ce qu’un

aimant permanent ? Qu’est-ce qu’un électro-aimant ?

Qu’est-ce que le phénomène de résonance ? Où peut-il intervenir ? Donnez des

exemples de la vie courante.

Qu’est-ce qu’un court-circuit ? Quels en sont les dangers ?

In Dutch:

Title: 'Elektrische voertuigen studeren, testen en optimaliseren om hun

competitiviteit te verbeteren'

Elektrische voertuigen verschijnen geleidelijk op onze wegen, maar vele uitdagingen

moeten steeds aangenomen worden op het vlak van autonomie, prestatie, trillingen

en akoestiek. De vervanging van de verbrandingsmotor door een elektrische motor in

het voertuig vermindert zeker het totale geluidsniveau in de auto, maar de natuur van

het geluid kan uiteindelijk meer verstorend zijn voor de bestuurder en voor zijn

passagiers dan in een klassiek voertuig.

In dat kader bevindt zich het Europese project DeMoTestEV (pour DEsign, Modelling

and TESTing tools for Electrical Vehicles powertrain drives) waarvoor ik werk voor mijn

doctoraat bij de ULB, samen met Siemens Industry Software NV (SISW, ex LMS

International) in Leuven en ICPE in Boekarest. Het project biedt ook nieuwe middelen

aan voor het modelleren en het testen in elektromagnetische, trillings- en akoestische

velden.

Met SISW had ik de gelegenheid om simulaties en trillingen akoestische

experimenten op een speciale en nog weinig gebruikte machine (“variabele

reluctantiemachine” genoemd) uit te voeren en om een testbank met klassiekere

machines te verbeteren om de typische werkcondities van een elektrische voertuig te

reproduceren.

Bij ICPE heb ik een nieuwe wikkeling voor een prototype met permanente magneten

voor elektrische voertuigen aangeboden en een model van deze machine gerealiseerd.


Mogelijke vragen:

- Welke oplossingen kunnen de elektrische voertuigen aanbieden voor een betere

milieubescherming?

- Welke uitdagingen moeten aangenomen worden om de competitiviteit van

elektrische voertuigen te verbeteren?

- Wat is het werkingsprinciep van elektrische motoren? Wat is een permanente

magneet? Wat is een elektromagneet?

- Wat is het resonantiefenomeen? Waar kan het ingrijpen? Geef voorbeelden van het

gewone leven.

- Wat is een kortsluiting? Wat zijn de verwante gevaren?


Researcher: Patricia Bonnavion

Field: Neuroscience

Languages: French and English

In English:

Title: How to control brain activity with light ?"

My research consists in understanding how the brain operates to conduct or control

one behaviour. For example, what happens in the brain that makes us fall asleep, feel

hungry or sated, feel stressed when passing an exam or pay attention in class. I’m

also interested in understanding what goes wrong in the brain that may cause

insomnia, eating disorders or anxiety for some people, or what can lead to inattention

and impulsive decisions. I study how neurons function and communicate in the brain

to conduct and orchestrate these multiple behaviours. More particularly, I observe and

manipulate the electrical activity of specific neurons in certain brain regions, and

examine its consequences on behaviour.

To control the electrical activity of neurons, we employ an innovative technique called

optogenetics that allows stimulating or shutting off specific neurons with light, using

genetic manipulations and thin optical fibers inserted into the brain. To conduct our

research, we study mice behaviour, which share the same genes, brain anatomy and

many brain functions with humans.

With the support of the European Commission and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie

Fellowship program, I am developing a project that aims to better understand the

brain dysfunctions occurring in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which

includes inattention, restlessness, and impulsivity, and affects many children

worldwide. We are using optogenetics in mice models of ADHD, which are mice

exhibiting most of ADHD symptoms and that respond to the same drugs used to treat

ADHD in humans. The objective is to examine the role of certain neurons that may


cause ADHD, and test whether controlling and adapting these neurons activity might

help to correct and treat these symptoms.

Possible questions:

- What is the brain?

- What is a neuron?

- What is optogenetics?

- Why do we use rodents to study human brain? What behaviour and brain disorder

can we study in rodents?

- What is ADHD? How do we treat ADHD? Can rodents have ADHD like humans?

- What do you like most about doing research?

- What studies are needed to be a Neuroscientist?

In French:

Title: Comment contrôler l’activité du cerveau avec de la lumière?

Ma recherche consiste à comprendre comment le cerveau opère pour provoquer ou

contrôler un comportement. Par exemple, que se passe-t-il dans le cerveau quand on

s’endort ? Quand on a faim ou quand on se sent rassasié? Quand on est stressé par un

examen, ou que l’on porte son attention en classe? Je m’intéresse également aux

changements ou dérèglements du cerveau qui peuvent provoquer de l’insomnie, des

troubles alimentaires, ou de l’anxiété chez certaines personnes, ou bien encore ce qui

conduit à être inattentif ou impulsif. J’étudie comment les neurones fonctionnent et

communiquent dans le cerveau pour générer et orchestrer ces multiples

comportements. Plus précisément, j’observe et manipule l’activité électrique de

neurones spécifiques dans certaines régions du cerveau, et j’en examine les

conséquences sur le comportement.

Pour contrôler l’activité électrique des neurones, nous employons une technique

innovatrice appelée « optogénétique », qui permet de stimuler ou d’éteindre des

neurones distincts en utilisant des manipulations génétiques et en insérant de fines

fibres optiques dans le cerveau. Pour mener ces recherches, nous étudions le

comportement de la souris qui partage les mêmes gènes, la même anatomie du

cerveau et beaucoup de fonctions cérébrales communes à l’homme.

Avec le soutien de la Commission Européenne et le programme de bourses Marie

Skłodowska-Curie, je développe un projet qui vise à comprendre les dérèglements du

cerveau dans les troubles de l’attention avec hyperactivité (TDAH), qui incluent de

l’inattention, de l’agitation et de l’impulsivité, et touchent de nombreux enfants dans

le monde entier. Je mène des études d’optogénétique sur des modèles de souris

TDAH, c’est à dire des souris qui présentent notamment la plupart des symptômes

TDAH et qui répondent aux mêmes traitements employés chez l’homme. L’objectif

étant de comprendre le rôle de certains neurones qui pourraient être à l’origine des

symptômes des TDAH, et nous tentons de corriger et traiter ces symptômes en

contrôlant et en réajustant l’activité de ces neurones.



- Qu’est-ce que le cerveau ?

- Qu’est-ce qu’un neurone ?

- Qu’est-ce que l’optogénétique ?

- Pourquoi étudie-t-on les rongeurs pour comprendre le cerveau humain ? Quels

comportements et troubles du cerveau peut-on étudier chez les rongeurs ?

- Que sont les troubles de l’attention avec hyperactivité (TDAH) ? Comment les

traite-t-on ? Les rongeurs peuvent-ils avoir des TDAH comme les humains ?

- Qu’est-ce qui vous plait le plus dans la recherche ?

- Quelles études doit-on faire pour être chercheur en Neuroscience ?


Researcher: Jonàs Juan Mateu

Field: health, diabetes

Languages: French, Spanish and English

In English:

Title: Did you know that diabetes affects more than 400 million world-wide

and its causes remain poorly understood?

Jonàs Juan-Mateu is a biologist from Mallorca, Spain, developing his Marie Curie

project at the Center for Diabetes Research of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. His

project BETA-SPLICENET is focused in studying the role of a complex process of gene

regulation called alternative splicing in the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D).

T1D is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the cells of the

pancreas that produce insulin, the beta cells, provoking its progressive dysfunction

and death. Patients with T1D produce little or no insulin, a hormone that tells the cells

of the body to uptake glucose (a sugar) and turn it into energy. As a result the body’s

cells starve from the lack of glucose and the blood glucose levels increase. High blood

sugar levels can damage eyes, kidneys, nerves, and the heart, and can also lead to

coma and death. T1D is increasing at an alarming rate in all the world, and there is

presently no therapies to cure or prevent the disease.

Alternative splicing is a process that allows a single gene to produce different proteins.

The genetic information (the biological instructions) is codified inside the genes in the

DNA. This information is transferred to mRNA in a process called transcription. After

transcription, the information within the mRNA is used to produce proteins, the

molecules that will do all the functions that a cell needs to work properly. However,

mRNA can be re-organized in different ways by a cut and join process called

alternative splicing, allowing a gene to produce multiple mRNA variants that will give

rise to different proteins with different functions. Alternative splicing affects many

cellular functions and can contribute to the development of human diseases.


The BETA-SPLICENET project uses in vitro beta cell culture under stress conditions and

RNA-sequencing to identify splicing alternations that contribute to the death or

dysfunction of beta cells during T1D. Hopefully, the discovery of key mRNA splice

variants involved in T1D may lead to the development of new therapies for diabetic

patients.

Possible questions:

The role of insulin in regulating the metabolism of sugars

Diabetes and type 1 diabetes. Pathology, causes and therapies.

The transmission of the genetic information (DNA-RNA-proteins).

Alternative splicing. Regulation, types of alternative splicing, impact on protein

function.

Methodologies for biomedical research. Cell culture, RNA-sequencing.

In French:

Title: Est-ce que vous savez que le diabète affecte plus de 400 millions dans

le monde et ses causes demeurent mal comprises?

Jonàs Juan-Mateu est un biologiste de Majorque, Espagne, qui développe son projet

Marie Curie au Centre for Diabetes Research de l'Université Libre de Bruxelles. Son

projet BETA-SPLICENET se concentre sur le rôle de l’épissage alternatif, un processus

de régulation génétique, dans le développement du diabète de type 1 (DT1).

DT1 est une maladie auto-immune où le système immunitaire attaque les cellules du

pancréas qui produisent l'insuline, les cellules bêta, provoquant leur

dysfonctionnement et leur mort progressive. Les patients avec le DT1produisent peu

ou pas d'insuline, une hormone qui indique aux cellules du corps d’absorber glucose

(sucre) et de le transformer en énergie. En conséquence, les cellules du corps

manquent de l'énergie pour bien fonctionner et le niveau de glucose dans le sang

(glycémie) augmente. Un niveau élevé de glycémie peut endommager les yeux, les

reins, les nerfs et le coeur, et peuvent également conduire au coma et à la mort.

