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Algebraic Theory of Information Quantities

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.

WHeelchair Activity Monitoring project (WHAM)

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.

EOSC Beyond: advancing innovation and collaboration for research

EOSC Beyond overall objective is to advance Open Science and innovation in research in the context of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) by providing new EOSC Core capabilities allowing scientific applications to find, compose and access multiple Open Science resources and offer them as integrated capabilities to researchers. To do so, EOSC Beyond supports a new concept of EOSC: a federated and integrated network of Nodes operated at different levels, national, regional, international and thematic, to serve the specific scientific missions of their stakeholders. Further specific objectives of the project are to accelerate ‘time to product’ of new scientific applications with software adapters, enable Open Science with machine composability and dynamic deployment of shared resources, support innovation in EOSC with a testing and integration environment, and align the EOSC Core architecture and specifications to integrate with European dataspaces. The project extends the state of the art of the EOSC Core and adopts a co-design methodology, including requirements elicitation, software development and validation in collaboration with different use cases from EOSC national and regional initiatives (e-Infra CZ, Czechia, NFDI, Germany, and NI4OS, South East Europe region), thematic research infrastructures from Social Sciences and Humanities (CESSDA), Life Sciences (CNB-CSIC and Instruct-ERIC), Environmental Science (ENES and LifeWatch), and Health and Food (METROFood-RI). EOSC Beyond builds on the capacities of prospective EOSC Nodes and partners with multi-annual experience in developing solutions for large-scale federated digital infrastructures and aligns with the technical architecture and requirements of data spaces from different business sectors. Ultimately, EOSC Beyond supports Open Science in modern, data-intensive, and multidisciplinary research, facilitating resource discovery, access, and reuse across scientific communities, organisations, and countries.


Harmonization of Advanced Materials Ecosystems serving strategic Innovation Markets to pave the way to a Digital Materials & Product Passport

The overarching objective of DigiPass is to enhance the digital maturity of the European communities that develop materials and intermediate products. The project will develop recommendations and clear routes toward digitalized circular business models. The overarching key result of DigiPass is to create a sustainable platform which includes support for Digital Materials & Product Passport and for collaborative innovation-by-design processes in a circular economy served by advanced materials. A business model for operating such a platform completes the overarching objective.
DigiPass is harmonizing and synergizing collected materials data sources and digital infrastructures. This will enable interoperability of data exchange, and standardization of advanced materials knowledge representation at all maturity levels. Accelerating the design, development, and production of advanced, safe, and sustainable chemicals and materials, as they are necessary for innovative products, calls for a collaborative approach involving different stakeholders to support durability, repair and overhaul, reuse, and recyclability of products. DigiPass project impacts all materials development communities over the whole circular value chain. 


Enhanced X(cross)-disciplinary Community-driven Imaging Technologies for Earth and Environmental material research

The EXCITE² Network is revolutionizing Earth and environmental material science research by consolidating a critical mass of 18 research facilities in 12 European and associated partner countries into a unified infrastructure and providing transnational access to advanced imaging technologies. This enables scientists to decipher complex processes within Earth materials at scales from nanometres to hundreds of centimetres, gaining unparalleled insight into the chemical and physical processes that govern, among others, environmental toxicity and its impact on human health, critical metal extraction for renewable energies, and the utilisation of Earth materials as long-term storage for climate-altering gases. The consortium fosters knowledge-sharing and talent attraction, bolstering the problem-solving capacity of the European Research Area. Moreover, EXCITE² is driving interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-fertilisation across academic institutions, scientific disciplines, and industry, propelling Europe towards a sustainable future. The initiative offers dedicated training programmes to a new generation of researchers within the European open science landscape, paired with access to world-class imaging facilities and expertise for problem-solving research and innovation. EXCITE² is introducing innovative service developments, such as artificial intelligence and leading-edge imaging experiments, to increase the user's problem-solving capacity. In addition, the consortium is implementing customised project valorisation strategies to maximize the impact of research outcomes in academia, society, and the economy. Citizen science projects allow the public to participate directly within the EXCITE² Network, contributing to solving EU challenges. As such, EXCITE² is paving the way towards a sustainable future, driving scientific excellence, and creating positive societal impact.

Engineering carbon quantum dots for zinc ion hybrid capacitors

Zinc ion hybrid capacitors (ZIHCs) integrate two energy storage mechanisms of battery-type electrode and capacitive electrode, bearing the advantages in energy density, power density, and safety. Until now, the cycle retention rate of ZIHC's capacity reported is still not more than 80%, restricting its development and commercial application severely. Focusing on the issue, the project aims at overcoming the limitation of traditional electrode materials and re-defining the designing concept to construct Carbon Quantum Dots (C-QDs) for ZIHCs. Advanced methods will be used to harvest carbon quantum dots from coal tar pitch (a sort of industrial solid castoff). The bulk sp2-carbon network, innumerable edge sites, profuse surface functional groups, and regular size ensures that as-synthesis C-QDs have high electrical conductivity, sufficient ion transport channels and rich adsorption sites. Moreover, the new concept of dynamic evolution is introduced for insight into the structure and interface failure of ZIHC's electrode. The interface-reconstruction mechanism and the attenuation model of capacity will be established for the first time. Further, the methods to strengthen structures of C-QD electrode will be developed based on a trade-off strategy. The ultimate goal is to improve the energy storage efficiency of ZIHCs by 20% and to increase their cycle performance more than 95% unprecedentedly. This research will develop long-running high performance ZIHCs, for contributing European energy storage industry. The ER will achieve abundant research experience and scientific skills from the project and the capability to launch her own research group in future.

IMProving User experience, Long-term sustainability and Services of EU-OPENSCREEN

EU-OPENSCREEN (EU-OS), the distributed European Research Infrastructure for Chemical Biology and early drug discovery, provides world-class services in high-throughput compound screening and medicinal chemistry to users from academia and industry. As one of the largest open-access initiative globally, EU-OPENSCREEN plays an increasingly important role in facilitating early stage drug discovery in Europe. It recently integrated fragment-based drug discovery and chemoproteomics as two new services, but the increasing complexity of modern drug discovery projects requires an even more comprehensive portfolio and integration of emerging technologies. To ensure that EU-OS continues to offer a comprehensive suite of relevant services and support a growing user community to conduct forefront research, IMPULSE will develop, validate and integrate new services in AI/ML, new chemical modalities, and innovative disease-relevant cell models combined with CRISPR-Cas9/RNAi-based genetic screening. IMPULSE will work towards the implementation of common operational and data standards to increase data reproducibility and FAIRness. Bespoke outreach and training activities will raise awareness among key user groups of its new services and advance operational excellence and reproducibility in pre-clinical drug discovery. New models for pre-competitive drug discovery with industry or charities, and growing ERIC member community will reinforce the sustainability and accessibility of EU-OPENSCREEN.

