TRANSPORT OF SOFT MATTER AT THE NANOSCALE

NANOTRANS consortium comprises academic and private partners spanning seven EU countries. We have identified the ITN program as an ideal framework to create a collaborative research platform for training young nanoscientists with suitable scientific profiles and a specific range of skills who will be able to deal with the fundamental and technological challenges of the future. NANOTRANS will provide a rigorous, balanced, and timely supra-disciplinary training program delivered by Europe’s (and world’s) leading scientists in the field. Moreover, we will provide a unique opportunity to move between industry and academia, which is crucial to foster inter-sectorial exchange of individuals and ideas. The scientific objective of the proposal is to understand the transport of fluids and colloids at the nanoscale. This is one of the core problems of technological development whose key demands are downscaling the applications and controlling the non-equilibrium dynamics (e.g. design of “smart” nanomaterials, nanofluidics, “lab on a chip” devices, energy production and storage, drug delivery…). For this specific focus, multidisciplinary and inter-sectorial approaches that are inherently a part of soft matter research are crucial. The experimental and theoretical methods are presently at a stage where exploration of key processes is viable and our research program promises fundamental and applied breakthroughs. We will establish long-term collaborations structuring the EU research environment and bridging the gap between academic and industrial research. The impact of NANOTRANS will be broad. The overwhelming goal is to train young researchers with unique profiles, who will work across sectors and might become future leaders in the emerging and rapidly growing fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Our research and their future careers should have an impact on some of the core challenges of modern society: energy production and storage, novel disease treatment strategies and sustainable development. Investing in research in the emerging field of soft matter at the nanoscale is determinant for Europe’s position as the world-leading academic and technological power.