L’incidence de DT1 s'accroît à un rythme alarmant dans le monde entier, et il n'y a

actuellement pas de traitements pour soigner ou prévenir la maladie.

L'épissage alternatif est un processus qui permet à un seul gène de produire des

protéines différentes. L'information génétique (les instructions biologiques) est codifiée

à l'intérieur des gènes dans l'ADN. Cette information est transférée à l'ARNm grâce à

un processus appelé transcription. Après la transcription, l'information au sein de

l'ARNm est utilisé pour produire des protéines, les molécules qui feront toutes les

fonctions qu'une cellule nécessite pour fonctionner correctement. Toutefois, l’ARNm

peut être re-organisés de différentes façons par un processus de coupe et épissure

appelé épissage alternatif, permettant à un gène de produire plusieurs variants de

ARNm qui donneront lieu à différentes protéines avec des fonctions différentes.

L'épissage alternatif affecte de nombreuses fonctions cellulaires et peut contribuer au

développement de la maladie humaine.

Le projet BETA-SPLICENET utilise les cultures in vitro de cellules bêta en conditions de

stress et le séquençage d’ARN pour identifier les modifications d'épissage qui

contribuent à la mort ou le dysfonctionnement des cellules bêta au cours de T1D. La


découverte des principaux variants de mRNA impliqués dans DT1 peut entraîner le

développement de nouvelles thérapies pour les patients diabétiques.


Le rôle de l'insuline dans la régulation du métabolisme des sucres

Le diabète et le diabète de type 1. Pathologie, causes et thérapies.

La transmission de l'information génétique (ADN-ARN-protéines).

L'épissage alternatif. Règlement, types d'épissage alternatif, l'impact sur la

fonction de la protéine.

Les méthodologies pour la recherche biomédicale. Culture cellulaire,

séquençage de l'ARN.

In Spanish:

Title: ¿Sabías que la diabetes afecta a más de 400 millones de personas en

todo el mundo y sus causas siguen sin comprenderse bien?

Jonàs Juan Mateu es un biólogo de Mallorca que desarrolla su proyecto Marie

Skłodowska-Curie en el Centro de Investigación en Diabetes de la Universidad Libre de

Bruselas. Su proyecto BETA-SPLICENET se centra en estudiar el papel del splicing

alternativo, un proceso de regulación genética, en el desarrollo de la diabetes de tipo

1 (DT1).

DT1 es una enfermedad autoinmune en la cual el sistema inmune ataca las células del

páncreas productoras de insulina, las células beta, provocando su mal funcionamiento

y su muerte progresiva. Los pacientes con DT1 producen muy poca o nada insulina,

una hormona que indica a las células del cuerpo cuando tienen que absorber glucosa

(azúcar) y transformarlo en energía. En consecuencia, las células del cuerpo no

disponen de energía para funcionar correctamente y los niveles de azúcar en sangre

aumentan. Un nivel elevado de azúcar en la sangre puede dañar los ojos, los riñones,

los nervios y el corazón, pudiendo inducir al coma y a la muerte. La incidencia de DT1

esta aumentando a un ritmo alarmante en todo el mundo sin que actualmente

dispongamos de tratamientos para prevenir o curar la enfermedad.

El splicing alternativo es un proceso que permite a un gen producir proteínas

diferentes. La información genética (las instrucciones biológicas) está codificada en el

interior de los genes dentro del ADN. Esta información se transfiere al ARNm mediante

un proceso llamado transcripción. Después de la transcripción, la información dentro

del ARNm se utiliza para producir las proteínas, las moléculas encargadas de realizar

todas las funciones que una célula necesita para funcionar correctamente. No

obstante, el ARNm puede ser re-organizado de maneras diferentes mediante un

proceso de corte y empalme llamado splicing alternativo, permitiendo a un solo gen

producir múltiples variantes de ARNm que darán lugar a diferentes proteínas con

funciones diferentes. El splicing alternativo afecta muchas funciones celulares y puede

contribuir al desarrollo de enfermedades humanas.

El proyecto BETA-SPLICENET utiliza el cultivo in vitro de células beta en condiciones

de stress y la secuenciación de ARN para identificar alteraciones de splicing que

contribuyen a la muerte o disfunción de las células beta durante el desarrollo de DT1.


El descubrimiento de las principales variantes de ARNm implicadas en DT1 podría

ayudar a desarrollar nuevas terapias para los pacientes con diabetes.

Algunas preguntas para preparar el encuentro:

• La insulina y su papel en la regulación del metabolismo de la glucosa.

• Diabetes y diabetes de tipo 1. Patología, causa y terapias.

• La transmisión de la información genética (ADN-ARN-proteínas).

• Splicing alternativo. Regulación, tipos de splicing alternativo, impacto sobre la

función proteica.

• Metodologías en la investigación biomédica. Cultivo celular y secuenciación de

ARN.


Researcher: Willeke de Haan

Field: Cardiovascular Sciences

Languages: English, Dutch

In English:

Title: Specialisation of hepatic blood vessels

The inner layer of blood vessels consists of endothelial cells. These cells are very

specialized depending on the vessel type and organ they reside in. In the brain, for

example, endothelial cells form a tight barrier to prevent the entry of toxins, whereas

endothelial cells in the liver facilitate the transport of many different substances to the

hepatocytes. This is important because the liver is crucial in the removal of toxins and

waste products from the body and also important in the uptake and release of utrients

into the blood. Therefore, endothelial cells in the liver contain fenestrae (openings

between the endothelial cells) and they express receptors to take up macromolecules

in the liver parenchyma.

In my project I study how these endothelial cells in the liver acquire their specific

functions. In addition I evaluate how changes in these endothelial cells affect liver

function and development of liver disease. This knowledge may contribute to the

discovery of novel therapeutics to treat liver disease in the future.

In Dutch:

Title: Specialisatie van bloedvaten in the lever

De binnenste laag van onze bloedvaten wordt gevormd door endotheelcellen.

Deze endotheelcellen zijn verschillend in structuur en functie afhankelijk het type

bloedvat en de plaats in het lichaam waar ze zich bevinden. In de hersenen,


bijvoorbeeld, vormen endotheelcellen een barrière om te voorkomen dat schadelijke

stoffen uit het bloed bij de hersencellen kunnen komen, terwijl de endotheelcellen in

de lever juist gespecialiseerd zijn om een grote hoeveelheid verschillende stoffen naar

de levercellen te transporteren. Dit is belangrijk omdat de lever essentieel is in de

afbraak van lichaamseigen afvalproducten, medicijnen en gifstoffen en daarnaast

verantwoordelijk is voor het opnemen en uitscheiden van voedingsstoffen zoals vetten

en glucose in het bloed. In mijn project onderzoek ik hoe endotheelcellen in de lever

zich specialiseren. Daarnaast probeer ik erachter te komen hoe veranderingen in de

specifieke functie van deze endotheelcellen kunnen leiden tot het ontstaan van

leverziekten. Uiteindelijk zou deze kennis bij kunnen dragen tot het vinden van nieuwe

manieren om leverziektes te behandelen.


Researcher: Gwendolyn Bailey

Field: Sustainable Materials


In English:

Title: How can we make electric vehicles (EVs) more environmentally

friendly?

Contrary to popular belief, the electric vehicle may be more damaging to the

environment than initially perceived. This is because they are powered by electricity

from a grid which has still not been decarburized, and they contain rare earth

permanent magnets such as neodymium iron boron. Neodymium is a rare earth

element which is considered to be at a global supply risk. China produces 97 % of the

worlds rare earth supply. In order to retain some of the magnetic materials that exist

in EVs already in Europe, we have developed new recycling and reuse routes for these

permanent magnet EV motors to decrease the risk of complete reliance on China.

However the price of rare earth elements is lowering and therefore government

intervention and/or price influence is necessary to establish a recycling and collection

system. Therefore the monetary impact of each recycling solution is evaluated in our

study. Our Marie Skłodowska-Curie project will answer the questions: are EVs and

their strong magnetic materials in fact environmentally friendly and are they

economically feasible?

Possible Questions/related issues:

- How do EVs contribute to sustainability? Can you name other examples of

sustainable technologies?

- What is sustainability?

- The importance of rare earth permanent magnets in our society.

- How does an EV motor work?

- Brainstorm ways to meet the objective of becoming independent of Chinese

sourced rare earth magnets in other ways?

- Is it important for the clean tech industry to be ‘clean’?


In French:

Titre: Comment rendre les voitures électriques plus durables?

Contrairement aux idées reçues, l’impact de la voiture électrique sur l’environnement

est bien plus négatif que positif. L’électricité utilisée provient du réseau électrique qui

est lui-même généralement approvisionné par des sources d’énergies fossiles. De plus,

les voitures électriques contiennent des aimants permanents conçus à partir de terres

rares, notamment du néodyme, du fer et du bore. L’utilisation durable du néodyme est

considéré comme un risque majeur, car, avec près de 97% de la production mondiale,

la Chine possède le monopole de l’approvisionnement.

Nous développons actuellement de nouvelles voies de recyclages et de réutilisation

des moteurs électriques afin de préserver les matériaux magnétiques déjà utilisés à

l’heure actuelle dans les véhicules électriques en Europe et ainsi réduire la

dépendance vis-à-vis de la Chine.

Cependant, avec la baisse des prix des terres rares, il est devenu nécessaire de mettre

en place des régulations gouvernementales et/ou financières afin d’assurer la création

de filières de recyclages. C’est dans ce contexte que notre étude s’attelle à évaluer les

possibles leviers économiques (à disposition).

Notre projet Marie Skłodowska-Curie répond ainsi à la problématique suivante :

L’utilisation de voitures électriques, et notamment de leurs composants chimiques,

est-elle respectueuse de l’environnement et durable ?

Quelques questions à se poser avant la visite:

Comment les voitures électriques contribuent au développement durable ?

Autres exemples des technologies durables ?

Que signifie le développement durable ?

Les terres rares sont-elles importantes ?

Comment le moteur d’une voiture électrique fonctionne-t-il ?

Existe-t-il d'autres moyens pour réduire notre dépendance par rapport à la

Chine concernant les matériaux magnétiques ?

Est-ce important qu'une technologie durable reste ‘durable’ ?


Researcher: Dr. Karl J. Duffy

Field: Population Ecology

Language: English only

In English

Title: How do we know whether populations of wild species will go extinct?