Aqua Research Infrastructure Services for the health and protection of our unique, oceans, seas and freshwater ecosystems

AQUARIUS will provide a highly comprehensive suite of integrated research infrastructures appropriate to addressing significant challenges for the long-term sustainability of our unique oceans, seas and freshwater ecosystems. For the first time, diverse research infrastructures will be combined to facilitate the work of researchers and key stakeholders focused on challenges and opportunities for both marine and freshwater systems. An impressive range of 57 research infrastructure services will be made available to include research vessels, mobile marine observation platforms, aircraft,  drones, satellite, sensors, fixed freshwater and marine observatories and test sites, experimental facilities, and sophisticated data infrastructures. AQUARIUS will support the development phase of the EU Mission to Restore our Ocean and waters by 2030, the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership, the European Green Deal, and international climate initiatives. It will also be an essential component in achieving the European Digital Twin of the Ocean and the UN Decade for Ocean Sciences. The needs of researchers will be met through a robust and transparent system of transnational access funding Calls, facilitated by centralised user-friendly access portal. The Call programme will be informed through stakeholder engagement and brokerage events. Projects to be selected for Access must convincingly integrate multiple infrastructures and contribute to the core policy objectives of Mission Ocean, that is, to protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity; to prevent and eliminate pollution of our oceans, seas and waters; and to ensure a sustainable, carbon-neutral and circular blue economy. A thematic and geographic focus will be the hallmark of the proposed transnational Calls, aligning with the Lighthouse Regions, that is, the Baltic and the North Sea Basins, Black Sea, Atlantic/Arctic, and Mediterranean Sea along with their associated rivers.

EOSC-ENTRUST: A European Network of TRUSTed research environments

The mission of EOSC-ENTRUST is to create a European network of trusted research environments for sensitive data and to drive European interoperability by joint development of a common blueprint for federated data access and analysis. 
Countries and institutions have made significant investments in secure and trusted data environments to meet the need for research and policy-driven analysis of sensitive datasets such as people's health and socio-economic status, the habitats of vulnerable species and geo-spatial locations of protected sites. There are now a large number of such secure environments in operation - linked to national centres, individual organisations or specific research communities. This fragmented landscape poses challenges for both users and providers: researchers are faced with a large number of different systems and access procedures; providers need to manage federated access across multiple, potentially incompatible, technology and governance frameworks.
EOSC-ENTRUST brings together providers of operational Trusted Research Environments from 15 European countries with a shared goal to implement, validate and promote their capabilities through a common European framework using shared standards and common legal, operational and technical language. This blueprint for interoperability is anchored in the EOSC Interoperability Framework spanning the four dimensions of Legal, Organisational, Technical and Semantic interoperability. EOSC-ENTRUST has identified four driver projects covering Genomics, Clinical trials, Social science, and public-private partnerships to benchmark capabilities, inform blueprint design and demonstrate secure  data analysis using federated workflows.
Targeted outreach activities will expand this open network with further providers and develop policy papers and guidelines for the full range of stakeholders to create a long-term operational TRE framework within the European Open Science Cloud.


Providing research infrastructure services to support Next Generation EU

This four-year project will harness outputs from key social science RIs in Europe and other reliable sources to support the aims of the ‘Next Generation EU’ programme and to inform EU youth policy. Virtual access will be provided to the outputs through special installations (portals) developed during the project. The core of the proposal is a set of existing research ‘services’, which will be re-purposed and customised to focus directly on the five themes: Make it Green; Make it Digital; Make it Healthy; Make it Strong; and Make it Equal. 

For each area, the consortium will work collaboratively to produce seven sets of resources:

i)	A searchable inventory of relevant variables drawn from multiple cross-national datasets; 

ii)	Analytical summaries, suitable for policy makers and analysts new to the field, as well as interactive resources available through the project portal;

iii)	Harmonised and merged extracts from these datasets that reduce the burden on analysts and increase sample sizes;

iv)	New data collected through the ESS’s established CRONOS web panel infrastructure. Eleven countries will field five waves of the panel, each one dedicated to a NextGenEU theme. Free and rapid access to the data will be available through the CRONOS portal alongside analytical summaries;

v)	In-person and virtual deliberative forums with young people (aged 18-34) in four countries covering the five Next Generation EU’ themes;

vi)	An educational tool (E-NextGen) channelling our data for use in classrooms and by the general public;

vii)	Comprehensive training materials related to all project outputs.


Midlene fra PETROMAKS-Maksimal utnyttelse av petroleumsreserver fordelt på år

Midlene fra PETROMAKS-Maksimal utnyttelse av petroleumsreserver fordelt på fylker

Midlene fra PETROMAKS-Maksimal utnyttelse av petroleumsreserver fordelt på fagområde

Seniorforsker

Prediction of deposition and transport of sand in sand-liquid flows (STRONG)

In recent years we have had a strong interest toward the development of methods for calculating higher-order molecular properties and vibrational contributions to these properties. The present proposal will seek to extend this work from scattering process es to absorption processes, and in particular to the study of vibronic effects on higher-order molecular properties.The work will be carried in close collaboration with the group of Prof.Marcel Nooijen at the University of Waterloo (Canada).

In one part of the project we will continue to develop and extend various approximations to the vibronic problem. This will in part include the development of new algorithms for solving the full vibrational problem, with the aim of increasing the size of the molecula r systems that can be handled, as well as develop faster algorithms for more approximate vibronic models, such as the Franck-Condon approximation. These developments will be made in the IBRON program system developed during the last 5 years in the researc h group of Prof.Nooijen, and the postdoc hired is expected to spend up to two years in this group before bringing the technology to Norway with a final year in the group of Prof.Ruud.

The second part of the project will be devoted to establishing the nec essary diabatization scheme in the Dalton quantum chemistry program in order to allow for the evaluation of the many properties accessible in Dalton. We also intend to extend Dalton to new higher-order properties for which vibronic effects are expected to  be important, such as Magneyic Circular Dichroism (MCD) and resonance Raman and resonance Raman optical activity. If time allows, vibronic contributions to technologically important processes such as two-photon absorption may also be considered.

