The ambition of PRYSTINE is to strengthen and to extend traditional core competencies of the European industry, research and universities in smart mobility and in particular the electronic component and systems and cyber-physical systems domains. PRYSTINE's target is to realize Fail-operational Urban Surround perceptION (FUSION) which is based on robust Radar and LiDAR sensor fusion and control functions in order to enable safe automated driving in urban and rural environments. Therefore, PRYSTINE's high-level goals are: 1. Enhanced reliability and performance, reduced cost and power of FUSION components 2. Dependable embedded control by co-integration of signal processing and AI approaches for FUSION 3. Optimized E/E architecture enabling FUSION-based automated vehicles 4. Fail-operational systems for urban and rural environments based on FUSION PRYSTINE will deliver (a) fail-operational sensor-fusion framework on component level, (b) dependable embedded E/E architectures, and (c) safety compliant integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) approaches for object recognition, scene understanding, and decision making within automotive applications. The resulting reference FUSION hardware/software architectures and reliable components for autonomous systems will be validated in in 22 industrial demonstrators, such as: 1. Fail-operational autonomous driving platform 2. An electrical and highly automated commercial truck equipped with new FUSION components (such as LiDAR, Radar, camera systems, safety controllers) for advanced perception 3. Highly connected passenger car anticipating traffic situations 4. Sensor fusion in human-machine interfaces for fail-operational control transition in highly automated vehicles PRYSTINE’s well-balanced, value chain oriented consortium, is composed of 60 project partners from 14 different European and non-European countries, including leading automotive OEMs, semiconductor companies, technology partners, and research institutes.

HoNESt (History of Nuclear Energy and Society) involves an interdisciplinary team with many experienced researchers and 24 high profile research institutions. HoNESt’s goal is to conduct a three-year interdisciplinary analysis of the experience of nuclear developments and its relationship to contemporary society with the aim of improving the understanding of the dynamics over the last 60 years. HoNESt’s results will assist the current debate on future energy sources and the transition to affordable, secure, and clean energy production. Civil society's interaction with nuclear developments changes over time, and it is locally, nationally and transnationally specific. HoNESt will embrace the complexity of political, technological and economic challenges; safety; risk perception and communication, public engagement, media framing, social movements, etc. Research on these interactions has thus far been mostly fragmented. We will develop a pioneering integrated interdisciplinary approach, which is conceptually informed by Large Technological Systems (LTS) and Integrated Socio-technical System (IST), based on a close and innovative collaboration of historians and social scientists in this field. HoNESt will first collect extensive historical data from over 20 countries. These data will be jointly analyzed by historians and social scientists, through the lens of an innovative integrated approach, in order to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying decision making and associated citizen engagement with nuclear power. Through an innovative application of backcasting techniques, HoNESt will bring novel content to the debate on nuclear sustainable engagement futures. Looking backwards to the present, HoNESt will strategize and plan how these suitable engagement futures could be achieved. HoNESt will engage key stakeholders from industry, policy makers and civil society in a structured dialogue to insert the results into the public debate on nuclear energy.

Our limited understanding of angiogenesis, the process leading to the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, hinders the design of new treatments for associated diseases such as cancer, ischemia, and diabetic retinopathy. It is well established that sprouting angiogenesis involves a process of endothelial cell phenotype selection mediated by the interaction between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and Notch signalling. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the Yes-associated protein (YAP) and the transcriptional coactivator with a PDZ-binding domain (TAZ), the main mediators of the Hippo signalling pathway, interact with VEGF and influence Notch signalling. However, it is still unclear how the effects of YAP/TAZ on Notch signalling contribute in regulating angiogenesis. In this project, I will adopt an approach combining experimental and computational techniques. First, I will culture endothelial cell monolayers on differently stiff substrates and I will perturb Notch via ligand-coated beads and YAP/TAZ activity via pharmacological inhibition. With the information deriving from these experiments, I will develop a unique agent-based computational model for angiogenesis, accounting for the interplay between Notch and YAP/TAZ. I will use this model to predict the effects of the Notch-YAP/TAZ crosstalk on angiogenesis. Finally, I will adapt previously established in vitro experimental systems recapitulating angiogenesis in three-dimensional environments. In these systems, I will vary the matrix stiffness, inhibit YAP/TAZ activation, perturb Notch signalling with ligand-coated beads, and measure the changes to parameters such as sprout and branch density and the dynamics of individual cell behaviour. This interplay between experimental and computational techniques will enhance our understanding of the crosstalk between Notch and Hippo-YAP/TAZ in regulating angiogenesis, with the potential to inspire new medical treatments.

In the past there have been a number of semi-industrial trials and even commercial processes to obtain on-purpose petrochemical feedstocks from methane and/or propane (more generally, C1-C4 hydrocarbons). However, their commercial success has been limited due to several reasons: from technical drawbacks (low conversions and selectivity) to economics (high capital investment and high operation costs are often obtained). Furthermore there is a need for lowering the carbon footprint of gas and oil industry, i.e. refining industry, contributing to an evolving scenario of sustainable economy in such field. BIZEOLCAT is addressing the use of light alkanes as raw material for specialty chemical industry and not as feedstock for fuels in the current oil refining process, becoming part of this transition. BIZEOLCAT will aim developing 4 new processes of light alkanes (methane, propane and butane) conversion to olefins (propylene, butadiene) and to aromatics demonstrating higher performance, cost efficiency and environmental sustainability, using innovative methodologies for catalysts preparation and membrane reactor design. A refining company, TUPRAS, will run the pilot unit experiments. One large companies, CEPSA will validate propylene and benzene as part of TR5 validation. sLCA have demonstrated that the expected reduction in the greenhouse emissions related to the manufacturing of propane dehydrogenation developed within the project and also the Aromatization process in comparison to current Oleflex® and benzene production from a reformate plant is far over the target value of 20%. A joint venture creation is part of BIZEOLCAT exploitation plan. The BIZEOLCAT consortium comprises 12 partners: 2 technology centres, 2 research institutes, 2 universities, 1 Standardization body, 1 international association and finally 3 large industries and 1 SME from 8 countries (6 EU members, 2 associated countries to H2020)