Extinction of animal and plant populations is becoming more frequent. This is mainly

because humans are having an increasing effect on the natural environment. Yet, we

directly depend on plant and animals for food and clothes, so we need to know how

wild populations will respond to a rapidly changing environment. Plant and animals

normally have a particular range of environmental conditions in which they can

survive, and they often interact with other organisms in ways that are not immediately

obvious. In order to predict how humans affect the natural environment, we need to

measure these environmental conditions to better understand why species occur

where they do. Using the example of plants and their mutualists, I will explain how

scientists try to understand the ecology of natural populations in changing

environments, what the threats are facing natural populations, and what we can do to

prevent future extinction of wildlife.


Researcher: Enriqueta Alós

Field: Improvement of fruit nutritional quality

Languages: English

In English:

Title: Increasing nutritional content of apples: “an apple a day keeps the

doctor away”

The saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ accurately summarises that apples

are full of healthy compounds. Ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C, is one of them

and it is particularly interesting because it acts both as a vitamin and as an

antioxidant. Vitamin C is not only crucial for humans nutrition, but can also improve

the storability of the apples, hence, considering the importance of this compound in

apples our research aims to discover the main factors that regulate its concentration.

By knowing which are the key regulators of vitamin C variation in apple fruits, in the

future we will be able to breed and select apple varieties with higher vitamin C

contents. Our studies aim i) to identify master regulators of vitamin C metabolism ii)

to find gene sequences that are tightly associated to the differences in vitamin C

content and iii) to identify DNA properties, apart from the genetic sequence, that are

key for the vitamin C content.

Questions to discuss:

- Why do humans need vitamin C to survive?

- Which fruits and vegetables have more vitamin C than others?

- How can we improve the vitamin content in fruits?


Researcher: Dimitris Gakis

Field: Philosophy

Languages: English, Greek

In English:

Title: Philosophy, Language, Politics, and Wittgenstein

My name is Dimitris Gakis and I am currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie post-doctoral

fellow at the Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven. During my bachelor studies in

Computer Science I developed a strong research interest in language. That interest led

me to study Language Technology at a master’s level, where I was exposed to

philosophy of language and logic. In this way, my long standing side-interest in

(mainly political) philosophy came to meet my fascination by language as a human

phenomenon, being particularly intrigued by the works of one of the most important

20th century philosophers, Ludwig Wittgenstein. By the completion of my master

studies I had decided that philosophical research was what I wanted to do from that

point on. So, I started and completed a PhD in Philosophy at the University of

Amsterdam, investigating the relation between Wittgenstein’s life and thought and

their broader (intellectual, cultural, political, social, historical) context. After the

completion of my PhD, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship gave me the

opportunity to expand my line of research, focusing this time on the relevance of

Wittgenstein’s philosophy for contemporary political theory.

While Wittgenstein is occupied with various themes in his philosophical writings

(ontology, language, logic, psychology, epistemology, mathematics), discussions of

issues of an explicit political nature are almost completely absent. Nevertheless, his

work, and especially its later phase, constitutes a significant source of inspiration and

influence for contemporary political theory. My research addresses this apparent

discrepancy by, first, highlighting the political aspects of Wittgenstein’s philosophy

and, second, examining the exact nature of Wittgenstein’s influence on particular

political thinkers. The main goal of my research is to enrich political reflection, which


in times of (financial, ecological, geopolitical) crisis like ours is as vital as ever, by

providing it with a distinctive Wittgensteinian direction.

Possible questions:

- Why did you decide to start doing research after your university degree?

- How have you picked up your research field and themes? Why?

- What do you like most about doing research? What are the difficulties?

- What does a philosophy researcher do on a day-to-day basis?

- What is philosophy’s value, role, and place in 21st century?

- What are Wittgenstein’s most important ideas?

- What exactly is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship? How does it work?

- How did you find out about this Fellowship?

- Why did you move abroad? Did you choose the country?

- How many languages do you speak?

In Greek:

Τίτλος: Φιλοσοφία, Γλώσσα, Πολιτική, και Wittgenstein

Το όνομά μου είναι Δημήτρης Γάκης και είμαι μεταδιδακτορικός υπότροφος Marie

Skłodowska-Curie στο Ινστιτούτο Φιλοσοφίας του KU Leuven. Κατά τη διάρκεια των

προπτυχιακών μου σπουδών πάνω στην Επιστήμη Υπολογιστών ανέπτυξα ένα ισχυρό

ερευνητικό ενδιαφέρον για τη γλώσσα. Το ενδιαφέρον αυτό με οδήγησε στο να

σπουδάσω Γλωσσική Τεχνολογία σε μεταπτυχιακό επίπεδο, όπου και ήρθα σε επαφή με

τη φιλοσοφία της γλώσσας και τη λογική. Κατά αυτόν τον τρόπο, το μακροχρόνιο

παράλληλο ενδιαφέρον μου για την (κυρίως πολιτική) φιλοσοφία συναντήθηκε με το

ενθουσιώδες ενδιαφέρον μου για τη γλώσσα ως ανθρώπινο φαινόμενο,

παρακινούμενος ιδιαίτερα από το έργο ενός από τους σημαντικότερους φιλοσόφους του

20ου αιώνα, του Ludwig Wittgenstein. Με την ολοκλήρωση των μεταπτυχιακών μου

σπουδών είχα αποφασίσει πως η φιλοσοφική έρευνα ήταν αυτό με το οποίο ήθελα να

ασχοληθώ από εκείνο το σημείο και ύστερα. Έτσι, ξεκίνησα και ολοκλήρωσα ένα

διδακτορικό στη φιλοσοφία στο Πανεπιστήμιο του Άμστερνταμ, εξετάζοντας τη σχέση

μεταξύ του έργου και της ζωής του Wittgenstein και του ευρύτερου (πνευματικού,

καλλιτεχνικού, πολιτικού, κοινωνικού, ιστορικού) πλαισίου τους. Μετά την ολοκλήρωση

του διδακτορικού μου, η υποτροφία Marie Skłodowska-Curie μου προσέφερε την

ευκαιρία να επεκτείνω το πεδίο της έρευνάς μου, εστιάζοντας αυτήν τη φορά πάνω στη

σημασία της φιλοσοφίας του Wittgenstein για τη σύγχρονη πολιτική θεωρία.

Ενώ ο Wittgenstein καταπιάνεται με διάφορα θέματα στα φιλοσοφικά του γραπτά

(οντολογία, γλώσσα, λογική, ψυχολογία, επιστημολογία, μαθηματικά), οι συζητήσεις

θεμάτων ρητής πολιτικής φύσης απουσιάζουν σχεδόν παντελώς. Μολαταύτα, το έργο

του, και ιδιαίτερα η ύστερη φάση του, συνιστά σημαντική πηγή έμπνευσης και επιρροής

για τη σύγχρονη πολιτική θεωρία. Η έρευνά μου εξετάζει αυτή τη φαινομενική

αναντιστοιχία μέσω, πρώτον, της ανάδειξης των πολιτικών πτυχών της φιλοσοφίας του

Wittgenstein, και, δεύτερον, της διερεύνησης της ακριβούς φύσης της επιρροής του

πάνω σε συγκεκριμένους πολιτικούς στοχαστές. Ο βασικός στόχος της έρευνάς μου

είναι να εμπλουτίσει τον πολιτικό στοχασμό, ο οποίος σε καιρούς (οικονομικής,

οικολογικής, γεωπολιτικής) κρίσης όπως οι δικοί μας είναι ζωτικής σημασίας όσο ποτέ,

παρέχοντάς του μια διακριτή βιττγκενσταϊνική κατεύθυνση.

Πιθανές ερωτήσεις:

- Γιατί αποφάσισες να ασχοληθείς με την έρευνα μετά την ολοκλήρωση των σπουδών

σου;


- Πώς επέλεξες τα ερευνητικά σου πεδία και θέματα και γιατί;

- Τι σου αρέσει περισσότερο στην έρευνα; Ποιες είναι οι δυσκολίες;

- Τι κάνει ένας ερευνητής της φιλοσοφίας σε καθημερινή βάση;

- Ποια είναι η αξία, ο ρόλος, και η θέση της φιλοσοφίας στον 21ο αιώνα;

- Ποιες είναι οι πιο σημαντικές ιδέες του Wittgenstein;

- Τι ακριβώς είναι η υποτροφία Marie Skłodowska-Curie; Πώς λειτουργεί;

- Πώς έμαθες για αυτήν την υποτροφία;

- Γιατί μετακόμισες στο εξωτερικό; Επέλεξες εσύ τη χώρα;

- Πόσες γλώσσες μιλάς;


Researcher: Elise Kalokerinos

Field: Psychology

Language: English (native speaker)

In English:

Title: How to deal with how you feel: Understanding and training context-

dependent emotion regulation

People deal with their emotions in lots of different ways, for example, by distracting

themselves, looking for the positives in a situation, or hiding how they feel from other

people. Lots of research has demonstrated that how we deal with our emotions is

really important to our mental health. However, most of this research tends to

categorize ways of dealing with emotion as being “good” or “bad”. In my research, I

have people answer questions about their emotions and the situations that they are in

on smartphones multiple times a day across two weeks. In my research, I show that

some “bad” ways of dealing with emotions are actually helpful in certain situations,

some “good” ways of dealing with emotions can be harmful in certain situations.


Researcher: Carmen Mirabelli

Field: Virology

Language: English, French, Italian

Viruses WWW- What are viruses? Who works with viruses? Why working with

viruses?

Virus are particles which defy all sort of definitions. They are in between life and non-

life because only when viruses parasite a cell, they become able to make copies of

themselves by using the energy and the structure of the cell. We therefore use to

know viruses as invaders who exploit and challenge our cells and our immune system

and ultimately make us sick. However, this is not completely true! There are several

viruses which live naturally in the body and their invasion is not correlated with an

infection.

Actually, given the importance of host cells, it is pointless for viruses to destroy their

only source of `life`. Indeed, what we consider infection is the result of the virus

invasion but also the response of our body.

