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Prosjektet «Wheelchair Activity Monitoring» (WHAM) sikter både på å øke fysisk aktivitet blant rullestolbrukere, og på å bidra til bredere mål om mangfold og inkludering av personer med nedsatt mobilitet, ved å fremme større tilgjengelighet og deltakelse gjennom innovativ teknologi og forskning.

Rullestolbrukere er tre til fem ganger mindre aktive enn den generelle befolkningen, noe som øker risikoen for å utvikle forebyggbare sykdommer. Selv om det finnes retningslinjer for fysisk aktivitet som er tilpasset rullestolbrukere, trenger vi fortsatt effektive måter å implementere disse på samt nøyaktig teknologi for å spore mulige endringer i fysisk aktivitet. WHAM har som mål å bidra til økt fysisk aktivitet blant rullestolbrukere ved å lage digitale verktøy for å monitorere og gi tilbakemelding på rullestolbrukerens aktivitet. WHAM består av tre faser: to år ved University of British Columbia (UBC), som inkluderer et samarbeid med eksperter innen atferdsendrings-intervensjoner for rullestolbrukere; ett år ved Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet (NTNU) og et halvt år ved Maastricht Instruments - de to siste fasene er viet til å utvikle de digitale teknologiene. 

WHAMs mål er:
1)	Å teste effekten av et treningsprogram på fysisk aktivitetsnivå og fitness blant rullestolbrukere,
2)	Å utvikle nøyaktige algoritmer for monitorering av fysisk aktivitet blant rullestolbrukere,
3)	Å lage et system som både monitorerer og gir tilbakemelding på fysisk aktivitet blant rullestolbrukere.

Wheelchair users (WCU) are three to five times more inactive than the general population, leading to a high risk of developing preventable secondary conditions. Although physical activity (PA) guidelines have been specifically developed for WCU, we lack systematic approaches to implement them in practice, as well as valid algorithms to monitor PA change in WCU through sensor-based solutions. Accordingly, the overall scientific aim of the WHeelchair Activity Monitoring project (WHAM) is to advance PA research and practice in WCU by developing valid digital markers for monitoring of and providing feedback on PA, paving the way for implementation and intervention. I will accomplish this through combining the complementary research fields of 1) behavioral intervention studies focusing on increasing PA in WCU (core competence University of British Columbia, UBC; outgoing phase) and 2) sensor-based PA monitoring (core competence Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU; returning phase – consolidated by non-academic placement at Maastricht Instruments, which develop research prototypes including PA monitors). WHAM’s scientific aim is achieved through three objectives: 1) Measure the effect of a pragmatic exercise intervention trial on self-reported physical activity levels and cardio-respiratory fitness, 2) Develop valid algorithms for tracking PA markers in WCU, and 3) Co-create
a framework that outlines how PA can be conjointly monitored and provided feedback on in WCU. This fellowship will enable me to become established as an internationally recognized researcher in the field of “physical activity and disability”, while bringing together ongoing national disjointed research activities in this field. Altogether, my overall ambition is to contribute to reducing inequalities in daily-life participation among WCU compared to the rest of the population.

Topfinancing - WHeelchair Activity Monitoring project (WHAM)

Hovedmålet med kreftbehandling er å eliminere kreftceller og dette er tradisjonelt oppnådd ved kirurgi, bruk av giftige medikamenter (cellegift) og stråling. En ny og betydningsfull tilnærming til kreftbehandling kalt immunterapi, har derimot fått mye oppmerksomhet det siste tiåret; Her forsøker leger og forskere å utnytte immunsystemet vårt for å målrettet  ødelegge kreftceller. En nøkkelaktør i denne banebrytende tilnærmingen er en gruppe «drapsmenn» i immunsystemet kjent som cytotoxiske T-lymfocytter (CTL-er). Disse cellene har en bemerkelsesverdig evne til å oppdage kreftceller ved å gjenkjenne unormale molekyler på overflaten av kreftcellene - molekyler som friske celler ikke har. Når CTL-er gjenkjenner kreftcellene ødelegger de dem ved å frigjøre giftige molekyler som initierer kreftcellenes selvdestruksjon. 
 