Vibronic contributions to higher-order molecular properties

The research proposed in this project application complements ongoing activities on the use of chitooligosaccharides (CHOS) as environmentally friendly fungicides. CHOS inhibit chitinases, enzymatic systems that allows fungi to grow. The project focuses o n chemical approaches to production of functionalized CHOS, including the use of combinatorial chemistry. We have already set up for testing of anti-fungal activity, design, production and application of chitinases and other enzymes for the conversion of chitin and chitosan to CHOS, and advanced studies of enzyme-ligand interactions  using techniques such as mass spectrometry of non-covalent complexes, isothemral titration calorimetry and surface plasmon resonance. Naturally, isolated CHOS will have their  anti-fungal activity enhanced through modifications of functional groups. Especially, increasing the hydrophobicity of the CHOS and introducing point charges will increase the binding strength to chitinases since these to strategies are common for all en zyme ? ligand systems. Hydrophobicity will be introduced through the addition of fatty acids and alky chains. Point charges will originate from charged groups such as phosphates, sulphates, carboxylates, and quarternay amines. Screening of modified, stron g binding CHOS will take place by a newly developed method by our research group. The mixture of CHOS will be incubated with desired chitinases and the strongest binding CHOS will be detected as an enzyme ? ligand complex using mass spectrometry, and the structure of the CHOS will be determined by performing a top-down analysis in an MS-MS experiment. The strong binding CHOS will be purified using both size exclusion chromatography and affinity chromatography.

Environmentally Friendly Fungicides, Combinatorial Synthesis and Screening of Chitooligosaccharides

An application is made for a 2 years post doc position. The cooperation will primarily be between our lab in Oslo and with the lab of Directeur de Recherche CNRS, Dr. Jean-Claude Guillemin in Rennes, France. Directeur de Recherche CRNS, Dr. Jean Demaison,  Lille, will also take part in this cooperation, but to a lesser extent. 

We intend to study several unsaturated selenols, thiols, phosphines and tellurides. Most of these compounds have been synthesized by Guillemin, often for the first time. There is l ittle or no information available of the physical properties of these unsaturated compounds, which should be of general chemical interest. We also intend to study compounds of astrochemical and astrobiological interest. These compoudns will be made by Gui llemin. Microwave spectroscopy is employed in these studies, because the radioastronomical detection is in most cases made using such spectra. We have also planned to investigate N2O3, a compound of atmospheric interest, in collaboration with Demaison. An  investigation of the microwave spectrum of thioformaldehyde, an known astrochemical compund, is also planned in collaboration with Demaison and a group at Creteil, Paris.

Microwave studies of unsaturated compounds with hetero atoms, as well as molecules of interstellar and prebiotic interest

A new highly sensitive CCD Raman instrument with a CW laser and a pulsed laser has just been installed for the total cost around 8200 kNOK. The use of this Raman instrument in biological sciences, with large wavelength excitation range 205 to 1020 nm, for  obtaining specially resonances Raman is unique in the Nordic countries. At present no position or postdoctoral fellows is available for carrying out biological Raman experiments. We apply for two postdoctoral fellows and supply, they will mainly serve as  general biological resonance Raman resource persons for all universities in Norway and SCANBALT and additionally start setting up new techniques like magnetic circular dichroism at UiO. In a synergistic protein function and structure investigation effort  protein 3D structures will be examined by X-ray diffraction, in combination with high resolution optical, vibrational-Raman and paramagnetic spectroscopies with state-of-the-art functional and in vivo studies. 
Some of the direct planned experiments are 
- rRaman of several tyrosyl-radical from different sources ribonucleotide reductases p53R2 and other higher organism R2 protein; a novel Bacillus cereus R2  Also the oxygen to diferric centers charge transfer band will be investigated, as wells the holo- protein.
- Intermediate X (a Fe(IV)Fe(III)-oxygen state) in generation of the tyrosyl radical in ribonucleotide  reductases, a novel relative stable X intermediate will be studied. 
- Cytochrome cs and hemes with highly axial/anisotrop low spin (S=1/2) EP R signals will be studied in  Met-Sulfur to Fe charge transfer transitions around 690-720 nm, as well as heme core modes.
-Intermediates in myoglobin and nitric oxide synthase reaction with peroxides and oxygen, and effect of redox state change induced by  irradiation and start developing single protein crystal Raman 
- Small ligand interactions with DNA /models 
- Possibly mono-nuclear Fe proteins like AlkB and homologs as well as other mononuclear Fe protein

Personnel for biological Raman and magnetic circular dichroism studies

An interesting category of amphiphilic polymer systems are those that undergo phase transitions in response to environmental stimuli such as temperature and pH. These have been widely investigated for drug delivery, separations, and diagnostics applicatio ns. A key temperature-responsive class is based on alkyl acrylamide polymers, particularly poly(N-iso-propylacrylamide) (pNIPAAm), which at certain conditions may undergo a sharp coil-globule transition and phase separation at its lower critical solution temperature (LCST) in water. The LCST of such thermally sensitive polymers can usually be tuned to a desired temperature range, such as the body temperature.

Even a pNIPAAm polymer with grafted PEO chains (e.g., pNIPAAm-g-PEO) may, at elevated temperatur es, in addition to an intrachain coil-to-globule transition also undergo an interchain association to form a core-shell nanostructure with a hydrophobic pNIPAAm core and a soluble hydrophilic PEO shell. In aqueous solutions of this type of uncharged tempe rature-sensitive polymer, an intricate interplay between intrachain and interchain associations usually occurs at fairly low polymer concentration at elevated temperature. In order to suppress the interchain association, the Polymer Group at UiO has recen tly synthesized a novel charged temperature-responsive copolymer, which undergoes a sharp transition to a more open structure when the temperature is increased. This unique temperature-induced change of the polymer structure has not been reported before, and is at this preliminary stage ascribed to a delicate cooperation between charges and hydrophobic associations. This feature is interesting in connection with drug-release problems.

The aim of this project is to develop an understanding - both mechanis tic and applied - of different thermo-responsive polymers adsorbed to planar and particle substrates. Changes in structural end dynamical properties of the systems under various conditions will be examined.