The job of virologists, the people like me, who work with viruses is indeed to

understand how the virus interact with our body and what are the causes of an

infection. To study viruses, we need a model of infection. We can use simple or

complex systems. The simple ones are important to understand the mechanistic things

(how the virus gets into the cells, how it replicates), the complex one are more

important to study the effect of the infection on the organism. For this, we use animal

model like worms, fishes, mice or also people who volunteer in participating in

scientific studies. Our simple models of infection are cells that we culture in plastic

bottles and we can observe with a microscope or analyse with other machines during

the infection. Unfortunately, we don’t have cells for all the viral infection. I am

currently working on a type of common cold virus, the rhinovirus C, which cannot be


cultured. In this case we need to push harder the research because without a model of

infection, we cannot identify the virus in people who are infected, study the virus and

find the weaknesses of the virus. With this approach, we try to develop therapies,

mainly antivirals and vaccines. Antivirals target the virus or the host cell to block one

or multiple step of viral cycle: the entry, the replication, the assembly of the viruses,

etc. Vaccines act on the host immune system.

By doing research every day, we do not study to have a good note (like at school) but

to try to push the boundary of knowledge, solve problems and ultimately save lives.

We are therefore kind of super-heroes; we work in the shadow like Batman but the

impact of our discoveries really make the difference in the everyday life of each

people.

In French:

Title: Virus www: quoi-qui-pour quoi

Les viruses sont des particules qui défient toutes sortes de définition. Ils se placent

aux limites entre vie et non-vie car seulement quand ils parasitent une cellule, ils

acquièrent la capabilité de se multiplier tout en utilisant l`énergie et les structures de

la cellule hôte. On connait pourtant les viruses comme des conquéreurs qui en

exploitant nos systèmes, cellulaire et immunitaire, nous rendent malades. En fait, ce

concept nèst pas vraiment exacte ! Il y a dans notre organisme plein de viruses qui

vient normalement dans notre organisme et leur invasion nèst pas du tout corrélé a`

une infection. Vu lìmportance de la cellule hôte, cèst au fait contreproductive pour

le virus de détruire sa seule source de vie. Par conséquence, lìnfection est le résultat

de lìnfection et de la reponse qui monte notre organisme.

Le job des virologues, les gens comme moi qui étudient les virus, est de comprendre

comment le virus interagit avec lòrganisme et comment cette interaction parfois

génères des symptômes et une infection. Pour étudier les virus, on utilise des

systèmes : simples ou complexes.

Les systèmes simples nous servent pour comprendre les mécanismes (lèntrée des

viruses dans la cellule, sa réplication), les complexes sont important pour étudier

lèffet de lìnfection sur un organisme. Pour cela, on se sert des modèles animaux,

nématodes, poissons, souris, ou des gens qui volontairement participent à des études.

Nos modèles simples dìnfection sont au contraire des cellules maintenues dans des

bouteilles en plastique quòn infecte et observes avec des microscopes ou des autres

machines. Malheureusement, on ne possède pas des cellules pour tous les types de

virus. Par exemple, maintenant je travaille avec un type de virus du rhume qui ne

peut pas être cultive` et par conséquence, étudié. Dans ce cas, il faut pousser la

recherche encore plus car, sans un modèle dìnfection, il est impossible de détecter le

virus dans des personnes infectées, étudier le virus et au final comprendre ses

faiblesses. On essaye avec cette approche pour développer des thérapies : antivirales

et vaccines. Les antiviraux ciblent le virus même oh là cellule hote, les vaccines

agissent sur le système immunitaire de l`hôte.

A travers la recherche, tous les jours nous essayons de pousser les limites de la

connaissance, résoudre des problèmes et au final, sauver des vies. On est des

superhéros qui travailles dans lòbscurité et l'anonymat comme Batman mais qui

peuvent avec ses découvertes avoir un impact considérable dans la vie de toutes les

gens.

In Italian:

Title: Virus WWW: cosa-chi-perché


I virus sono particelle difficilmente categorizzabili e definibili. Oscillano infatti tra vita e

non-vita in quanto da soli non sono capaci di espletare alcuna funzione biologica ma

quando parassitano una cellula possono sfruttare la sua energia e le sue strutture per

moltiplicarsi.

I virus sono quindi considerati come degli invasori che usano i nostri sistemi e ci

rendono malati. Tuttavia, questo concetto non é del tutto esatto. Esistono nel nostro

organismo tanti virus la cui invasione non equivale a una infezione. E se ci si pensa,

non vi é alcun interesse da parte del virus di distruggere la sua sola fonte di vita (che

sia una cellula o un organismo). Per cui è corretto piuttosto pensare che l'infezione sia

il risultato combinato di infezione e la risposta dell'organismo all'infezione!

Il lavoro del virologo, di chi, come me, studia i virus è di capire come i virus possano

interagire con l'organismo e come questa interazione possa tradursi in sintomi e

infezione.

Per studiare i virus, possiamo utilizzare modelli semplici o complessi. I primi

permettono di capire i meccanismi di invasione virale (l'ingresso dei virus nella cellula,

la replicazione virale), i secondi l'effetto dell'infezione su un organismo. Come modelli

complessi, usiamo modelli animali come nematodi, pesci, moscerini, topi o anche

uomini che volontariamente decidono di sottoporsi a studi clinici.

I nostri modelli semplici sono invece delle cellule mantenute in cultura in supporti

plastici, la cui infezione con virus può essere seguita con microscopi e altri macchinari.

Sfortunatamente, non abbiamo un modello cellulare per ogni infezione virale. In

questo momento, ad esempio, sto lavorando su l'infezione del virus del raffreddore

(Rhinovirus) di tipo C per il quale non si dispone di un modello di infezione semplice e

che, di conseguenza, é molto difficile studiare. In questo caso, bisogna investire molto

di più nella ricerca in quanto l'assenza di un modello incide sulla capacità di diagnosi,

di studio e di sviluppo di terapie.

Lo scopo ultimo, infatti, dello studio é di individuare punti deboli del virus e elaborare

strategie terapeutiche: molecole antivirali o vaccini. Le prime agiscono a livello

cellulare, i vaccini a livello sistemico.

A traverso la ricerca, cerchiamo ogni giorno di spingere i confini della conoscenza un

po' più in là, risolvere i problemi per poter alla fine salvare delle vite. I ricercatori sono

dei piccoli supereroi che lavorano nell'ombra, a volte nell'anonimato, proprio come

Batman ma che, grazie alle loro scoperte, posso avere un impatto considerevole sulla

vita della gente.


Researcher: Niels van Duijkeren

Field: Control of Robotic Systems

Language: English and Dutch

In English:

Title: “Research in mechatronics, advanced play with mechanics, electronics

and computers.”

You can’t escape from it. news item about remote controlled quadrocopters (a type of

drone), built by hobbyists in their homes. Spectacular race tracks are constructed to

host drone races to find the fastest pilot. The most remarkable thing about this

phenomenon is that it is not just for the die-hard enthusiast, for a few hundred Euros

one can purchase the required parts or a complete kit. And the automatic control

systems, implemented on small microcomputers, accommodate that almost anyone

can fly them. The hobby-pilot provides the desired flying direction. The

microcomputers compute blazing fast how fast each motor should run and adapts its

decision automatically in case of side wind. How to exactly determine the best steering

signal is a typical example of a research in question in systems & control.

Drones are just one example where control systems are prominently present. Self-

driving cars use controllers as well, to automatically plan safe trajectories and for

robots in factories a questions remains is how to utilize powerful computers to execute

tasks fast and energy efficient.

Possible questions to prepare:


To control a steam engine, James Watt applied a concept by Leonardo Da Vince: the

centrifugal regulator.

A valve in the supply of steam is manipulated by a fast rotating mechanism. You can

find an image of such a regulator below. Explain how you think it works.

Think of five examples from daily life where control systems play an important role.

• An important goal of a regulator is disturbance rejection. Say that we want to keep

the quadrocopter still at a certain position, an unforeseen wind gust appears. Think of

a way how we can let the quadrocopter correct for this disturbance and return to its

desired position. Hint: every regulator requires measurements (using sensors). Which

sensors would you use and how would you use them.

• Controller design often happens through mathematical optimization. An example of

an optimization problem is how to find the fastest path from one point to another on

the map, like in a navigation system. Think of an efficient way to obtain the shortest

path. Hint: how can you exclude many paths very quickly (think of intersections)?

In Dutch:

Title: “Onderzoek in de mechatronica, knutselen op niveau met mechanica,

electronica en computers.”

Je kunt er haast niet meer omheen. Op het nieuws zie je berichten voorbij komen over

mensen die met een zelfgebouwde, op afstand bestuurbare quadrocopter (een type

drone) rondvliegen. Op spectaculaire circuits worden zelfs al races georganiseerd om

te zien wie het snelst is. Het meest opvallende aan dit nieuwe fenomeen is dat het niet

meer enkel voor de die-hard hobbyisten is weggelegd. Voor een paar honderd euro

bestel je de onderdelen of een bouwpakket. Het automatische regelsysteem, dat

geïmplementeerd is op kleine microcomputers, zorgt ervoor dat de quadrocopter voor

iedereen makkelijk te besturen is. De hobby-piloot geeft met de afstandbediening aan

waar de drone naartoe moet vliegen. De microcomputer rekent razendsnel snel uit hoe

elke motor hiervoor aangestuurd moet worden en past zich automatisch aan in het


geval van zijwind. Hoe we precies het beste stuursignaal naar de motoren berekenen,

is een typische onderzoeksvraag in de systeem & regeltechniek.

Drones zijn één voorbeeld waar regeltechniek prominent aanwezig is. Ook in

zelfrijdende auto’s wordt door regelaars automatisch een veilige weg gepland en bij

robots in fabrieken is de vraag hoe we krachtige computers kunnen inzetten om taken

snel en energiezuinig uit te voeren. Mogelijke vragen om voor te bereiden:

Om een stoommachine in bedwang te houden paste James Watt een concept van

Leonardo Da Vinci toe: de centrifugaalregelaar. Deze vinding was cruciaal voor de

industriële revolutie. De klep voor de toevoer van stoom wordt bediend door een snel

ronddraaiend mechanisme.

Hieronder zie je een afbeelding van deze regelaar. Leg uit hoe jij denkt dat deze

werkt.

Bedenk een vijftal toepassingen waarvan jij denkt dat regeltechniek een rol speelt in

het dagelijks leven.

• Een belangrijk doel van een regelaar is verstoringen weg te werken. Stel dat we de

quadrocopter stil willen laten hangen op één bepaalde plek, maar er komt een

onvoorziene windvlaag.