Selv om betydelige innsats har blitt dedikert til å forstå hvordan CTL-er aktiveres og hvordan de gjenkjenner kreftceller, vet vi mindre om de påfølgende hendelsene inne i kreftcellene som fører til deres død. Fra før vet vi at CTL-er kan initiere to forskjellige typer celledød i kreft: den første, kalt apoptose, er en stille og ordnet prosess der kreftcellene krymper og brytes opp uten å varsle immunsystemet; den andre, kalt pyroptose, er en mer dramatisk prosess som involverer dannelse av åpninger i cellemembranen, noe som fører til at cellene svulmer opp og sprekker. Under denne cellebristen blir innholdet inne i cellene frigitt i omgivelsene, og dette kan fungere som 'faretegn' som kan stimulere en sterkere immunrespons mot kreftcellene. Betydningen av denne cellebristen for å forsterke anti-tumorresponsene vil bli undersøkt i dette prosjektet. 
 
Videre er vi fascinert av muligheten for å avdekke ytterligere, ennå ukjente, former for celledød indusert av CTL-er. Utforsking av disse dødsrelaterte prosessene i kreftcellene kan potensielt øke effektiviteten av immunterapi og bidra betydelig i den pågående kampen mot kreft.

The primary goal of most cancer therapies is to induce cancer cell death. Immunotherapy relies on the cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes such as natural killer cells (NKs) and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) to achieve this. While a significant amount of research in immunotherapy focuses on the events within cytotoxic lymphocytes or at the interface between cytotoxic lymphocytes and cancer cells, less is known about the molecular mechanisms that orchestrate cancer cell death, particularly in the case of CTL-mediated death.
CTLs are known to induce two types of cell death in cancer: non-inflammatory apoptosis and proinflammatory pyroptosis. Pyroptotic cancer cells release proinflammatory signals that attract immune cells to the tumor site, thereby enhancing the anti-tumor response. Cell lysis is a common outcome of pyroptotic cell death. It is unclear whether lysis can be decoupled from pyroptosis in cancer cells and whether the proinflammatory properties of pyroptotic cancer cell death depend on lysis. Moreover, it remains unknown whether CTLs can induce other forms of cell death in cancer, apart from apoptosis and pyroptosis.
Studying the mechanisms of CTL-mediated cancer cell death is challenging because CTLs selectively target cells expressing specific antigens. However, given the critical role of CTLs in immunotherapy, it is essential to deepen our understanding of CTL-induced cancer cell death.
This project aims to develop novel methodologies to investigate the death mechanisms that are initiated by CTLs. In addition, we will identify new pathways and mediators involved in CTL-induced cancer cell death. Furthermore, we will assess the contribution of proinflammatory cell death and lysis in promoting anti-tumor responses in vivo. Overall, this research will improve our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of CTL-mediated cancer cell death and potentially reveal novel targets to enhance the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.

T-cell-mediated proinflammatory cell death and lysis in cancer

Wheelchair users (WCU) are three to five times more inactive than the general population, leading to a high risk of developing preventable secondary conditions. Although physical activity (PA) guidelines have been specifically developed for WCU, we lack systematic approaches to implement them in practice, as well as valid algorithms to monitor PA change in WCU through sensor-based solutions. Accordingly, the overall scientific aim of the WHeelchair Activity Monitoring project (WHAM) is to advance PA research and practice in WCU by developing valid digital markers for monitoring of and providing feedback on PA, paving the way for implementation and intervention. I will accomplish this through combining the complementary research fields of 1) behavioural intervention studies focusing on increasing PA in WCU (core competence University of British Columbia, UBC; outgoing phase) and 2) sensor-based PA monitoring (core competence Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU; returning phase – consolidated by non-academic placement at Maastricht Instruments, which develop research prototypes including PA monitors). WHAM’s scientific aim is achieved through three objectives: 1) Measure the effect of a pragmatic exercise intervention trial on self-reported physical activity levels and cardio-respiratory fitness, 2) Develop valid algorithms for tracking PA markers in WCU, and 3) Co-create a framework that outlines how PA can be conjointly monitored and provided feedback on in WCU. This fellowship will enable me to become established as an internationally recognized researcher in the field of “physical activity and disability”, while bringing together ongoing national disjointed research activities in this field. Altogether, my overall ambition is to contribute to reducing inequalities in daily-life participation among WCU compared to the rest of the population.