Thermoresponsive Polymer Brushes on Nanoparticles and Surfaces

The principal objective is to discover and probe the chemical properties of the heaviest elements known, the transactinides.. The transactinides can only be produced artificially, since their nuclei are unstable and will disintegrate shortly after they ar e produced. They are, though, a unique testing ground for our current understanding and modelling of the elements as they lie at the extreme of the known part of the periodic table of the elements.

Thus, our current models about the chemical properties o f the elements can be tested to see if they breaks down for extremely heavy elements. For example, there are predictions that the relativistic part of the wave functions will become so dominant that it will change the classically predicted chemical proper ties. This project aims at investigating the chemical properties of the transactinides in the liquid phase, using our on-line and continuous liquid-liquid separation system SISAK.

This project is an extension of the already on-going project, NFR project number 166744, which started in January 2005. Since this project was initiated several new developments has occurred:

TASCA - a new gas-filled separator located at GSI, Darmstadt, has been built. The separator is dedicated to physics and chemistry transa ctinide experiments. The SISAK Oslo group is heavily involved, in particular in the design of the interface between the separator and chemistry apparatus. The Oslo group is the only group who have actually performed chemistry experiments on transactinides  after preseparation with such a device.

LBNL experiment campaign - we wish to perform several extensive transactinide experiments on Rf, Db and possible Sg at LBNL in 2007, in a 3-4 month long stay at LBNL.

Furthermore, of the three PhD students employ ed in 2005, one finished in November 2005, one during Summer 2006 and the last in October 2006. To keep up the momentum in the SISAK research group, it is important to employ new PhD students.

Exploring the chemistry of the heaviest elements with the automated liquid-liquid extraction system SISAK

Nytt prosjektsammendrag:
The global demand for aluminium and aluminium alloy products is increasing. When used in the automotive sector, this material can facilitate lower fuel consumption (less CO2 emissions), enhanced human safety and can easily be inte grated in modern low-weight, clean energy engine design transport vehicles. Since secondary aluminium can be produced at significantly less energy consumption (only 5% of primary metal production), it is obvious that recycling and up-grading secondary met al to high quality alloys is influencing the total spent energy. 
Hence, aluminium scrap accumulated in the market represents a very significant bank of energy and natural source. Due to these facts, it is important to develop real flow path models for th e metal recycling cycle. The present project aims to develop such flow path models and from detailed laboratory studies one will achieve new results for improved remelting techniques at higher output and less pollution from hazardous gas emissions. Other  goals will be to compare two different recycling routes (remelt vs. direct solid state recycling) and generally, to improve in the direction of sustainable societies.

Recycling of automotive aluminium

ECNS-2007, the 4th European Conference on Neutron Scattering, will be held in Lund, Sweden from 25th to 29th June 2007. This meeting is organised on behalf of the European Neutron Scattering Association (ENSA) by the Norwegian, Danish and Swedish Neutron Scattering Associations, and Lund University.

Neutron scattering brings together many scientific disciplines, and strong activities are now seen in diverse fields such as nanoscience, biology, material science and engineering.
Our ability to study, and s ubsequently control and develop, new materials and processes can be strongly enhanced by the unique information accessible through neutron scattering experiments. Based on the experience from the previous conferences, ECNS-2007 is expected to attract a la rge number of scientists. In particular students and postdocs - including several from Norway - will obtain important training in several topics from nanoscience due to the multidisciplinary character of the conference. 

This application concerns a reque st for a moderate amount, 80000 NOK to cover a part of the the cost for organizing the conference.

European Conference on Neutron Scattering

The high oil price and concern for CO2 emission make processes for conversion of natural gas to fuel and chemicals highly desirable. First generation catalysts and processes exists, UOP/Hydros MTO, Exxon/Mobile?s MTG, Haldor Topsøes TIGAS. All processes h ave a large potential for improvement, particularly regarding selectivity and deactivation.  The Catalysis groups at the University of Oslo and SINTEF in Oslo have 15 years of experience and leading knowledge in the MTO - process, including synthesis and characterisation of the related catalytic materials.  A recent major breakthrough in the fundamental understanding of acid catalysed reactions in zeolites has been achieved particularly as a result of the combination of computational and experimental studies.  We therefore now understand the mechanism of MTH reactions in zeotype materials to such a detail that we can modify, and hence improve, the materials in a planned, systematic way.  This application is for founding one PhD  student, and expenses for the support from the SINTEF group. Main activities will include:  *	Synthesis of modified CHA-type materials. *	Synthesis of new zeotype materials. *	Catalytic studies of methanol and methyl halide conversion over CHA-                type materials. *	Investigations of deactivation processes. *	Advanced characterization of acidity, (Turin, Italy) *	

Conversion of natural gas to hydrocarbons over acidic zeolite type catalysts.

The ISPAC-symposiums are arranged biannually, and are alternating between Europe and US/Canada.  The 21th symposium has been awarded to Norway. 
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology will hoist the symposium from August 5th to August 10th in 2007.  
The last symposium was hoisted in Toronto, Canada in 2005 and before that it was in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 2003.

The arrangement committee also has members from the University of Stavanger, Sør-Trøndelag University College, Chiron AS and S tatoil AS Miljø.  Thus the conference is a united effort of the Norwegian technical environments in this field of chemistry and environmental issues of PACs. 

The symposium covers most aspects of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs).  Proposed sessions i nclude:
1.	Occurrence and sources
2.	Metabolism and mutagenicity
3.	Human exposure and risk assessment
4.	Bio availability
5.	Environmental impact and biomarkers
6.	Atmospheric reactions of PACs
7.	Theoretical chemistry and modelling
8.	Formation and synt hesis
9.	Analytical methods
10.	Reference materials
11.	PACs in food

We expect between 250 and 300 participants mainly from Europe and US/Canada.

The symposium website will be at http://www.chem.ntnu.no/ISPAC21/

21th International Symposium on Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds, Trondheim, NORWAY, August 5th-10th, 2007

To gain a fundamental insight into temperature responsive polymer systems, we plan to carry out an extensive investigation on some novel thermoresponsive polymers. This project consists of three parts:

1. Shear-rate dependency of inter- and intramolecula r interactions in dilute solutions of amphiphilic polymers.
2. Characterization of new amphiphilic thermo-sensitive block copolymers.
3. Interaction between hydrophobically modified polymers and polycyclodextrins.