Bedenk hoe we ervoor kunnen zorgen dat de quadrocopter zich automatisch

corrigeert. Tip: zonder metingen (middels sensoren) geen regelaar. Welke sensoren

zou jij gebruiken en hoe zou je deze gebruiken?

• Een regelaar wordt typisch ontworpen met behulp van wiskunde optimalisatie. Een

voorbeeld is hoe we de snelste weg vinden van één punt op de kaart naar een ander

punt, zoals op een navigatiesysteem. Bedenk hoe jij efficiënt een computer zou

gebruiken om de kortste weg te vinden. Tip: hoe kun je veel paden uitsluiten (denk

aan de rol van kruispunten)?


Researcher: GM Velpula

Field: Nanochemistry

Language: English

In English:

Title: Impact of Nanoscience and technology on Future Energy Devices

Developing an environmentally clean and practical technology for producing renewable

energy from natural resources, such as sunlight, rain and wind is the challenging job

to the scientists. Among these, solar energy has received a great attention because as

long as sun rises, the Earth will have a sustainable source of energy. Colleting this

complete energy source has been a dream of mankind for thousands of years. Variety

of instruments (devices) have been developed for collecting this energy. However,

today’s devices are unable to convert complete sun light into electricity. One of the

main reasons is lack of complete understanding of basic structure (nanostructure) of

the devices. It is believed that the arrangement of chemical molecules in the

nanostructure define the performance of the devices. Therefore, to know the

arrangement of the molecules in the nanostructure, advanced techniques are required.

Scanning probe microscopy, especially, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) emerged

as a powerful tool not only to visualize the surface pattern but also to control atoms

and molecules on surfaces. The direct visualization of molecules by STM of a structure

serves the better understanding of the organization of the molecules on surfaces,

which is of relevance for the construction of high performance molecular devices.

Figure 1: STM image with molecular resolution showing arrangement of both the

molecules at the heptanoic acid/graphite interface.


Researcher: Christine Vos

Field: Biology, Agriculture, Plant Science, Microbiology,Plant diseases; Biological

control

Language: Dutch, English, French

In English:

Title: SOS Agriculture: How to protect plants against disease in a sustainable

way

Plants in fields and greenhouses, such as potato and tomato, continuously suffer from

attacks by a large range of enemies. Insects, fungi, bacteria and viruses can damage,

weaken or even kill large amounts of plants very fast. This is dangerous for our food

production. It is thus very important to protect plants against such attackers.

Traditionally in our agriculture this is done by spraying chemical pesticides. However

some of these pesticides have negative effects on us and on the environment. So we

urgently need to look for other solutions that are more sustainable. That is what my

research is all about. I am investigating whether we can protect plants against the bad

microbes by using good microbes or biocontrol organisms. In my work I try to

discover promising biocontrol organisms and then to understand the strategy they use

to protect a plant, so we can use them in the best possible way in agriculture. Of

course I do not do all of this work only by myself. I collaborate with other researchers

and companies from all over the world, which makes this a very exciting international

job that is also giving me the chance to do my bit in making this world a better place.


Possible questions:

- Have you ever seen a sick plant? Do you know any plant diseases?

- What can cause plant disease?

- How important do you think plant diseases are for our food production? The teacher

could give the famous example of the Great Famine in Ireland in the 19th century

caused by a potato disease

- How do you think plant diseases are treated nowadays?

- Have you already heard about biological control is? Do you know any examples?

In Dutch:

Titel: SOS landbouw: Hoe planten te beschermen tegen ziekte op een

duurzame manier

Planten in het veld of in de serre, zoals aardappelen en tomaten, worden voortdurend

aangevallen door allerlei vijanden. Insecten, schimmels, bacteriën en virussen kunnen

allemaal heel snel een plant aantasten, verzwakken of zelfs afdoden. Dit is gevaarlijk

voor onze voedselproductie. Het is dus erg belangrijk dat we planten beschermen

tegen ziektes. Traditioneel wordt dit in onze landbouw vooral gedaan door het

bespuiten met chemische pesticiden. Helaas zijn er verschillende pesticiden die

negatieve effecten kunnen hebben op ons en op onze omgeving. Daarom moeten we

dringend op zoek naar andere oplossingen die duurzamer en milieuvriendelijker zijn.

Dat is waar mijn werk helemaal om draait. Ik onderzoek of we planten kunnen

beschermen tegen kwaadaardige microben door het gebruik van goedaardige

microben of biocontrole-organismen. Hierbij probeer ik nieuwe veelbelovende

biocontrole-organismen te ontdekken, en dan te begrijpen welke strategie zij

gebruiken om de plant te beschermen, zodat we ze op de meest optimale manier

kunnen inzetten in onze landbouw. Natuurlijk doe ik al dit werk niet alleen: ik werk

samen met collega-onderzoekers en bedrijven overal ter wereld. Dit alles maakt dat ik

een erg opwindende en internationale job heb, die me ook nog eens toelaat om mijn

steentje bij te dragen aan de bouw van een betere wereld.

Voorbeeldvragen die de leerkracht kan stellen ter voorbereiding van de sessie:

- Heb je al eens een zieke plant gezien? Ken je een plantenziekte?

- Hoe kan plantenziekte veroorzaakt worden?

- Welke impact denk je dat plantenziekten kunnen hebben op onze voedselproductie?

De leerkracht kan eventueel het erg bekende voorbeeld geven van de Ierse Grote

Hongersnood in de 19de eeuw veroorzaakt door de aardappelziekte.

- Hoe denk je dat plantenziekten tegenwoordig worden behandeld in onze landbouw?

- Heb je al eens van biologische controle gehoord? Ken je er voorbeelden van?


In French:

Titre: SOS agriculture: Comment protéger nos plantes contre les maladies

d’une façon durable

Les plantes de plein champ ou de serre, comme les pommes de terre et les tomates,

sont sans cesse attaquées par des ennemies. Des insectes, champignons, bactéries et

virus peuvent tous très vite les endommager, affaiblir ou même tuer. C’est une

situation dangereuse pour notre sécurité alimentaire et c’est donc très important que

l’on protège les plantes contre les maladies. Traditionnellement dans notre agriculture

on traite les plantes avec des pesticides chimiques. Malheureusement ils existent

plusieurs pesticides dont l’usage entraîne des conséquences négatives pour nous et

pour notre environnement. Il est donc urgent que l’on trouve d’autres solutions plus

durables. Voilà le thème central de mon travail. J’examine si l’on peut protéger les

plantes contre les microbes nocifs en utilisant des microbes bénéfiques, nommés des

organismes de biocontrôle. J’essaie de découvrir des nouveaux organismes de

biocontrôle prometteurs, et ensuite de comprendre quelle stratégie ils utilisent pour

protéger les plantes, pour que l’on puisse les appliquer d’une façon optimale dans

notre agriculture. Bien entendu je ne fais pas tout ce travail que par moi-même : je

collabore avec d’autres chercheurs et entreprises partout dans le monde. Tout cela fait

que mon travail est international et très excitant, et en plus il me permet de

contribuer modestement à la construction d’un meilleur monde.

Des exemples de questions que le professeur peut poser en préparation de la session:

- Avez-vous déjà vu une plante malade? Connaissez-vous des maladies de plantes ?

- Qu’est-ce qui peut causer une maladie chez les plantes ?

- Quel est l’impact des maladies des plantes sur notre production d’aliments ? Le

professeur peut donner l’exemple connu de la Grande Famine en Irlande au 19ième

siècle, causé par une maladie affectant les pommes de terre.

- Comment les maladies des plantes sont traitées dans notre agriculture ?

- Avez-vous déjà entendu parler de contrôle biologique ? Pouvez-vous donner des

exemples ?


Researcher: Mouna Abdesselem

Field: Biophysics, Cardiology

Languages: English, French

In English:

Title: How can you mend a broken heart*?

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death in Europe and in the world.

Because of their prevalence in aging population, cardiovascular diseases are an

important public health issue. After a heart attack (myocardial infarction), part of the

cardiac tissue has died. Around the injury, the remaining live cells will grow and adapt,

but the heart is unable to heal fully. Overall, the heart pump function is weakened

and the beating rhythm is deadly disturbed.

The heart function results from a remarkable coordination between processes

happening at different scales: from the full organ to very small regions inside the cells

no larger than a few micron wide. During disease, these very small regions are

dramatically disturbed, affecting the cardiac cells contraction. My project focuses on

understanding how these regions can handle chemical messengers that are essential

for the good function of the heart. My work will provide an original insight in heart

remodeling and may pave the way for developing novel treatments.

*It’s the title of an old song, check it out if you’re curious!

Possible questions:


- What is the heart for?

- What happens during a heart attack? And after?

- How does a heart cell look like?

- How can we observe heart cells and their activity?

- How did you become a scientist?

- What do like the most in your job? / What do you dislike the most?

- I do not like sciences! Shall I work for research?

In French:

Titre : Un cœur blessé, est-ce que ça se répare ?

Les maladies cardiovasculaires sont les principales causes de décès en Europe et dans

le monde. En raison de leur prévalence dans la population âgée, les maladies

cardiovasculaires constituent un problème de santé publique important. Après une

crise cardiaque (infarctus du myocarde), une partie du tissu cardiaque meurt. Autour

de la blessure, les cellules survivantes vont grandir et s'adapter, mais le cœur est

incapable de guérir complètement. Dans l'ensemble, la fonction de pompe cardiaque

est affaiblie et le rythme de battement est gravement perturbé.

La fonction cardiaque résulte d'une coordination remarquable entre des processus se

déroulant à différentes échelles: de l'organe complet à de très petites régions à

l'intérieur des cellules, ne dépassant pas quelques microns de large. Pendant la

maladie, ces très petites régions sont considérablement perturbées, affectant la

contraction des cellules cardiaques. Mon projet vise à comprendre comment ces

régions peuvent gérer les messagers chimiques essentiels au bon fonctionnement du

cœur. Mon travail apportera une vision originale du remodelage cardiaque et pourrait

ouvrir la voie au développement de nouveaux traitements pharmaceutiques.

Des exemples de questions que le professeur peut poser en préparation de la session:

- A quoi sert le cœur ?

- Qu’est-ce qui se passe pendant une attaque cardiaque ? Et après ?

- A quoi ressemble une cellule du cœur ?

- Comment observer les cellules du cœur et leur activité ?