WHeelchair Activity Monitoring project (WHAM)

Information theory is a discipline at the intersection of statistics, engineering and computer science. As the study of information quantities, such as compression or communication capacities, information content or measures of statistical dependency, it is one of the theoretical underpinnings of data science.

Computational problems in information theory are highly non-linear. The goal of this project is to transfer state-of-the-art methods of computational non-linear algebra to information theory, to study the inherent algebraic complexity of information-theoretical problems and to provide tools for solving them in practice. The algebraic point of view has proven to be fruitful in seemingly unrelated areas, as witnessed by a surge of recent work in algebraic statistics, in particular on likelihood geometry. However, maximizing the likelihood function is the same as minimizing relative entropy — a specific information quantity. Hence, this project also aims at generalizing the techniques developed in likelihood geometry.

One focus is on the practical computation of information quantities using numerical and differential algebraic geometry. Such quantities are defined via non-linear optimization problems and we aim to pinpoint the algebraic complexity of these problems in instances of general interest, such as common information measures. The final objective is finding fundamental laws and limits of data science imposed by non-linear inequalities constraining the entropic region. These inequalities provide, by duality, universal bounds for many of the optimization problems studied in information theory.

Algebraic Theory of Information Quantities

Per- og polyfluorerte stoffer (PFAS) er en stor gruppe menneskeskapte kjemikalier med høyt fluorinnhold som antas å ha negative helseeffekter. Kilder til PFAS kan være produksjon av vann-, varme- og flekkbestandige produkter og disse kjemikaliene er en del av hverdagen vår. PFAS påvirkning av biologiske systemer er ikke fullstendig forstått. Noen PFAS er antatt å øke risikoen for å utvikling av ikke-alkoholisk fettleversykdom (NAFLD) og øke risikoen for diabetes. 

For å forstå hvordan PFAS påvirker organene våre ønsker vi å bruke små laboratoriedyrkede organmodeller, kalt organoider. Disse miniatyrorganene kan dyrkes fra menneskelige stamceller og tilbyr et kontrollert miljø for å studere hvordan PFAS påvirker f.eks lever og bukspyttkjertelen vår, uten bruk av dyreforsøk.

For å studere helseeffekter må vi kunne måle nivået av biomolekyler som fettstoffer i leveren og hormoner i bukspyttkjertelen. Til dette trenger vi å utvikle analytiske verktøy for å måle effektene. Først vil vi bekrefte at når leverorganoidene eksponeres for enkelte PFAS-forbindelser utvikles det NAFLD-lignende sykdom ved å sammenligne den biokjemiske profilen (proteiner og metabolitter) til organoider av lever med PFAS-eksponerte organoider. Deretter vil vi utvide den analytiske verktøykassen for å undersøke hvilke metabolske veier som påvirkes, og om effekten er den samme i NAFLD-induserte og PFAS-eksponerte organoider. Vi vil også eksponere insulinproduserende bukspyttkjertelorganoider for PFAS for å undersøke effekten av PFAS på hormonproduksjon. Når effektene av PFAS-eksponering på lever- og bukspyttkjertel-organoider er etablert, vil organoidene bli samkultivert i en chip, og effektene av PFAS-eksponering vil bli undersøkt og sammenlignet med individuelle organoider.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are believed to contribute to metabolic diseases, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 1 diabetes. HE-POP aims to investigate the effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS), a type of POPs), on organ function in a controlled environment.

Organoids are multicellular laboratory-grown miniature organs, that are grown from stem cells. HE-POP will use organoids to examine how PFAS affects our organs and develop cutting-edge bioanalytical tools and methodology to measure these effects using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. HE-POP hypothesizes that PFAS negatively affects organ function, as evidenced by changes in hormone and lipid levels characteristic of NAFLD and type 1 diabetes. 

Organoids offer a controlled environment to study the effects of PFAS on the liver and pancreas, without the use of animal models. HE-POP aims to gain evidence of the negative effects of PFAS on organ function through controlled experiments on organoids and aid in understanding the biological mechanisms underlying NAFLD and type 1 diabetes.

HE-POP has fundaments in UN sustainable development goals, specifically #3, #12, and #14/15, seeking an understanding of diseases with worldwide prevalence, and understanding how POPs affect our life and surroundings and help enable the right regulatory actions and replacement chemicals.