In the first part, we want to address th e very important issue in polymer science, namely to understand the delicate interplay between intramolecular- intermolecular associations in amphiphilic polymer systems. By using different shear rates, the influence of intra or interpolymer interactions in the association process can be tuned.

In the second part, we plan to investigate some completely new thermoresponsive copolymers. Our preliminary studies reveal that these polymers exhibit some unique conformational-transition features.

In the third part, we will study how the network strength can be tuned by the formation of bridges between adjacent polymer chains through some novel polycyclodextrin compounds. The possibility of forming polycyclodextrin bridges between colloidal particles (flocculat ion) with absorbed polymer brushes will also be investigated.

This project will be carried out in cooperation with international established scientists in Norway, Sweden, and Spain. Both experimental and simulation studies with be carried out in the proj ect to gain a deeper understanding og the phenomena.

Characterization of Novel Amphiphilic Polymer Systems.

The purpose of the project is to develop a flexible scheme for quantum-mechanical simimulations of the electronc structre of large molecules and periodic infinite systems such as crystals, implemented in a computer code. The simulations are to be carried out using self-consistent field theor: the Hartree-Fock independent-particle model and most important Kohn-Sham density-functional theory, the single most popular approach to the many-electron problem. An important feature of the proposed method is a very  high degree of flexibility, both with respect to the systems that can be treated (small and large molcules, periodic or nonperiodic), the underlying physical description (relativistic or nonrelativistic), and the properties that can be treated (geometric , electromagnetic, linear or nonlinear, static or dynamic). The central task of is the development of a highly efficient and flexible code for the generation of the Fock and Kohn-Sham matrices, which represent the effective one-electron potentials for the  electrons in the system. An essential requirement on the methods and the code  is that of linear scaling: the cost of the calculations should be proportional to the size of the system. This requirment is nontrivial: because of the complicated many-partic le interactions  in electronic systems,  care must be taken to avoid a nonlinear scaling with system size. In the present project, we shall take advantage of the  methods that have been developed over the last decade for linear scaling, developing these f urther and combining them with the know-how and technology already implemented in our own code Dalton for highly accurate calculations on small and medium-sized systems. The new code will provide a very useful set of tools for treating molecular systems a nd periodic systems, for the rigorous calculation of structure, excitation energies, nonlinear optical properties, and magnetic resonance parameters such as shielding constants and spin-spin cooupling constants.

Self-consistent field methods for periodic and non-periodic electronic systems

Department of Biotechnology at the Norwgian University of Science and Technology will, in the period of June 18-22 2006, be hosting the 8th International Hydrocolloids Conference. This is a true honour since for the first time one of these conferences is to be arranged in Europe, and we expect the number of delegates to be in the range of 175-250. 8IHC will cover all fundamental and applied aspects of biopolymers. Hydrocolloids, also known as Biopolymers, covers polymeric molecules of biological origin su ch as polysaccharides, proteins and nucleic acids. The ultimate goal of 8IHC is to highlight the adaptability of biopolymers towards present and forthcoming products due to their diverse chemical structure/sequence and functionality. Special emphasis will  be put on providing links between classical and evolving hydrocolloids product areas with highly expanding scientific technologies. Typical hydrocolloids product areas would be Food / Feed (inc. Functional), Neutraceuticals, Pharmaceuticals and Bio- and Veterinary Medicine. Highly expanding science areas are e.g. Bioactivity (Pre- Probiotics / Immunology), New Materials (Nanotechnology / Biopolymer   Engineering), Surface Properties (Flocculation / Emulsions) and Microstructuring (Phase Behaviour and Mol ecular Interactions).

Plenary and keynote lectures will begiven by invited and distinguished scientists, and in order to achieve a low registration fee we hereby apply to the Norwgian Research Council for partial funding of their travel and accomodation expenses, according to the enclosed conference budget.

Partial funding of Invited and Keynote Lecturers at the 8th International Hydrocolloids Conference

This project is related to a larger activity in plantwide control performed in group of Professor Sigurd Skogestad at NTNU. Plantwide control deals primarily with the structural issues of the control system, such as what to measure and control, which inpu ts to use, and how to pair these sets of variables. This is widely recognized as the most important issue for chemical process control (Seborg, Edgar and Mellichamp, 2004}, yet its theoretical basis remains quite weak, especially when compared with the la rge amount of work on optimization and controlled desigm (with the structure fixed).

We have also have close cooperation with other groups in the world, including Professor Morten Hovd at
Engineering Cybernetics at NTNU, Professor Bosgra and Grievink at TU Delft, Professor Pistikopoulos at Imperial College in London, Professor Morarti at ETH and Professor Marquardt at RWTH Achen.  In particular, there will be close interactions through the new EU-funded Marie Curie research training network, called PROMA TCH (2005-2008), which involves the groups at NTNU, Delft, Eindhoven, Aachen and Imperial College. 

The research challenges proposed for the Ph.D. projects include the following: 1. Effective offline generation and modeling of optimal solutions. 2. Model  reduction of soution. 3. Vayring setpoints. 4. Extensions of linear methods for selecting controlled variables. 5. Extensions of optimization methid for selecting controlled variables. 6. Dynamic self-optimizing control. 7. Case studies.

Near-optimal operation of chemical processes using feedback

The project undertakes fundamental investigations of hydrogen species in oxides; protons, neutral hydrogen, and hydride ions. 

The project will contribute to the long-term development and understanding of proton conductors (for fuel cells and electrolyze rs), hydrogen separation membranes, and novel hydrogen storage materials. It will also contribute to understanding the role of hydrogen in semiconducting oxides for electronics and solar cells.

The work will focus on thermodynamics, new experimental appr oaches, and seeking answers to current riddles regarding the stability of the neutral and reduced hydrogen species in oxidic environments. In particular the project will measure hydration enthalpies of acceptor-doped oxides by isothermal reaction calorime try, investigate hydration of grain boundaries, measure the concentration and thermodynamics of neutral hydrogen (atoms and/or molecules) in oxides, and measure the thermodynamics of hydride ions in oxyhydrides.

This broad approach will enable a fruitful  interdisciplinary investigation and discussion of hydrogen species in demanding cases such as wide bandgap semiconductors (e.g. ZnO), gate dielectrics (e.g. ZrO2) and novel transparent conducting oxides (e.g. Ca12Al14O33), and will integrate theory and m odelling with experimental studies. 

