The project will examine representations of children and childhood in women’s fiction of the modernist period (c. 1890-1950). The concept of childhood became central to late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British culture, when the child-figure was used to explore important questions about identity and gender. Scientific investigations of children led to views of childhood as a developmental stage, the role of which was to prepare the child to become a rational and autonomous adult – characteristics associated with ideas of masculinity. The project explores how female fiction writers of the period reshaped and rejected male-centred scientific definitions of childhood in order to reimagine the child, making it a vehicle for feminist ideas and a propeller of new modes of representation. The project will pursue an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on expertise in literary studies, childhood studies, and feminist studies, acquired and consolidated through KU Leuven’s research centres: MDRN (focusing on modernist culture), and LCH2 (Leuven Centre for Health Humanities, with a special focus on representations of age). This expertise will primarily be developed by training-through-research under the supervision of Elke D’hoker, an expert on women’s fiction and modernist literature. The main deliverables will be two journal articles, a monograph proposal, and an edited collection, arising from an international symposium organised at KU Leuven. The research will also lead to the delivery of four conference papers, and communication to non-academic audiences through European Researchers’ Nights, a public lecture, a newspaper article, and a workshop for high school students.

Small-scale flow reactors for electro- and photochemistry support the shift in chemical manufacture towards green and sustainable processes based on renewable energy sources. However, the industrial application of these small-scale flow reactors is significantly limited by their currently achieved throughput and productivity. The MICRODISCO project aims to overcome these productivity limitations by exploiting the synergistic effect of ultrasound on intensified electro- and photochemical reactors. Specifically, we will gain a fundamental understanding of the underlying ultrasound physics and their interplay with reactor geometry, material and fluid properties, based on beyond state-of-the-art modeling and experiments (Objective 1). Subsequently, we will exploit this fundamental understanding to controllably excite ultrasound resonance modes to overcome species and electron/photon transport limitations in rationally designed intensified reactors. We will eliminate the diffusion limitation of electrochemical reactors for high-throughput self-supported organic synthesis by inducing active mixing via ultrasound resonance (Objective 2). Furthermore, we will increase light utilization and mass transfer in two-phase photochemical reactors by inducing the gas-liquid atomization phenomenon (i.e. to nebulize liquid droplets from the liquid slug into the illuminated gas bubble) via ultrasound resonance (Objective 3). The MICRODISCO project will provide fundamental understanding of ultrasound resonance modes and a theoretical tool for their prediction, leading to innovative and intensified electro- and photochemical reactors promoting green and sustainable chemistry.

Graphene, a single atom thick sheet of sp2-hybridized carbon, has recently attracted tremendous interest in both fundamental studies and potential applications due to its unique electronic, optical, mechanical and thermal properties. Despite these exceptional qualities however, some inherent characteristics of graphene itself preclude its widespread usage in technological applications. A prerequisite for the use of graphene in several low- as well as high-end applications is its controlled and reproducible functionalization in a nanostructured fashion, towards doping and band gap opening. Therefore, NGUEC aims to develop experimental protocols for controlled and reproducible functionalization and characterization of graphene in a nanostructured fashion by using chemisorption (covalent) strategies in combination with physisorption (non-covalent) approaches, relying on the power of electrochemical control. The efficiency of these approaches will be followed by combined cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical scanning tunnelling microscopy (EC-STM) and electrochemical Raman (EC-Raman). This is an interdisciplinary project centered at the interface between Supramolecular Chemistry, Electrochemistry, Materials Science and Nanoscience. The ultimate goal of the project is to allow the fellow to attain a position of professional independence at the forefront of future academic or industrial research efforts through a combination of hands-on experience in diverse research disciplines and training in complementary skills.