- Comment êtes-vous devenue scientifique ?

- Qu’est-ce qui vous plaît le plus dans votre métier ? Qu’est-ce qui vous déplaît ?

- Je n’aime pas les sciences ! Est-ce que je devrais faire de la recherche ?


Researcher: Gangamallaiah Velpula

Field: chemistry

Language: English

Title: Exploring the Interface Between Ionic Liquids and Graphene:

Elucidating Structure and Electronic Properties

In English:

GRAPHIL aims at generating a detailed picture of the lateral nanostructure of the ionic

liquid (IL)-graphene interface. A special focus will be given to the understanding of the

IL-graphene interactions that generate the interfacial structure and to the influence of

IL on graphene electronic structure. This understanding will greatly benefit the

research on IL/graphene based energy storage devices. State-of-the-art amplitude-

modulated atomic force microscopy (AM-AFM) will be employed to visualize the lateral

arrangement of cations and anions for a series of ionic liquids in order to establish the

correlation between the constituent ions and the interfacial structure of IL on

graphene. Raman spectroscopy will be used to establish the dependence of IL

structure on the electronic structure of graphene.


Researcher: David Soto

Field: biology, environment

Language: English, Spanish

Title: Aquatic-terrestrial linkages in Afrotropical lakes and rivers using stable

hydrogen isotopes

In English:

Understanding ecological functioning of large aquatic ecosystems provides an essential

framework for conservation and management of aquatic resources. The degree to

which aquatic and terrestrial primary production fuel Afrotropical aquatic food webs

remains poorly understood, since quantifying the relative contributions of these

resources is methodologically challenging. Recently, the promising use of stable

hydrogen isotope ratios has gained attention to complement other isotope tracers for

aquatic food webs due to their greater power of separation between aquatic and

terrestrial subsidies. The aims of this research are to quantify to which extent aquatic

communities in the Congo River basin and L. Edward depend on aquatic and terrestrial

primary production using a multiple tracer approach during different hydrological

conditions, and over different temporal scales (recent versus historical, using

museum-archived specimens). This proposal will link terrestrial inputs to invertebrate


and fish productivity in the Congo River basin and Lake Edward to understand their

ecosystem functioning. The information obtained through this project will be of direct

relevance for the conservation and management of important goods and services

offered by these ecosystems (i.e. fisheries).

Researcher: Mirko Sinico

Field: manufacturing, chemistry

Language: English

Title: PAM2 - Precision Additive Metal Manufacturing

In English:

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a fast-growing sector with the ability to evoke a

revolution in manufacturing due to its almost unlimited design freedom and its

capability to produce personalised parts locally and with efficient material use. AM

companies however still face technological challenges such as limited precision due to

shrinkage and build-in stresses and limited process stability and robustness. Moreover

often post-processing is needed due to the high roughness and remaining porosity. In


addition qualified, trained personnel is hard to find. This project addresses both the

technological and people challenges.

My topic in PAM2: Develop design guidelines for Precision AM based on scientific

understanding

The overall objective of PAM2 is to ensure the availability of high precision metal

Additive Manufacturing (AM i.e. 3D printing) processes and (computational) design

procedures. Consistently producing accurate parts by Additive Manufacturing can only

be achieved if the part’s design is well-tailored to specific capabilities of AM.

Nevertheless, little research has been dedicated to the development of “design for

additive manufacturing” rules for industrial components. Within this MSCA project,

e.g. minimum producible dimensions (of holes and ridges) will be investigated, as well

as develop a procedure to define the optimal support structure needed to avoid

overheating during the process and extreme down-facing roughness. Moreover, final

part dimensions will be compared to design specifications in order to define correction

algorithms for first-time-right processing. The influences of the AM machine and

settings, the processed material, and the geometry all contribute to the challenge,

which will be addressed both experimentally as well as through the validation and

tuning of AM process modelling.


Researcher: Maria Livia Sassano

Field: chemistry

Language: English

In English: Title: Endoplasmic Reticulum and mitochondria; two organelles in need of

contacts

My project aims at defining the possible role of the interaction between two

Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) proteins, PERK and E-Syt1, at the interface between ER

and mitochondria. This region represents one of the most important intra-cellular

contact sites between organelles, and it consists of the close juxtaposition between ER

and mitochondria, also called mitochondria-associated membranes (MAMs). The

formation of these tight communications between ER and mitochondria is fundamental

to co-regulate different organellar functions, such as the lipid trafficking and the

calcium transfer occurring between the two organelles, thus maintaining the cellular

homeostasis. Moreover, several proteins are enriched in these sub-domains, whose

function is to regulate the distance between the ER and the mitochondria.


We found that both PERK and E-Syt1 are enriched at MAMs and they interact in this interface, where PERK is affecting the tethering. Currently, we are trying to find out the role of their interaction at MAMs, by looking at the possible effects that their interaction could have on the main functions occurring at MAMs. We noticed that the reduced expression of both PERK and E-Syt1 could affect the distribution of different phospholipids at MAMs, suggesting a possible role of their interaction in modulating the trafficking of phospholipids from the ER towards the mitochondria. Therefore, we also observed that modulating their interaction could affect the mitochondrial respiration as well as the tethering. While ongoing studies are assessing the functional relevance of these findings, this raises the

possibility that PERK is crucially involved in modulating the transfer of lipid mediators at the

MAMs, possibly through its interaction with E-Syt1.


Researcher: Saba Safdar

Field:

Language: English

In English: Title: Easy to use diagnostics for pathogens

Antibiotic resistance is a global menace. The antibiotics we have been trusting for

decades to help us beat seasonal illnesses are no longer effective against many

germs. One reason is the mis-identification of the germ causing the illness, which

leads the physicians to give the wrong antibiotic to the patient. If you take the

antibiotic not suited to a particular germ, the germ only gets stronger for the next

round of illness.

In my project, we are developing tests and devices to correctly identify these germs.

The goal is to have a test that is easy to use, and can help the physician find out the

specific germ that is causing the disease. This will in turn help correct prescription of

antibiotics, leading to killing of the illness causing germs.


Researcher: Gabriel Probst

Field: Chemistry, physics, engineering

Language: English, Portuguese

In English: Title: Development of Dedicated Calibration Procedures for X-ray Computed

Tomography

X-ray Computed Tomography (XCT) is a measurement technique that makes use of X-rays to collect dimensional information of manufactured components. The increasing manufacturing complexity added by 3D printing, for examples, has pushed quality control engineers into finding new ways of verifying whether fabricated components respect their designed tolerances. XCT is for the time being, the only available technology capable of measuring entire components with hidden structures in a non-destructive way. XCT is however not flawless and measurement results obtained from components might not always represent the true dimensions of the measured component. Therefore, measurement procedures that identify errors in XCT and enable their correction are needed in order make XCT a trustworthy technology in the field of quality control. In Portuguese: Tomografia computadorizada por Raios-X (TCX) é uma técnica de medição que utiliza raios-X para coletar informação dimensional de componentes fabricados. O aumento na complexidade de


fabricação, adicionada por impressão 3D, por exemplo, força engenheiros de controle de qualidade a encontrarem novas maneiras de verificarem se um componente fabricado respeita ou não suas tolerâncias de fabricação. A TCX é no momento a única tecnologia disponível capaz de medir compontes, que possuem estruturas escondidas, de maneira não-destrutiva. A TCX no entanto não é perfeita, e os resultados de medição obtidos podem não representar as verdadeiras dimensões dos componentes fabricados. Portanto, procedimentos de medição capazes de identificar erros em TCX, que possibilitam sua correção, são necessários de maneira a tornar a TCX uma tecnologia de medição confiável no campo de controle de qualidade.


Researcher: Sugosh R. Prabhu


Language: English

In English: Title: Nucleic acid storage and stability

Nucleic acid storage and stability is of primary importance as it finds uses in material

science as nanomachines, biosensors and bioelectronics. The long-term stability and

storage of DNA is a major challenge as hydrolytic reactions cause its denaturation

when stored in an aqueous environment with conventional buffer solutions. Most of

the devices employing nucleic acids require the nucleic acid molecule (generally DNA)

to be adsorbed on the surface with a solvent in its immediate vicinity. The search for

suitable solvents and electrolytes received a boost with the advent of ionic liquids

(ILs). Nucleic acids have showcased enhanced chemical and structural stability in ILs

compared to conventional buffer solutions. However, to employ ILs as electrolytes or

solvents in biosensors and bioelectronics it is paramount to understand the effect of IL

ions on the adsorption and dynamics of DNA molecules on surfaces. The objective can

be achieved by employing a synergistic approach of microscopy, spectroscopy and

theory. In essence, the central research objective of NAIL is to understand, the role of

the various stabilizing interactions on Nucleic Acids imposed by the ions of Ionic

Liquids on the adsorption and dynamics of the former on surfaces.


Researcher: Mohamed Mounir

Field: physics, engineering

Language: English, Portuguese

In English: Title: RADiation and Reliability Challenges for Electronics used in Space,

Aviation, Ground and Accelerators


As illustrated in the figure above, "Reliability" is essential for safe operation and

optimized efficiency within all four application areas where radiation effects on

electronics are and have to be considered: e.g. satellites must not fail as repair

interventions are impossible to be carried out; the safety of electronic systems in

avionics is of utmost importance and must be ensured in spite of the high-altitude

radiation levels; planes, cars, trains and communication systems integrate a

constantly increasing number of electronic components, increasingly complex, where

even relatively low radiation levels can lead to important risks; and finally operation

and safety systems at accelerators require a high mean-time-between failures for

reaching ultimate design goals and achieving scientific breakthroughs.

Consequently, RASAGA has two main goals. First goal is to push the scientific frontier

in design, testing and qualification of complex electronic systems for mixed field

radiation environments. Second goal is to issue design and test guidelines to support

industry, to protect the European competitiveness when radiation effects become

critical.


Researcher: Luca Michele Martulli


Language: English

In English: Title: Fibre Break Models for Designing novel composite microstructures and

applications

To respond the Paris agreement objectives to limit the climate change in the next

future, several countermeasures must be taken in many human activities. One of the

ways to reduce the environmental impact of the transportation industry, is to design

lighter vehicles, so that their energy consumption is lower, and less fuel is burnt.

Taken to a global scale, this can significantly decrease the pollution produced by cars,

trains and planes!