The project involves groups at the University of Oslo (UiO) specializing in hydrogen defects in oxides, materials thermodynamics and modelling, and on studies of hydrogen in semiconductors. It also embodies collaborat ion and visits to the other leading groups worldwide in the field.

Hydrogen in oxides

The "Shilov system" of aqueous Pt salts is capable of reacting with aliphatic and aromatic C-H bonds leading to value-added chemicals from cheap hydrocarbons. The first step in the Shilov system is the reaction of a Pt metal center with the C-H bond to pr ovide a Pt-C bond and a proton.
- This project focuses on the essential proton transfer reaction to and from the metal.
- Kinetic and mechanistic investigation on the nature of proton transfer reactions at Pt centers
- Kinetic and mechanistic investigatio n of proton migration between hydride, alkyl, and aryl groups that are bonded at the metal.
- State-of-the art multinuclear NMR and stopped-flow kinetic methods will be used.
- Fast kinetics will be investigated with the facilities of a collaborating grou p in Germany.

Proton Transfer Reactions at Pt Complexes that are Involved in Hydrocarbon C H Activation

It is proposed to investigate the mechanisms of heterogeneous reactions taking place between the important tropospheric constituents, NO2, NO, H2O2 and NH3 and certain simple carboxylic acids on water-ice surfaces. The systems employed will be relevant to  the characterization of "missing" atmospheric chemistry, which has been suggested to be driven by cirrus cloud particulates.  The core methodologies involved are based upon the successful water-ice, thin-film FT-RAIR studies and matrix isolation techniqu es previously performed in Professor Sodeau's laboratory. The experiments will be augmented by the complementary expertise possessed by Dr Hellebust to characterise ice surfaces and their catalytic activity by a variety of non-spectroscopic methods. Appro priate theoretical and empirical thermodynamic models will be used to consolidate the experimental results. All output information obtained will be made available to atmospheric modellers in order to improve our understanding of proposed sinks for the car boxylic acids and the release of compounds such as HONO by heterogeneous processes currently assessed to be important but with little confirmatory experimental proof.

Cirrus cloud mimic surfaces in the laboratory: organic acids, bases and NOx heterogeneous reactions

Free organic radicals and radical chemistry has a great and continuous increasing interest within a large variety of research areas. In order to satisfy the crucial interaction between researchers and research groups worldwide working within this research  topic. A request was directed to Scandinavian resrechers working within the area of organic free radicals to be hosts for the forthcoming EUCHEM conference on Organic Free Radicals (year 2006). This request was accepted, and the chairmen for the conferen ce are:

Professor Hans-René Bjørsvik, e-mail: hans.bjorsvik@kj.uib.no
Department of Chemistry, University of Bergen
http://kj.uib.no/personer/bjorsvik 

Professor Lars Engman, e-mail: Lars.Engman@kemi.uu.se
Department of Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Upp sala University
http://www.org.kemi.uu.se/Research/LarsE/LarsEngman.shtm 

Professor Troels Skrydstrup, e-mail: ts@chem.au.dk
Department of Chemistry, University of Aarhus
http://www.chem.au.dk/da/staff/?action=3&person_id=115

The invited pleanary lectur es are:
1.	JoAnne Stubbe (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) 
2.	Bernard. T. Golding (University of Newcastle upon Tyne) 
3.	David J. Procter (The University of Manchester) 
4.	Kim Daasbjerg (University of Aarhus) 
5.	Mukund Sibi (North Dakota State U niversity, Fargo) 
6.	Yvan Guindon (Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal) 
7.	Philippe Renaud (University of Bern) 
8.	Takeaki Naito (Kobe Pharmaceutical University)  
9.	Samir Z. Zard (Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau) 
10.	Chryssostomos Chatgilial oglu (CNR, Bologna)
11.	Carl H. Schiesser (University of Melbourne) 
12.	Vidar R. Jensen (University of Bergen)  
13.	Thomas Carell (Ludwig Maximilians Universität München)  
14.	Leif Hammarström (Uppsala University)  
15.	Max Malacria (Université Pierre et Marie Curie- Paris VI)

EUCHEM 2006 Conference on Organic Free Radicals

The long-term goal of the project is to systematically study the reaction pathways and activation sequences in empirically designed multicomponent Ziegler-Natta catalysts and, based on fundamental insights, to develop more efficient polymerization catalys ts.  The focus of the predominantly synthetic work lies on the utilization of tailor-made rare-earth metal components (keywords: alkylaluminates, half-metallocenes, alkoxides, and carboxylates) for examining the alkyl, hydride, and chloride transfer capab ility of tailor-made organoaluminum (cocatalyst) components.  Rare-earth metal centers are known not only to display highly active polymerization initiators but also to provide a favorable stereoelectronic environment for the isolation and spectroscopic/s tructural characterization of Ln-Al heterobimetallic complexes which can be seen as activation intermediates.  Correspondingly, the current project will also focus on the elucidation of supported rare-earth metal-based Ziegler-Natta catalysts according to  a surface organolanthanide chemistry (SOLnC).  Such unprecedented SOLnC involves periodic mesoporous semicrystalline silica of different topology (2D/3D hexagonal versus cubic) and pore configuration (channel- versus cage-like) as well as non-porous amor phous silica (aerosil) as support materials.  Homoleptic Ln(II) and Ln(III) alkylaluminate and heteroleptic half-metallocene complexes will be employed as discrete molecularly defined organolanthanide components.  Contemporary molecular oxo surfaces such as functionalized (silylated/alkylated) silsesquioxanes and calix[n]arenes are used for SOLnC modeling.  The initiator activity of all Ziegler systems, half-metallocene and model complexes as well as grafted rare-earth surface species will be examined for  the homo- and copolymerization of ethylene, propylene, 1-hexene, butadiene, styrene, acrylonitrile, acetylene, methyl methacrylate, and oxiranes.

Rare-Earth Metal-Based Ziegler-Natta Catalysts.
Structure-Reactivity Relations in Homogeneous and Heterogenized Catalysts

In the first stage of the project level of modeling will be selected and technical issues will
be addressed. The aim will be to use advanced representations of all components of the
CO2-amine-water system, while at the same time making sure calculations d o not become
too time consuming. Once level of modeling is settled the parameters needed for different
parts of the system will be determined.

In the second stage calculations will be carried out and results compared with available
experimental data. The  models will, if needed, be adjusted to achieve the best possible
overall agreement with experimental data.