HE-POP: Studying the Health Effects of Persistent Organic Pollutants, Using Mass Spectrometry, Organoids, and Organ-On-A-Chip

Norge har under Parisavtalen påtatt seg en forpliktelse til å redusere klimautslippene sine med minst 55 prosent innen 2030 sammenlignet med nivået i 1990. Hittil har vi kun oppnådd 5 prosent av dette målet; vi har følgelig kun syv år på å redusere de resterende 50 prosent for å imøtekomme målene. For 2050 har vi satt oss enda større mål: å redusere klimautslippene med hele 90 prosent. Bakgrunnen for målene er at vi prøver å unngå de verste scenarioene FNs klimautvalg skisserer opp i sine rapporter. I tillegg har energiforbruket økt, og prognosene fra Statnett for ulike scenarier viser at energiforbruket skal fortsette å øke. Vi trenger følgelig mer energi. Dette har bidrat til at diskusjoner rundt kjernekraft i Norge er høyaktuelle og pågående. Norsk Kjernekraft AS har blitt opprettet med formål om å bygge Norges første kjernekraftverk. I tillegg ble det i fjor også bevilget 200 millioner kroner fra Regjeringen til et nytt senter som skal drive med nukleær forskning. Målet er å styrke den norske kunnskapsberedskapen på det nukleære området. Dette betyr at vi beveger oss i en retning hvor kjernekraft en dag kan bli aktuelt i Norge, og noen mener at dette er den eneste veien å gå hvis vi skal nå målene våre for 2050. Men i dag sitter vi med flere spørsmål enn svar, blant annet: Hvilken teknologi og leverandør burde vi velge? Er regelverket for snevert og strengt? Hvordan kan dette gjøres og samtidig ivareta sikkerhet? Hvordan tjener et kjernekraftverk penger?

Dette prosjektet skal svare på samtlige av disse spørsmålene i en detaljert og omfattende analyse. Her bruker vi grunnlagsdata til å vurdere dagens forskning opp mot hvordan industrien i andre land opererer, og ut ifra dette forsøke estimere hva risikoen knyttet til å bygge kjernekraft som industri i Norge er. Prosjektet sikter på å gi et så helhetlig bilde som mulig slik at vi kan gjøre oss opp en mening basert på fakta; om kjernekraft passer inn i miksen av det som utgjør norsk energi.

Denne prosjektbeskrivelsen skisserer forskningen Vala Maria Valsdottir (omtales herunder som stipendiaten) skal utføre innenfor sin doktorgradsavhandling. Prosjektet skal være en del av Senter for nukleær forskning (SNF) som fikk midler vinteren 2023.
Ph.d.-prosjektet er initiert av Inmeta Consulting AS, som igjennom denne ph.d.-stillingen vil bli en del av SNF. Inmeta planlegger en prosjektperiode på fire år, hvor stipendiaten arbeider 75 % med ph.d.-prosjektet og 25 % med vanlig virksomhet hos Inmeta. 
Prosjektet skal undersøke muligheten for kjernekraft som industri i Norge. Dette er både en samfunnsaktuell problemstilling samt en som medlemmene i SNF er interessert i å utforske. Stipendiaten kommer derfor til å samarbeide med alle aktørene som er involvert i senteret og benytte forskningsdata fra dem. Dette gjelder da spesielt Institutt for energiteknikk (IFE) som har mest grunnlagsdata som er relevant for dette prosjektet.
Kandidaten ferdigstilte en masteroppgave høsten 2020 i kjernefysikk på Universitetet i Oslo (UiO) og har derfor gode og relevante grunnkunnskaper for å ta på seg et slikt prosjekt. I tillegg har kandidaten tre års erfaring innenfor energibransjen, og er derfor oppdatert på industrien og forstår deres problemstillinger godt.

Er kjernekraft aktuelt for Norge?

InART is recognized as one of the main conference series in the field of Heritage Science and since its first edition in 2013 (Evora, Portugal) it mainly focused on the contribution of natural sciences to the field. A major change occurred after the COVID-19 pandemic, when a greater number of researchers from different branches of heritage science participated in InART 2022 (Paris, France). 
InART is an open platform for knowledge-sharing among professionals in the field of Heritage Science, including conservation.
These aspects are covered by the main conference topics:
•	Development of new tools (devices, technology, software, etc.), advanced data analysis and FAIR data management
•	Development and/or implementation of new methods and routines (diagnostic and conservation) for the understanding of heritage materials, techniques, and degradation processes (chemical, physical and biological)
•	Development, testing (includes mechanical testing), and characterization of new materials for conservation (special attention to green conservation treatments)
•	Application of non-invasive/non-destructive techniques
•	Preventive conservation: environmental monitoring techniques and climate/microclimate effects on the conservation of heritage sites and exposed objects.

