AQUACROSS aims to support EU efforts to enhance the resilience and stop the loss of biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems as well as to ensure the ongoing and future provision of aquatic ecosystem services. It focuses on advancing the knowledge base and application of the ecosystem-based management concept for aquatic ecosystems by developing cost effective measures and integrated management practices. AQUACROSS considers the EU policy framework (i.e. goals, concepts, time frames) for aquatic ecosystems and builds on knowledge stemming from different sources (i.e. WISE, BISE, Member State reporting, modelling) to develop innovative management tools, concepts, and business models (i.e. indicators, maps, ecosystem assessments, participatory approaches, mechanisms for promoting the delivery of ecosystem services) for aquatic ecosystems at various scales. It thereby provides an unprecedented effort to unify policy concepts, knowledge, and management concepts of freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems to support the cost-effective achievement of the targets set out by the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy.

The growing recognition that biological diversity is a global asset of tremendous value to present and future generations has underpinned a number of multilateral environmental policy agreements, including the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. Implementing these agreements requires a global-scale cooperation among conservation scientists to collect, mobilise and synthesise biodiversity data and ecological knowledge, and translating them directly into recommendations for conservation action and indicators of progress towards meeting internationally agreed goals and targets. Inspire4Nature’s purpose is to contribute to the formation of a new generation of creative, entrepreneurial and innovative early-stage researchers by providing them with both research-related and transferable skills which will enable them to work at this science-policy interface, converting their knowledge and ideas into tools for tackling complex global environmental problems. To do so, we propose an ambitious training programme combining individual research projects (leading to PhD degrees) of a high scientific standard strategically positioned at the science-policy interface in biodiversity conservation with a rich network-wide training programme including training events and joint projects that will provide the ESRs with a wide diversity of scientific, communication and project management skills. The Consortium’s strength comes from an unprecedented collaboration between academic and non-academic conservation organisations that will generate in the European research area a unique focus of professional training at the interface between conservation science and policy.

Brain function crucially depends on chemical neurotransmission at synapses, while, conversely, synaptic dysfunction underlies neurological and psychiatric disorders. Synapses are composed of more than 2,000 distinct proteins, spatially organized into specialized molecular machineries. During decades of efforts, researchers have acquired a wealth of knowledge on individual key components of the synapse. However, the overall picture of the spatial arrangement, molecular architecture and interaction network of the synaptic proteome remains largely uncharted. Furthermore, innovative methods that allow system-wide profiling of these organizational aspects of synaptic proteins are in great demand. I propose to develop a highly sensitive cross-linking mass spectrometry (XL-MS) pipeline to analyze structural and organizational features of the synaptic proteome at an unprecedented depth and comprehensiveness. In parallel, I also plan to establish quantitative XL-MS strategies to reveal global network rearrangements and complex-specific alterations during long-term potentiation, which arguably is the most attractive cellular model for learning and memory. Importantly, it is foreseeable that numerous novel insights can be discovered, for which I will use complementary approaches and tools, such as biochemistry, super-resolution imaging, structural modelling and network analysis to validate and interrogate their molecular details and network principles. These studies will yield groundbreaking insights into the molecular architecture of the synapse and thereby fill a crucial knowledge gap in neuroscience. Furthermore, they will provide a framework to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamic regulation in synaptic plasticity and synaptic dysfunction in neurological disorders.

The dynamic modulation of semiconductor structures using vibrations provides a powerful tool for the control of the materials properties required for novel functionalities. Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) with GHz-frequencies and micrometre-size wavelength can be generated using piezoelectric transducers fabricated with standard integrated circuit technology. Their small propagation velocity and high sensitivity to disturbances confined to a superficial region have long been exploited in electronic signal processing and sensor applications. The SAW-induced modulation of the electro-optical properties of semiconductor structures is now been used for a wide range of applications including advanced sensors, the control of chemical processes, as well as the coherent control of carriers, spins, photons, and phonons down to the single-particle level. The latter are presently been exploited for different functionalities including advanced waveguide modulators, tuneable optical resonators, and single-electron pumps and single-photon sources. SAWTrain puts together leading groups from Europe, Asia and North America working on SAWs on semiconductor and related nanostructures to create a PhD training network. The synergy resulting from the expertise of these groups will provide PhD students with training opportunities far superior to those offered in existing PhD programmes. Training in research skills with secondments at different hosts will cover state-of-the-art research in the interdisciplinary areas of basic physics, materials, technology, and device concepts related to SAWs. This will be achieved by exposing the trainees to multiple secondments, mandatory co-supervision from different institutions, including a non-academic mentorship. The coordinated training will further contain topical courses, schools, conferences, and workshops and be complemented by measures to develop key competences and transferable skills, fostering the future career plan of the young researchers.