Finally in the third stage the models will be used to obtain results and draw conclusions
from the model(s). The models are expected to provide in sight on effects of changes on
composition on equilibrium constants. The models should also provide information on
changes in equilibrium over temperature. For new solvents the model is expected to provide
insight on species formed and overall predictions  of reaction-rates and energy consumption.

The work will be carried out in cooperation with Professor Kenneth Merz. He is currently
at Pennsylvania State University but will be moving to the University of Florida. He has
done a lot of work on the modelin g in biochemistry. While the application of the modeling
is quite different in the present work the types of molecular interaction are of exactly
the same nature as found in biochemical systems. CO2, water, molecules with amine and
hydroxyl functionalitie s are all studied in biochemistry. The application of models from
biochemistry is therefore expected to be straightforward.

Molecular modeling study of CO2 absorption

Project summary
Agelasines are 7,9-dialkylpurinium salts isolated from marine sponges (Agelas sp.) and asmarines are neutral purine derivatives isolated from Raspaila sp. sponges. These two classes of purine natural products are structurally related; they  both contain terpenoid side chains. Up till now only a few agelasines and no asmarines have been synthesized. High activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the bacterium that causes tuberculosis) has been found for some agelasines and analogs. Tuberc ulosis (TB) is the major cause of death from a single infectious agent among adults in developing countries and there is estimated that 30 million people will die from TB in the next 10 years. However no new drug directed specifically against TB have been  introduced the last 30 years even though multi-drug resistant TB is a growing problem. In this project, we will develop selective syntheses of agelasines and analogs. We will continue to screen the agelasines and analogs formed for antimycobacterial acti vity and try to determine their mode of action as antibacterials. We are also interested in exploring activity against other microorganisms as well cytotoxicity (potential as anticancer compounds) and ability to act as antifouling agents. Little is known about bioactivity of asmarines. We will develop methodology for construction of the 7-membered ring in the asmarines, and try to synthesize simple asmaine analogs. The asmarine analogs formed will be subjected to the same bioactivity studies as described for the agelasine derivatives.

Synthesis of Agelasines, Asmarines and Analogs, and Evaluation of Their Bioactivities

The aim of the proposed PhD project is to develop a simulation technique, Molecular Dynamics Lattice Gas (MDLG), for simulating chemical systems consisting of self-assembling molecular complexes and macromolecules. The vision is that MDLG will become a co rner stone in an effort to create a multi-scale simulation platform, applicable to systems exhibiting a variety of life-like properties, such as: self-assembly, metabolism, self-replication, self-organization, and evolution.
	The PhD student will work wit hin a large scientific community centred around the EU funded integrated project PACE (Programmable Artificial Cell Evolution). The goal of the PACE project is to create an artificial proto-cell in the laboratory. The complex systems group at Chalmers, wh ere the student will be located, is a main node in the PACE program, responsible for theoretical investigations, analytical and computational. The project is not directly tied to the PACE project, but benefits greatly from being integrated in a large inte rnational program where the developed techniques immediately can be tested and compared to other simulations as well as experimental results. 
	The project will be a collaboration between three locations: Kristian Lindgren and Martin Nilsson at the comple x system group at Chalmers will be the home institution; Steen Rasmussen, currently at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a partner in the PACE project, will act as external supervisor. Ole Mauritsen at the University of Odense will also be external super visor, and Nils Baas at NTNU is a third external supervisor. Prof. Lindgren will be the main supervisor, and Dr. Nilsson will be active supervisor. Prof. Mauritsen is head of the national center of excellence in biomembrane physics (MEMPHYS), and also a p artner in the PACE project.

Molecular Dynamics Lattice Gas

Recently, Skogestad (2004} have also proposed a systematic method for control structure. The proposed research will focus on further improvement of this method, including the following issues:

1. Self-optimizing Control
2. Achievable decentralized perfor mance
3. Decentralized integral controllability
4. Computational complexity
5. Complexity of the control system
6. Secondary controlled variables

When completed, the utility of the proposed approach will be demonstrated through case studies, e.g. the Vin yl Acetate process. At the completion of this project, a systematic method will emerge that would help the plant engineers for control structure design of new plants as well as retrofit of existing plants. It is expected that in addition to improving cont rol, the analysis will also reveal some directions for design of energy efficient plants.

Plantwide control of chemical processes

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) are rapidly growing techniques for the ultra-trace analytical determination of stable and long-lived isotopes. Both methods have a wide potential within environm ental science, including ecosystem tracers and radioecological studies. For AMS, the proposed project will involve investigations on both heavy and light element analysis. AMS has only recently been applied to the determination of heavy elements (Pu-isoto pes, U-isotopes, Np-237, Ra-isotopes, Th), and method optimisation and validation, particularly for environmental samples, needs to be documented. AMS determination of Cl-36 and Ni-59 has been carried out within geological studies. Together with Tc-99, th ese long-lived radionuclides are also important, yet little studied, components of radioactive waste management. Hence the project will investigate potential applications of AMS to their analysis in contaminated areas, focusing on improvement of Environmental Impact Assessment and Ecological Risk Assessment.  ICP-MS is a more widespread technique compared to AMS, but still offers advantages over routine counting methods. In addition to intercomparison of AMS and ICP-MS (IPM has already developed methods for Pu-isotopes and Tc-99), ICP-MS will be applied for sc reening of samples for AMS determination, and documentation of matrix interferences.    The project builds on a five year collaboration between NLH/IPM and the Australian National University on the development and application of advanced MS techniques for the analysis of long-lived radionuclides, with the intention of extending this collabor ation to include other exotic radionuclides, instigating collaborations with other AMS facilities (Zurich) and demonstrating novel applications within environmental studies.

Developement and application of accelerator mass spectrometry for the environmental study of low level, long-lived radionuclides

The rate of multidrug-resistant infections is rapidly rising. Cationic antibacterial peptides are both active against resistant pathogens and have low propensity for resistance development, but due to their unfavourable medicinal properties cationic antib acterial peptides have yet been a limited clinical success. We have found that introduction of non-genetically coded amino acids and other lipophilic modifications opens the opportunity for development of extremely short and highly active antibacterial pe ptides with improved medicinal properties. The present project is aimed towards finding novel methods of avoiding proteolytic degradation of antibacterial peptides by an integrated medicinal chemistry approach. A majority of the work outlined in the proje ct is priented into adaption or development of new synthetic methods for solid phase diversity library preparation. Strong interaction with computational biologists and medicinal chemists is however emphasised.