Heritage science is a highly multidisciplinary research field. Consequently, topics covered during the InArt2024 conference can be approached from different points of view and the conference aims to merge natural sciences and conservation, providing a dynamic space for active interaction, scientific exchange, and debates on the central issues of heritage science research. InART2024 welcomes contributors from diverse fields to join and create an interdisciplinary discussion about cultural heritage conservation within the fields of archaeological objects, artworks, built heritage, etc.

6th International Conference on Innovation in Art Research and Technology

Potetskrell, et biprodukt fra industriproduksjon av potet (pommes frites, flak, chips mm.) er en råstoff ressurs som kan bli bedre utnyttet til nye formål. Skrellet er nemlig en rik kilde på antioksidanter, stoffer som planter naturlig har i seg for å beskytte mot skadelige UV-stråler og reaktive forbindelser som oksygen radikaler. Antioksidanter behøver vi også å tilsette i matvarer for å beskytte og ta vare på umettet fett så det ikke blir harskt og vondt i kontakt med luft. I dag brukes flere ulike syntetiske stoffer i matvarer for å hindre oksidasjon av fett og oljer. Men det er reist bekymring rundt sikkerheten for bruken av dem. Matvareindustrien, myndigheter og forbruker ønsker derfor å fjerne flere syntetiske antioksidanter og erstatte dem med naturlig alternativer. Det er imidlertid svært få slike produkter som er godkjent og tilgjengelig på markedet. Prosjektet Peel Preserve, som har et klart bærekraft mål, skal vise om et uttrekk av antioksidanter laget på industrielt potetskrell råstoff kan fungere som konserveringsmiddel og erstatte noen av de stoffene som brukes i dag. Tre næringsmiddelbedrifter skal teste potetskrell-ekstraktet i noen av sine produkter og utføre både interne og eksterne analyser på effekten. Men en viktig forutsetning for at potetantioksidant kan tas i bruk som nytt tilsetningsstoff i mat er at det blir godkjent av den Europeiske matsikkerhets myndigheten (EFSA) og gitt et E-nummer. Prosjektet skal igangsette denne lengre flertrinns godkjennings prosessen. Parallelt skal det utvikles en forretningsmodell og nødvendig beskyttelse rundt teknologien. Dersom industrien etter testingen av potetantioksidanten, vurderer denne som er god erstatning til konkurransedyktig pris, og en EFSA-godkjenning kan oppnås på sikt, åpner det for å kommersialisere et naturlig plante-basert produkt til beste for forbruker og for miljøet. Bak prosjektet Peel Preserve står Høgskolen i Innlandet i samarbeid med Nofima og Klosser Innovasjon.

Preserving foods with potato peels: Industry-relevant validation and first regulatory assessment of a new natural antioxidant

Applied Biocatalysis is the development through science and engineering of useful biological catalysts and their commercial applications. The BNCM 2024 conference has an intention to gather approx. 100 international and national scientists from academia and industry in addition to PhD students from the international community. BNCM 2024 will be the 7th in this series of meetings with attendees from both academia and industry presenting and discussing the newest research in enzyme catalysed reactions in other media than water. The conference series was started in 1986 by professors Hans Tramper and Urs von Stockar, University of Wageningen, the Netherlands, and has later been chaired in Russia, Italy and Germany before Elisabeth Jacobsen at NTNU was give the honor of chairing the conference.  Collaboration in biocatalysis research has been supported by EU Frameworks as three subsequent COST actions. The first action, COST Action D25 "Applied Biocatalysis. Stereoselective and environmentally friendly reactions catalysed by enzymes " (2001-2007) was initiated and chaired by professor Thorleif Anthonsen, NTNU, the founder of the Biocatalysis Group at NTNU, which the project leader of this conference now chair. The strategy of applied biocatalysis fits well under the definitions of white biotechnology and Sustainable chemistry (Suschem) and fits also well with the EU Green Deal Strategy.