Fibre-reinforced composites are the key to achieve this result. Those class of materials

can achieve, with the same weight, higher stiffness and strength than many metals

used today, even steel. Their use is however still limited by the lack of knowledge on

the mechanisms that brings composites to failure. In other words: we know they are

good, but we still don’t know how good they are to use them as effectively as

possible!


FiBreMoD is born to reduce this knowledge gap: 13 young researchers will be trained

in the field of composites. These materials will be studied covering many aspects:

some researchers will focus on their chemistry, others will try to study the physics

happening at different levels, from the very small scale to the component-level, and

much more. The researchers will be hosted by different academic and industrial

partners, all renowned for their great contribution in the composite research.


Researcher: Chaoyun Li

Field: IT, engineering

Language: English, Chinese

In English: Title: Stream Ciphers in Modern Communication Systems

We are today surrounded by many communicating electronic devices. The security of

such devices is often critical to their functionality. Stream ciphers are widely exploited

to provide confidentiality of the electronically transmitted data. Compared to other

primitives, stream ciphers are competitive in software applications with exceptionally

high speed, and in hardware applications with exceptionally small footprint. Notable

examples of stream ciphers include the A5/1 in GSM standard and RC4 in WPA and

TLS protocols. In this presentation, we will give a brief introduction of the design and

analysis of many widely used stream ciphers.


Researcher: Raphaëlle Lesage

Field: informatics, life science

Language: English, French

In English: Title: When informatics come to enhance bone regeneration in the laboratory

Bone fractures are the most common large-organ, traumatic injuries to humans.

Although natural fracture repair usually restores the damaged bone, about 10% of

fractures will not heal normally [1]. These kind of fractures have huge societal and

economical impacts. Nowadays, no effective therapeutical treatment exists on the

market to help healing of such large bone deffects. Tissue Engineering (TE) is a

promising way to cure large bone fractures by filling the gap with a new bone

construct developed in vitro. Indeed, TE consists in developing new organs in the lab

for later implantation in order to cure various organ defects. In order to produce new

bone, our laboratory attempts to reproduce the natural process of bone formation

which occurs during the development of the embryo, before birth. During this process,

the bone is formed starting from cartilagenous template and it implies a drastic

change in the nature of cartilage cells. This change is called cell differentiation and it is

controlled by a very complex network of molecular components inside the cell. Some

of those molecules are potential drug targets so our laboratory tries to identify the

most important components of this network on which to act with a drug in order to

promote cartilage differentiation and thus bone formation. In order to achieve this

goal we have created a computational/digital model of the cell which enable to

perform in-computer experiments. Currently, this high-technology model is used to

design experimental strategies favouring robust cartilage differentiation in the context

of bone tissue engineering.

[1] Fracture healing: mechanisms and interventions, Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2015 Jan;

11(1): 45–54.

In French:

Quand l'informatique vient améliorer la régénération de l’os au laboratoire:


Les fractures des os font partie des blessures traumatiques des ‘grands organes’ les

plus répandues chez l’homme. Bien que la réparation naturelle de la fracture restaure

généralement l’os, près de 10% des fractures ne guérissent pas normalement [1]. Ce

type de fractures a un énorme impacte d’un point de vu sociétal et économique.

Aujourd’hui il n’existe pas de traitement thérapeutique efficace sur le marché pour

aider à la réparation de grosses fractures de l’os. L’ingénierie tissulaire (IT) est un

moyen prometteur de soigner les grosses fractures osseuses en remplaçant l’espace

laissé par la fracture par de l’os nouvellement fabriqué dans le laboratoire. En effet,

l’IT consiste au développement en laboratoire de nouveaux organes à implanter pour

soigner divers types d’organes défectueux. Pour fabriquer de l’os notre laboratoire

tente de reproduire the processus naturel de formation de l’os qui a lieu pendant le

développement de l’embryon avant la naissance. Pendant ce processus, l’os est formé

à partir du cartilage et cela implique un changement drastique dans la nature des

cellules du cartilage. Ce changement est appelé différentiation cellulaire et il est

contrôlé par un réseau complexe d’interactions entre molécules, à l’intérieur de la

cellule. Certaines de ces molécules sont des cibles potentielles pour des médicaments

donc notre laboratoire essaie d’identifier quels sont les composants les plus important

du réseau sur lesquels agir avec un médicament dans le but de promouvoir la

différentiation du cartilage et ainsi la formation d’os. Pour réussir cela, nous avons

crée un modèle informatique ou digital de la cellule de cartilage, qui permet de réaliser

des expériences sur l’ordinateur. Actuellement, cet outil de haute technologie est

utilisé pour mettre en place des stratégies expérimentales favorisant la différentiation

robuste de cartilage dans le contexte de l’IT de l’os.


Researcher: Arijit Karmakar

Field: informatics, life science

Language: English

In English:

Title: Integrated Time-based Signal Processing Circuits for Harsh Radiation

Environments

The goal of this project will be to define architectures and design electronic front-ends

for radiation tolerant, time-based, analogue signal processing application in energy

physics experiments, future nuclear systems and space missions. More specifically the

projects set goal to develop a sensor readout circuit in nanometer CMOS Technologies

anticipating record radiation tolerance of 10 MGy. Current sensor interface and

readout circuits are majorly based on signal processing in voltage domain. Therefore,

systems developed on scaled CMOS technologies suffers from reduced dynamic range.

Time-domain signal processing can be beneficial and that requires radiation tolerant

low-jitter circuits with sub-ps-accuracy. However, SEE and TID effects become severe

with technology scaling and increases 1/f noise and mismatch problems. As a part of

the project, new innovative sensor (resistive, capacitive etc.) readout architectures

will be developed to counter the radiation driven problems, complying with present

standards.


Researcher: Hans Kainz

Field: life science, neurology

Language: English

In English:

Title: NORmalize MusculoskeletAL LOadings to Avoid bony Deformities in

children with cerebral palsy

Muscle contractions in children with cerebral palsy cause abnormal musculoskeletal

loading, which can lead to bony deformities. Deformities of the femur are commonly

corrected by de-rotation osteotomies. In children, early clinical interventions, which

aim to normalize the loading of the musculoskeletal system, could influence bone

growth and prevent the development of bony deformities. To investigate this

assumption, I will use musculoskeletal models and mechanobiological finite element

analysis. If load-modifying clinical interventions can be used to reduce the number of

surgical corrections, it will decrease the burden on the child as well as decrease the

socio-economic costs related to the treatment of children with cerebral palsy.


Researcher: Thomas Haas

Field: renewable energy, engineering

Language: English, French, German

In English:

Title: Virtual Wind Environment and Flight Simulator for Airborne Wind

Energy Systems

Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) is an emerging technology in the field of renewable

energy generation. This technology uses tethered aircrafts or kites to harvest wind

energy at very high altitudes by flying crosswind manoeuvers. The main advantage is

that at high altitudes the wind is stronger and more consistent. Thus, AWE systems

can tap into wind resources that are not accessible to conventional wind turbines. In

addition, AWE systems require less material and can be deployed rapidly. Hence,

Airborne Wind Energy is a cost effective alternative in the shift toward sustainable

power generation.

However, the technology is still in its early development stage and there is a research

need to provide reliable engineering solutions. In this context, my research focuses on

the interaction between AWE systems and the wind environment. In other words, I

develop a flight simulator to assess the performance of AWE systems and park (just

like wind turbine parks) using mathematical modelling and high performance

computing. Thus, with my colleagues in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie project

“AWESCO” we work towards improving the efficiency of this technology in order to

make Airborne Wind Energy a key player in the future energy market.


Researcher: Yamid Ali Gomez Rueda

Field: renewable energy, engineering

Language: English, French, Spanish

In English:

Title: Gas cleaning assisted by plasma technology.

Waste is produced in high quantities in urban environments. The solution until now

has been to dig a giant hole in the earth to bury it especially in small countries like

Belgium. But the growing population is putting limits to the land available for burying

urban waste. In the last years, there is a possibility of transforming waste into a

useful gas containing hydrogen, CO, methane and some pollutants. The presence of

this pollutants reduce the potential applications of the produced gas. In my PhD

project I use a technology called plasma which has the potential to remove this

pollutants from the useful gases (H2, CO, CH4 ) which makes the gas very valuable

for chemical synthesis ( specially fuels like gasoline or diesel ) and for clean power and

heat generation. In this way we can use waste as a raw material instead of oil and

coal for producing chemical products and energy while decreasing the amount of land

used to bury these wastes.

In French:

Titre: Purification du gaz á l’aide du technologie plasma

Des grandes quantités de déchets sont produits dans les grandes villes chaque jour.

La solution utilisé jusqu’à maintenant a été caver un trou géant sur la terre pour les


enterrer. Mais la population croissant fait que la quantité de terre disponible pour

enterrer la poubelle soit limité, spécialement aux petits pays comme la Belgique. Au

cours des dernières années il y a émergé une autre possibilité : transformer les

déchets en un gaz qui contient de l’hydrogène, du CO, du méthane et quelques

polluants. La présence de ces polluants réduit la valeur économique et les potentielles

applications de ce gaz. Le but de mon doctorat c’est l’enlèvement de ces polluants du

gaz en utilisent la technologie plasma, ce que ferait que le gaz puisse être utilise pour

la synthèse chimique ( essence, gazole, alcools, etc.) et pour la génération d’énergie

propre. De cette manière nous pouvons utiliser la poubelle comme matière première,

en foi du pétrole ou charbon pour obtenir notre électricité, notre chaleur et nos

produits chimiques en diminuent en même temps l’utilisation de terre pour enterrer

ces déchets.

In Spanish:

Título: Purificacion de gases usando plasma

Grandes cantidades de desechos urbanos son producidos en las grandes ciudades

todos los días. La solución más extendida en la actualidad ha sido cavar un hueco

gigante en la tierra para enterrarlos. Sin embargo la creciente población mundial hace

que la cantidad de tierra disponible para entera restos desechos sea limitada,

especialmente en países pequeños como Bélgica. En los últimos años ha surgido una

nueva solución : transformar estos desechos en un gas que contenga hidrogeno, CO,

metano y algunas impurezas. La presencia de estas impurezas reduce el potencial

valor económico y las potenciales aplicaciones de este gas. El objetivo de mi

doctorado es remover estas impurezas del gas usando tecnologías de plasma, lo que

haría que el gas pueda ser utilizado para la síntesis química y para la generación de

energía limpia. De esta manera podemos usar la basura como materia prima, en vez

del petróleo o el carbón, para obtener nuestra electricidad, nuestro calor y nuestros

productos químicos disminuyendo al mismo tiempo la tierra utilizada para enterrar

estos desechos.


