ActiveMatter — Active Matter: From Fundamental Science to Technological Applications

Results in brief

Active Matter: From Fundamental Science to Technological Applications

ActiveMatter MSCA-ITN (Innovative Training Network) arised from the need to train a new generation of physicists and engineers in the highly interdisciplinary fields related to active matter, which encompasses a variety of disciplines from physics, chemistry, micro-and nanotechnology to biology and medicine, and provides options to perform tasks not easily realizable with other standard techniques on the micro- and nanoscale. Active matter keeps on attracting interest because its study sheds light on far-from-equilibrium physics. Active materials exhibit striking similarities with the dynamical properties of living systems, providing an ideal model system to understand the behavior and (self-)organization of motile organisms, and potentially providing tools to understand and replicate complex biological processes (like the working of cells, their organization in cellular tissues, or mitosis and embryogenesis) on the base of general and universal physical concepts. During the 54 months of activity of the network, ActiveMatter MSCA-ITN has allowed a deeper understanding of the following fundamental challenges associated with far-from-equilibrium physics, and with key technological issues of great societal and economic impact, namely: 1. to develop biocompatible active particles, reducing their footprint by scaling them down towards the nanoscale. 2. to understand their emergent and synergistic behaviors in complex and crowded environments. 3. to study self-assembly in dense active and living matter systems. 4. to translate the results obtained until now by the active matter community to real-life applications of societal and economical value. Among the main achievements of ActiveMatter MSCA-ITN, we have the: • Contribution to the training of a new generation of physicists and engineers in the highly interdisciplinary fields related to active matter. • Bringing the active matter community together to organize the available knowledge in a format that can be used to train a new generation of scientists and engineers in active matter. • Better understanding of far-from-equilibrium physics • Use of the knowledge gained to address key technological issues of great societal and economic impact: starting the development of biocompatible active particle; understanding the emergent and synergistic behaviors of active particles in complex and crowded environments such as, e.g., the environment in cells and living tissues; study the self-assembly in dense active and living systems; and use the results and knowledge obtained to develop real-life application of societal and economical value.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

During the last decade, active matter has been attracting increasing interest because its study can shed light on far-from- equilibrium physics and provide tantalizing options to perform tasks not easily achievable with other available techniques on the micro- and nanoscale. We are now on the threshold of breakthroughs that will permit us to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental challenges associated with far-from-equilibrium physics (e.g. the physics of living organisms, tissue formation and cancer growth) and to address several key technological challenges of great societal and economic impact (e.g. biomimetic materials, targeted localization, pick-up and transport of nanoscopic cargoes in drug delivery, bioremediation and chemical sensing). However, there are still several open challenges that need to be addressed in order to achieve the full scientific and technological potential of active matter in real-life settings: 1. to develop biocompatible active particles, reducing their footprint by scaling them down towards the nanoscale; 2. to determine their emergent and synergistic behaviors in complex and crowded environments; 3. to engineer self-assembly in dense active and living matter systems. This ETN will provide the necessary infrastructure to train a new generation of physicists in the highly interdisciplinary fields related to active matter. ESRs will master the theoretical, numerical and experimental tools currently employed in the study of active matter, will create new tools for understanding active matter systems, and, through collaboration with companies, will be able to transfer this knowledge to biomedical, bioremediation and sustainability applications. Our ESRs will acquire highly demanded transferable skills increasing their future employability in academia and industry. Extending the reach of this ETN, we will also prepare interdisciplinary and interactive lecturing material to serve as foundation for study programs in active matter.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

GOETEBORGS UNIVERSITET · GoeteborgCoordinatorSweden
BILKENT UNIVERSITESI VAKIF · Bilkent AnkaraTürkiye
BOGAZICI UNIVERSITESI · IstanbulTürkiye
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYCORP · PasadenaUnited States
CARL ZEISS MICROSCOPY GMBH · JenaGermany
CHERRY BIOTECH · MONTREUILFrance
CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE · RomaItaly
ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE · LausanneSwitzerland
EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH · ZuerichSwitzerland
ELVESYS · PARISFrance
FCIENCIAS.ID - ASSOCIACAO PARA A INVESTIGACAO E DESENVOLVIMENTO DE CIENCIAS · LisbonPortugal
HEIDELBERG INSTRUMENTS NANO AG · ZurichSwitzerland
HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITAET DUESSELDORF · DusseldorfGermany
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY · Syracuse NyUnited States
Science4you SAPortugal
Somanautix Ltd · CambridgeUnited Kingdom
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET DRESDEN · DresdenGermany
THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD · OxfordUnited Kingdom
TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY · Princeton, NjUnited States
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA · RomaItaly
UNIVERSITAT KONSTANZ · KonstanzGermany
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON · LondonUnited Kingdom

ActiveMatter · Active Matter: From Fundamental Science to Technological Applications

Results in brief

Active Matter: From Fundamental Science to Technological Applications

Project objective

Participants

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