7th International Conference on Biocatalysis in Non-Conventional Media

InterNASH - An intercellular-pathway therapeutic for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

Midlene fra IKTIP-Innovasjonsprogrammet IKT fordelt på år

Midlene fra IKTIP-Innovasjonsprogrammet IKT fordelt på fylker

Midlene fra IKTIP-Innovasjonsprogrammet IKT fordelt på fagområde

Chief Scientist

SECURIS - Model-driven development and analysis of secure information systems

The impact of climate change on water quality and quantity is an important societal concern. The duration, magnitude and frequency of droughts are increasing due to the climate change. Water electrolysis is a rising method for hydrogen production and clean water supplies will become of vital importance. ATMOS aims to further develop and improve a method of technological interest for areas where clean water resources, as well as grid infrastructure are limited or non-existing. ATMOS is developed in UiO and is a solar-powered water electrolysis system, which can produce renewable fuels (H2) from atmospheric humidity and sunlight. Humidity is the water source in this system and it is always present in air. 

More specifically, ATMOS is a photoelectrochemical water vapor electrolysis device, in which the traditionally used aqueous electrolytes are replaced by polymer proton conducting membranes (PCM). The PCM provides also separation of the oxygen and hydrogen evolving sides and support to the anode and cathode electrodes. The electrodes in this solid-state photoelectrochemical (SSPEC) device are comprised of photoactive materials based on earth-abundant elements. Especially the photo-anode is based on TiO2, which is a well-studied photocatalyst. Its main drawback is the low light absorption efficiency, which is restricted to the UV region only. To this end, the IMM group from the University Paris Diderot specializes in the visible light sensitization of TiO2 with quantum dots, which are synthesized by soft chemistry routes. 

ATMOS seeks the improvement in the efficiency of the novel SSPEC water vapor electrolysis system by an international collaboration between two research groups of complementary expertize. Moreover, the scientists involved in ATMOS will benefit from the international mobility both from a scientific point of view, as well as from a cultural. Ultimate outcome of ATMOS is common publications and an EU proposal for extended follow-up activities.

Solar-powered H2 production from atmospheric humidity: A novel system to generate renewable fuels in deserted and off-grid areas

As stated above, the scientific exchanges will serve a two-fold objective. The first objective is a generic scientific exchange between the research groups, to foster collaboration on topics such as the creation of multilingual dialogue corpora or the development of socially-competent spoken dialogue systems. The four partners to the project share a common scientific interest in the computational study of human-human and human-machine dialogues.  In particular, the creation of multilingual dialogue corpora is a research topic of special interest to the project partners.  While large multilingual text corpora have become a common resource in the last years, very few of these resources focus on conversations. This scarcity remains an important bottleneck both for foundational research and the development of practical applications.

The second project objective will focus on writing a project proposal to Horizon 2020 on the automatic analysis of emergency calls. Medical emergencies are often characterised by numerous uncertainties, as the emergency operators need to assess a complex medical situation based on a single information source, namely the account of patients or eye witnesses on the phone. These callers are often under high levels of psychological stress and typically have no medical training. Based on the collected information, the operators must quickly decide how to handle the situation and dispatch medical resources (such as doctors or ambulances) accordingly. Harnessing this combination of high uncertainty and strong time constraints is a demanding task which is subject to considerable cognitive and emotional load. The proposed exchange will allow us to prepare in 2019 a concrete project proposal that will investigate whether novel technological solutions (drawing upon speech and language technology, machine learning and dialogue modelling) can help make emergency response services more reliable and effective.

French-Norwegian Research Effort on Applied Dialogue Modelling

An active fluid denotes a suspension of agents (particles, macromolecules, bacteria, or cells) that are able to convert energy into individual propulsion (for bacteria or cells this is internal chemical energy). Such self-propelled agents generally exhibit collective behavior (swarming).  This project will explore active motion and swarming in complex non-Newtonian fluids. Sofar no thorough study has been done to for example really understand the behavior of active bacterial fluids when the suspending fluid is non-Newtonian. From a practical point of view this has a tremendous importance as many biological fluids in the body are non-Newtonian and there is a growing medical interest in understanding how bacteria are transported in lumen (intestine or ureter) or may eventually cross mucus barriers and provoke serious diseases. Furthermore, bacteria are currently being explored as a potential medicament vectors in the perspective of personalized medicine , and more recently magnetotactic bacteria were used to directly search and destroy cancer cells .
   The project is further relevant to understand bacterial contamination of food or cosmetics, contamination and decontamination soils and aquifers, which all involve confined bacterial motion in complex fluids. The project also connects to materials science and self-assembly of functional meso-scale structured materials. The research will involve studies of both living active matter (ESPCI) and synthetic non-living model systems of active matter (NTNU). Two main active fluid systems will be studied: bacterial suspensions including magnetotactic bacteria  (ESPCI), and suspended electro-hydrodynamically driven colloidal rotors emulating collective behavior of bacterial swarms (NTNU).  Different complex fluid environments will be tested, in particular colloidal clay fluids/gels (NTNU).

