The proposal focuses on Theory of Characteristic Modes(TCM), a reasonably general methodology to systematically design and analyse arbitrary antennas in wireless communication systems by providing accurate physical insights of the working mechanism. With the rise of the diverse and complex requirements of modern antenna systems, the existing TCM is not sufficiently effective to handle critical design problems such as multi-scale vehicular antenna systems and large-scale massive MIMO base station arrays, which leads to an urgent need for further improvement of TCM. Firstly, for the theoretical aspect, with the help of volume integral equations and appropriate basis functions, characteristic modes(CMs) of inhomogeneous anisotropic dielectric bodies based on the method of moments will be extracted for the first time. The novel theory will be used to design practical antennas coated by the inhomogeneous anisotropic materials. Secondly, concerning CM computation, CMs are planned to be established on special non-uniform meshes through an effective Discontinuous Galerkin method. The novel strategy is fully dependent on the detailed features of the physical structure and scales of the target, which will lead to a wider range of targeted applications. Finally, for the application aspect, quasi-entire domain basis functions will be constructed based on specific CMs of an arbitrary antenna element in the array to enhance the efficiency of electromagnetic computation for extremely large-scale periodic arrays without loss of accuracy. Through the strict execution of the jointly conceived career development plan, the fellow's competencies will be enhanced in all aspects during the project, including leadership and cooperation skills, teaching and supervisory skills, professional network development as well as professional skills in scientific research. Additionally, mutually beneficial long-term collaborations will be developed and established between the host and the fellow.

Livelihoods of most of the African population strongly depend on local ecosystem services, such as grazing, agriculture, firewood, and construction timber. Although an overall greening trend is shown by both dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) and Earth Observation (EO), large uncertainties for each data source are reported and significant divergence between outputs have been documented, impeding accurate assessment of vegetation dynamics in Africa. The overall purpose of this project is to develop methods to for an improved assessment of African vegetation resources based on new capabilities originating from satellite passive microwave observations. Specifically, the vegetation optical depth (VOD) derived from passive microwave data is sensitive to the water content in both the green and woody (i.e., branches and stems) vegetation components which is different from the traditional optical-infrared greenness driven vegetation index (VI) being primarily sensitive to chlorophyll abundance. By combining multi-frequency VOD retrievals with long-term VI datasets, in situ measurements, and DGVMs, this project will accurately quantify woody biomass, green biomass, net primary production (NPP), vegetation phenology and ecosystem functional types (EFT) in Africa, as well as their long-term changes and the climate and socio-economic drivers. The results are expected to pave the road for improved vegetation resource management in Africa and understanding of global carbon cycling. To achieve this, I will be trained in cutting edge skills (EO time series, flux measurements and ecosystem modeling). My major mobility activity will be sparking the integration of passive microwave VOD, carbon and water flux measurements and DGVMs for an improved understanding of changes in vegetation resources and drivers hereof in Africa.

The origin and evolution of sexual reproduction and sex differences represents one of the major unsolved problems in evolutionary biology, and although much progress had been made both via theory and empirical research, recent data suggest that sex chromosome evolution may be more complex than previously thought. The concept of sexual antagonism (when there is a positive intersexual genetic correlation in trait expression but opposite fitness effects of the trait(s) in males and females) has become essential to our understanding of sex chromosome evolution. The goal of this proposal is to understand how the interacting effects of sexual antagonism, sex-linked genetic variation, and sex-specific selection shape the genetic architecture of complex traits. I will test the hypotheses that: 1) individual sexually antagonistic loci are common in the genome, both in separate-sexed species and in hermaphrodites, and drive patterns of sexual antagonism often seen on the trait level. 2) That the response to sex-specific selection in sex-linked loci is usually due to standing sexually antagonistic genetic variation. 3) That sexually antagonistic variation is primarily non-additive in nature. To accomplish this, I will use a combination of approaches, including sex-limited experimental evolution of the X chromosome and reciprocal sex chromosome introgression among distantly related populations of Drosophila, quantitative genetic analysis and experimental evolution mimicking the creation of a novel sex chromosome in the hermaphroditic flatworm Macrostomum, and analytical and simulation modeling. This project will serve to confirm or refute the assumption that trait-level sexual antagonism reflects the contributions of many individual sexually antagonistic loci, increase our understanding of the contribution of coevolution of the sex chromosomes to population divergence, and help provide us with a better general understanding of how genotype maps to phenotype.

Heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the aging European populations. It is the end-stage of myocardial and valvular disease, arising from loss of viable or functional muscle cells in the heart. Therapy is complicated by the multitude of causes and comorbidities of heart failure. New therapeutic targets and clinical biomarkers to individually tailor therapy (‘precision medicine’) are greatly needed. This research program aims to realize the promise of precision medicine by applying an integrated proteomic, genomic and epidemiological approach to the underlying causes, mechanisms and consequences for heart failure. The program builds on unique Swedish nation-wide disease registers and large biobanks, the translational research profile of the investigator and experience in genomics, epidemiology and proteomics. The program includes five work packages: (1) comprehensive plasma protein profiling through a discovery pipeline including novel microarray-based methods and mass spectrometry in a population-based cohort of 6000 subjects and clinical cases to identify subjects at risk for heart disease (2) assessment of heritable components to outcomes in heart disease using nation-wide Swedish registers (3) genome-wide discovery of variants associated with risk of and outcomes in heart disease as well as endophenotypes for cardiac structure and function, using resequencing and DNA microarrays in large population-based cohorts including >70,000 subjects from three generations (4) expression profiling in human heart samples and a novel human cardiomyocyte strain assay to translate genomic and proteomic findings to understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms (5) evaluate the clinical importance of plasma proteins and genetic variants in >3000 clinical cases. This research program is anticipated to result in new insights into the pathophysiology of heart failure and discovery of drug targets and clinical biomarkers.

The pressure attracts noticeable attention in the field of condensed matter physics because it can modify magnetic and electronic properties of the compounds. The external pressure can induce both structural and magnetic phase transitions giving experimental access to novel magnetic phenomena. This makes pressure a promising tool to customize the magnetic properties of solid-state compounds both at the base and finite temperatures. However, no comprehensive study has been done so far on the investigation of the pressure effects on overall magnetic properties such as Hamiltonian, magnetic structure, and critical behavior of a model magnetic system. I address these issues in the PRESSMAG project which explores “the pressure effects on magnetic properties of an ideal quasi-2D planar antiferromagnet BaNi2V2O8 at the base and finite temperatures”. First, I will solve the magnetic structure and Hamiltonian of BaNi2V2O8 under applied pressures and then will study the critical behavior of BaNi2V2O8 under applied pressures using both neutron and x-ray scattering techniques. In particular, the PRESSMAG project will study for the first time the pressure effects on the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thousless phenomena, whose signatures were recently discovered in BaNi2V2O8. Finally, the small-angle-neutron-scattering technique will be used to image the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thousless vortices in vacuum and under applied pressure.