Researcher: Francisco García Cirujano

Field: chemistry pharmaceutics

Language: English Spanish, Catalan

In English:

Title: Synthesis of Spirooxindoles and INdoles pharmaceuticals using Metal-

Organic Frameworks

Pharmaceutical compounds are synthetically produced by a huge variety of chemical

reactions, developed in the laboratory and then, scaled to industrial processes.

Currently, it is estimated that during the synthesis of one gram of a standard

pharmaceutical compound, the quantity of toxic residues is between 20 and 100 times

higher. Obviously it is contradictory that in order to solve health problems, we are

affecting our health by the way we are doing those chemical or pharmaceutical

processes. We can improve the sustainability of this type of chemical process

mimicking the way nature bio-synthetize natural products. In fact, many bio-active

pharmaceuticals compounds are naturally produced by living organisms in the most

efficient and clean imaginable ways by microscopic machines present in all cells,

known as enzymes. However, the high cost and low stability of many enzymes in

industrial catalytic processes requires for a robust catalyst that can be think of an

artificial enzyme, in order to withstand broad reaction conditions during a maximum

operational time in order to decrease the cost of the pharmaceutical production


process. With this Marie Curie Fellowship project we minimize the environmental

impact of the chemical transformations used to produce affordable pharmaceutical

treatments for the future generations, trying to be as efficient as natural enzymes, a

goal that is attempted also for the synthesis of neuroactive and anticancer

pharmaceutical intermediates by using robust catalytic materials that withstand a

broader range of reaction conditions than natural enzymes. The current results

obtained would also contribute to improve chemical process efficiency by the

substitution of homogeneous catalysts by its solid counterparts, providing economic

and environmental benefits, reducing or eliminating the use of hazardous industrial

reagents that will eventually contribute to the environmental and public health

European policy, increasing the EU competitiveness.


Researcher: Veerle de Rond

Field: life science, Parkinson

Language: English, Dutch

In English:

Title: Neural and behavioral mechanisms underlying balance and weight

shifting in aging and Parkinson’s disease

Patients with Parkinson’s disease and healthy older people show deficits with balance

and shifting their weight while maintaining an upright position. This can lead to gait

difficulties and falls. Therefore, the current project wants to gain novel insights into

how balance and weight shifting in these groups differ from healthy young adults

during various conditions, using a virtual reality game-like virtual reality environment.

In addition, it will be explored whether the differences between groups can be

explained by the activation of different muscles and brain areas. The second part of

this project wants to generate knowledge about the capacity of healthy older adults to

train their weight shifting skills compared to young adults, and if the effects of training

will still be visible after a 24-hour period. For the first time, it will be explored whether

the consolidation of training effects can be explained by alterations in motor,

integration or cognitive brain areas. Hence, the results of this project may form a

basis for the implementation of virtual reality to improve balance in older adults,

which will target specific brain regions.


Researcher: Luigi Criscuolo


Language: English, Dutch

In English:

Title: Experimental and numerical analysis of aeroacoustic feedback

phenomena and its influence on far field noise radiation

Aeroacoustics concern the interaction between aerodynamic (the way air moves

around things) and acoustics (sound and noise). Sound effects and noise negatively

affect industrial applications (air conditioning systems, trains, planes and cars) causing

human health and comfort problems. The aim of my research is to develop an efficient

way to predict negative aeroacoustic phenomena in industrial applications and reduce

noise emissions.


Researcher: Wenchao Cao


Language: English, Chinese

In English:

Title: Advanced beam hardening correction (BHC) for multi-material objects

Beam hardening artefacts caused by the polychromatic nature of x-ray has long been

recognised as a problem in computed tomography (CT) that deteriorates the

reconstructed image quality and thus affects feature inspection. My work is to

compare the performance of the existing beam hardening correction algorithms in

industrial CT inspection and metrology. In addition, I developed an innovative

algorithm based on the observations of the shortages of the existing algorithms.


Researcher: Fabio Cameli

Field: chemistry

Language: English, Spanish, Italian

In English:

Title: European Training Network for Continuous Sonication and Microwave

Reactors (EU MSCA-ETN COSMIC).

The COSMIC project aims to contribute to the modernization of European chemical

industry via developing intensified processes featuring non-conventional energy

sources such as microwave and ultrasound in continuous production. By following this

pathway, production of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals could finally be realized

under high energy efficiency and product quality control so to favour competitiveness

of European chemical industry in the global market.

The industrial partners involved in the consortium will later apply the developed

technologies into real chemical processes.


Researcher: Mattia Bellotti

Field: physics. Engineering

Language: English, Italian

In English:

Title: Efficient spark control strategies in micro EDM

Micro electrical discharge machining or briefly micro EDM is a technology that uses

millions of sequences of short sparks to drill small holes and cavities into conductive

materials. Micro EDM has several applications; it is for example used to build

components of aircraft engines, car engines, inkjet printers, biomedical implants, and

wristwatches. Although Russian scientists already discovered EDM before the Second

World War, the mechanisms behind the technology are still not fully understood.

Adequately controlling those sequences of sparks remains a significant challenge. This

has two main consequences: increase of production time and reduction of part quality.

Drawing on recent developments in computer science and technology, my research

aims to develop more efficient ways of controlling sparks in micro EDM. My goal is to

develop new monitoring strategies to reduce and control sudden and unexpected

variations in the sequences of sparks, which are widely recognised as sources of

inaccuracies. This would eliminate some of the metrology controls that are nowadays

performed to guarantee part quality. Consequently the price of components produced

using micro EDM, such as wristwatches and biomedical implants, would drive down.


Researcher: Marta Barniol Xicota

Field: life science, chemistry, sickness, proteins, Parkinson, Malaria

Language: English, Spanish. Catalan

In English:

Title: Rhomboids: the proteins

All living organisms have a certain class of proteins named rhomboids. These

rhomboids are buried in the cellular membranes; they are coated by fats that keep

their correct shape and function.

The rhomboids play key roles in several biological processes and are involved in well-

known diseases as Parkinson’s disease or Malaria. Therefore, by studying these

proteins we could shine light on the treatment of a wide range of illnesses. For

example, we could understand better the mechanisms through which Parkinson occurs

or develop safer drugs for Malaria.


Studying these rhomboids doesn’t come easy as they are in need of their fatty coating

to keep their structure, which is what will, in a great part, determine their function.

The problem is that the purification techniques, required for their study, use

detergents. These detergents destroy the natural environment of the rhomboids,

leading to unstable proteins that are difficult to study.

To solve this issue, I am developing a method that allows studying the proteins in

their natural environment. For this I use a polymer that surrounds and captures the

protein in the membrane, as a rodeo rope would do. Using the rodeo rope method

there’s no need for harmful detergents. Hence, we can work to clarify what is the role

of specific rhomboids.

Using this brand new approach I will work to discover the exact function that

rhomboids have in Malaria. Once their role and structure are determined, I will design

and prepare new molecules that, in the future, might be used as new ameliorated

treatment for Malaria.


Researcher: Sergio Alvarez Pérez

Field: life sciences, fruits, chemistry

Language: English, Spanish

In English:

Title: Coping with inhospitable sweetness: insights from a (diversity)3 study

of nectar acinetobacters

Plants are hotspots of microbial diversity, and novel lineages of plant-associated

microorganisms are continuously described. Recently, floral nectar has been identified

as the natural habitat of different highly adapted yeasts and bacteria which can

withstand elevated sugar contents and the presence of plant secondary metabolites

with defensive functions. As a consequence of their metabolism, these microorganisms

can reduce the nutritional value of nectar and profoundly alter its chemistry, and thus

modify pollinators’ foraging behavior and indirectly affect plant fitness. Although the

species Acinetobacter nectaris and A. boissieri (“nectar acinetobacters”) are among

the most frequent bacterial nectar-dwellers, their diversity and intriguing ubiquitous

occurrence in floral nectar still remain poorly characterized. Through a comprehensive

study of the phenotypic, phylogenetic and genomic diversity (“D3 approach”) of the

nectar acinetobacters, our project aims to explain why A. nectaris and A. boissieri are

particularly well suited to thrive in the “inhospitable sweetness” of floral nectar. This

research question will be addressed by using state-of-the-art methodologies of high-

throughput phenotyping, phylogenetic inference and whole-genome sequencing and

analysis.


In Spanish:

Título: Lidiando con una dulzura inhóspita: perspectivas desde un estudio de

la (diversidad)3 de los acinetobacters del nectar

Las plantas son puntos calientes de diversidad microbiana, y continuamente se

describen nuevos linajes de microorganismos asociados a plantas. El néctar de las

flores ha sido identificado recientemente como el hábitat natural de diferentes

bacterias y levaduras altamente adaptadas y capaces de soportar el elevado contenido

en azúcares y la presencia de metabolites secundarios con funciones defensivas de

origen vegetal. Como consecuencia de su metabolismo, estos microorganismos

pueden reducir el valor nutricional del néctar y alterar profundamente su química, y

por tanto modificar el comportamiento de los polinizadores e, indirectamente, afectar

la eficacia biológica de las plantas. Aunque las especies Acinetobacter nectaris y A.

boissieri (“acinetobacters del néctar”) destacan entre los habitantes bacterianos más

frecuentes del néctar floral, su diversidad e intrigante ocurrencia ubícua en dicho

hábitat permanece aún pobremente caracterizada. Mediante un amplio estudio de la

diversidad fenotípica, filogenética y genómica (“enfoque D3”) de los acinetobacters del

nectar, nuestro proyecto pretende explicar por qué A. nectaris y A. boissieri están

particularmente bien adaptados para medrar en la “dulzura inhóspita” del nectar floral.

Esta cuestión será abordada utilizando las más modernas tecnologías de fenotipado de

alto rendimiento, inferencia filogenética y secuenciación y análisis de genomas

completos.

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Re@ct! - European Commissionec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/sites/...Pilot project Belgium 2018 5 Pool of Researchers Researcher: Federica Bressan Field: Digital humanities,