Swimming and swarming in complex fluids

The use of biomass as an alternative raw material to fossil resources is of great interest for the industry. Lignocellulosic biomass consists mainly of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose. Various treatments (mainly thermal) allow the depolymerization or deconstruction of these solid materials and the separation into major constituents. Sugars (glucose, xylose etc) are obtained as a result of acidic or enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose, which in turn serve as reagents for the synthesis of "platform" molecules such as polyols (xylitol, sorbitol and glycerol). The oxidation products of these compounds, in particular acids and carboxylic diacids, lead to the formation of important compounds for various applications ranging from cosmetic and detergents (surfactants) to bio-sourced polymers Non-thermal activation methods, such as electrochemistry and sonochemistry (power ultrasound in chemistry), are known to increase the catalytic activity of biomass conversion while allowing excellent control of the selectivity. These two methods allow very high potential for use in the fields of organic synthesis and catalysis. The development of these non-thermal activation methods is also a very important research area towards a transition to cleaner and more sustainable chemical processes. In this project it is proposed to study the mechanisms and selectivity of conversion of cellulosic biomass-derived molecules under the combined effect of power ultrasound and electrochemistry. In order to carry out a fundamental study to understand the electrochemical conversion mechanisms under ultrasonic irradiation, both teams will lead work on targeted molecules: glucose, sorbitol and glycerol. From the proposers knowledge, no studies have been conducted to assess the use of power ultrasound for the electrochemical or sonoelectrochemical conversion of molecules from biomass.

Combining Electrochemistry and Ultrasound for Selective Biomass Conversion

The project represents new initiative of two teams at NTNU and at LIRMM for joining research activities in approaching one of challenges of modern robotics.  As outputs of the reciprocal visits, discussions and organization of experiments at NTNU and at LIRMM, we expect to reach the following:

- Several theoretical and experimental contributions that are to be prepared as at least two papers and to be submitted highly ranked journals in the robotics and control engineering subjects;

- International quality research training and networking for young researchers (and graduate students on sites) involved in the project; 

- Systematic integration of research activities of the teams for creating the solid background for new and forthcoming projects and EU initiatives

Computational Tools for Robotic Systems with Dynamic Constraints: Case Studies in Dynamic Manipulation

The Arctic charr is a salmonid that shows strong seasonal fluctuations in food intake. The charr has a deep resilience in response to periods of fasting indicated by a lack of central hunger signalling. The underpinning physiological mechanism of the strong tolerance to feed deprivation, however, remains enigmatic. The link between microbial communities and control of energy homeostasis is a late-breaking field of research in mammals but has to date received little attention in the field of fish physiology. During this exchange programme, we are going to run pilot experiments, test the feasibility of methods and design experiments that will give answer to the question whether and if, how, the intestinal microbial community of the charr is involved in the regulation of its seasonal feeding behaviour.

The overarching goal of the collaboration between the Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls sur mer (OOB) (Dr. Elodie Magnanou) and the Arctic Chronobiology and Physiology research group (Dr. Anja Striberny) is to develop a cutting-edge project to study appetite regulation and growth in salmonids that will be incorporated in a funding proposal.

Developing a new approach to improve the understanding of appetite control and growth in salmonids

Management of mixed species forest stands offers many advantages for the range of ecosystem services currently in the focus in Europe. We are currently studying the growth and management of even-aged mixed stands. Increasing interest for uneven-aged management across Europe makes it necessary to extend our knowledge about the effects of different forest structures to mixed forests that are uneven-aged and rich in vertical structure. 
We are particularly focusing on the growth of trees in these stand types and how growth and yield is affected by different thinning intensities. Thinning and selective cuttings change species composition, affect growth, and change stand structure. This important management action can therefore have substantial consequences for the ecosystem services provided by uneven-aged mixed forests.
We will use records from long-term sample plots as well as temporary sample plots to study growth and yield and how it is affected by thinning and selective cutting. We will also use terrestrial 3D laser scanning to describe tree crowns in order to better understand the underlying mechanisms causing stem growth reactions to thinning.

Growth and management of uneven-aged mixed forests

UiT The Arctic University of Tromsø is currently cultivating marine micro algae in large scale bioreactors by using CO2 in flue gases from a local ferrosilicon plant. In order to monitor to content of potential toxic metabolites in the algae cultures, we want to study if culture extracts have any effects on the transriptomes of sea urchins. This assay is established at Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls in France. To monitor survival of sea urchin embryos is a quite course bioassay, while responses on gene expression on stress-response genes might reveal more subtle toxic effects. In this project we want to test the concept on one species, and if successful we will establish a larger scale project for monitoring diatoms cultivated in the large scale bioreactors in Tromsø.

Toxicological tests for secondary metabolites produced by cultivated Arctic diatoms

Active perception by an automated movement of the 3D sensor mounted on a robot arm is essential for exploration of the scene and the object that needs to be manipulated. It is also a prerequisite for development of novel concepts for robotic automation and application of these in industries working with compliant objects such is the marine industry. Applications such as robotic sorting and manipulation involve a robot being able to interact (e.g. by grasping ) with compliant objects which are fragile and easy deformable. These objects may typically move or deform when interaction and manipulation is attempted. Given a 3D image acquired by a depth camera, one can compute the interaction vector (e.g. for the grasp), for the object of interest. Once interaction has begun, the object may become partially occluded and begin to move and deform. To both initiate the robot manipulation as well as the interaction phase, an active perception with robot by means of 3D visual servoing is necessary. Active perception enables a complete overview of the 3D structure of the object and makes possible to handle occlusion and deformation due to manipulation or movement. Research activity in activeVISION is therefore aimed at giving a robot the kind of interaction intelligence that human workers have, in order to enable robots to 'see' the scene and correctly identify and localize the objects of interest to be manipulated. 

By initiating this collaboration between INRIA Rennes-Bretagne Atlantique and SINTEF Ocean we aim a long-term collaboration and joint work towards novel concepts in active perception applicable and relevant for industries in France and Norway. Collaboration will be pursued in developing joint project applications for both H2020 program, financed by the EU commission, as well as relevant Norwegian national programs financed by the Research Council of Norway.

activeVISION - Active perception and 3D pose estimation of compliant deformable objects applicable to agriculture and ocean space sector

Over the past few years, devastating terrorist attacks have occurred across Europe. There is an urgent need for coordinated efforts across Europe to develop outreach strategies to provide high quality care and support for terror victims. 

The 2011 Norway attacks and 2015 Paris attacks killed many civilians and impacted thousands. The survivors, their close ones and the bereaved families were at risk of severe consequences, such as posttraumatic stress reactions, depression, traumatic grief and inability to work or study. Different intervention models were implemented after the Norway and the Paris attacks. There is a need for knowledge about to what extent the outreach strategies succeeded in providing care for the affected individuals. 

The unpredictability of terrorist attacks makes it extremely challenging to conduct methodologically sound research in the wake of such events. Yet it is essential to provide knowledge on the health care needs of affected individuals to develop post-terror outreach strategies to provide high quality care to individuals and communities affected by terrorism. 

Longitudinal studies of the health impact and psychosocial follow-up of the survivors of the terrorist attacks have been developed in Norway and France. The proposed project seeks to develop a long-term collaboration between the research teams conducting the studies in both countries. The Aurora exchange project will be a unique opportunity for the French and Norwegian research teams to jointly develop ideas and   collaboration with respect to post-terror research in an international context.Young researchers from both countries participate in the exchange, which will contribute to building capacity for the future. The overall aim is to generate knowledge that will improve the public health response to terrorist attacks across national borders.

IKTIP-Innovasjonsprogrammet IKT

SECURIS - Model-driven development and analysis of secure information systems

Awarded: NOK 7.6 mill.

Funding scheme:

IKTIP-Innovasjonsprogrammet IKT

Funding Sources

Thematic Areas and Topics