Antimicrobial peptides targeted against multiresistant Staphylococcus aureus with engineered proteolytic stability.

As one of very few research group around the world,  MEMFO (=Membranforskning) research group at Institute of Chemical Engineering, NTNU, has for about ten years worked on the development of stable membranes for the separation of aggressive gases such as Cl2 or HCl from gas mixtures. Both of these chemicals are widely used within process industry, and the potentials for applications are enormous. The fundamental knowledge acquired over the years has lead to an understanding on how such membranes now can b e tailored for the separation of these gases. Very promising results have been achieved with pore tailored glass membranes surface modified with perfluorinated compounds. These materials have proved to be stable towards the aggressive gases.
The proposed project will focus on hybride materials ("mixed matrix") with physical incorporation of glass fillers into perfluorinated polymers; basically as microporous surface modified glass particles or crushed glass hollow fibres.  The choice of polymer and glass fillers will be based on the knowledge on transport mechanisms of Cl2 and HCl, as well as miscibility and separation properties of the composite materials. The membrane will be characterised for separation properties (single and mixed gases), and simulati ons will be performed for a chosen process.


Development of hybride membrane materials (mixed matrix membranes) for separation of aggressive gases

The main objective of this project is to improve the understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern droplet coalescence and vesicle fusion. Droplet coalescence in oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions is crucial in many fields: A key challenge fo r the oil industry is to separate water droplets from the oil phase. Conversely, the food and pharmaceutical industries usually need to prevent separation. The stability of these emulsions is controlled by adding surfactants that self-assemble on the oil/ water interface and modify the coalescence barrier. Choosing surfactants that change this barrier in the desirable direction is a principal problem in emulsion science. Vesicle fusion is fundamentally related to droplet fusion. This process has exciting a pplications such as liposome-based drug delivery as well as being essential for cell life. 

We propose here a fundamental study of droplet and vesicle fusion intermediate states. The emphasis will be on understanding how the fusion free energy barriers d epend on the structure of the amphiphiles that constitute the mono- or bilayers. To achieve this, we will use molecular simulations and model amphiphiles that allow for simple variations in structure such as hydrophilic/hydrophobic affinity, chain length,  and branching. We will study droplet fusion along a reaction coordinate that includes the initial rupture of the two monolayers, formation of a channel between the droplets, and expansion of its radius. Vesicle fusion proceeds via multiple metastable sta tes. To enable a detailed study of unstable states we will use novel biased sampling methods. We will calculate the free energy along a reaction coordinate and predict the fusion energy barrier. The focus will be on how variations in amphiphilic structure  affect the fusion barrier, and how additives can lower this barrier. This knowledge will provide a better basis for choosing and designing surfactants with a desired fusion barrier.

Molecular simulation of droplet fusion intermediates

Understanding the physico-chemical fate and bioavailability of metals requires knowledge of the forms that the metals occur in (the speciation). Diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) is a  technique for passive sampling of metals and it has in situ spec iation capabilities in that it collects only free metal ions and labile metal complexes. The fraction of metal complexes that will be collected depends on their rates of diffusion and their kinetic characteristics. This means that a precise understanding of what DGT measures requires an appreciation of the dissociation kinetics of complexes in solution.
For any one ligand , the rate of dissociation of complexes of metals in the lanthanide series is expected to show a regular decrease across the series of 15 metals. This property of the lanthanide complexes can be exploited in a study of the capability of DGT to discriminate between complexes with different kinetic characteristics, provided that suitable ligands can be found. The criteria is that the ligan ds form so strong bonds with the lanthanides that the rate of dissociation will affect the uptake of lanthanides in the DGT sampler. Influence of pH and ionic strength will be tested and experiments with synthetic and natural organic ligands  will be perf ormed. Such information is necessary to assess the applicability of DGT  to field conditions, as its in situ deployment could be used to obtain conditional kinetic information.

Investigation of the dissolution kinetics of lanthanide complexes with the technique of diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT)

The principal objective is to discover and probe the chemical properties of the heaviest elements known, the transactinides.. The transactinides can only be produced artificially, since their nucleuses are unstable and will disintegrate shortly after they  are produced. They are, though, a unique testing ground for our current understanding and modelling of the elements as they lie at the extreme of the known part of the periodic table of the elements. 
	Thus, our current models about the chemical properti es of the elements can be tested to see if they breaks down for extremely heavy elements. For example, there are predictions that the relativistic part of the wave functions will become so dominant that it will change the classically predicted chemical pr operties. 
	This project aims at investigating the chemical properties of the transactinides in the liquid phase, using our on-line and continuous liquid-liquid separation system SISAK. In the project period the focus will be aimed at extending and expand ing our investigation of rutherfordium (Z=104) and initiate work on dubnium (Z=105). The dubnium development work will be a joint effort between the SISAK collaboration and the heavy-element research-group collaboration between Lawrence Livermore National  Laboratory, USA, the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions in Dubna, Russia, and several other European laboratories. The resulting chemistry will be used both for SISAK chemistry studies of short-lived dubnium-isotopes and for searching for long-lived dubnium-isotopes at the end of the decay chains from elements 115 and 113. 

Work to develop a liquid-phase chemistry to study hassium (Z=108) is also intended as part of the current project. At last, an Sg experiment with a three-stage separation system will be attempted.

Important new capabilities for SISAK will be developed as part of this project: Digital sampling and real-time analysis of detector pulses and simultanueous detection of both phases.

A bi-stable spin crossover complex can exist in two electronic states with different physical properties. Switching back and forth between the two states can be achieved by changing the temperature, pressure or by irradiating the compound with light. At t he core of such a complex sits a transition metal ion, most often Fe2+, bonded to several ligand atoms. When individual complexes and other components, like counterions and solvate molecule, form an ordered crystalline solid, the spin crossover behaviour of a macroscopic sample depends on the collective behaviour of all the components of the crystal. Changing a component of the system will also change the spin crossover behaviour. The change of spin state also produces a colour change that is envisaged to  be of technical use in temperature sensors and optical switches. The abrupt transition with hysteresis confers a memory effect to the crystalline solid that may be used for the development of memory devices. This project aims at synthesising new such sys tems and studying their crystalline products in detail with temperature using X-ray diffraction, Squid (magnetisation), calorimetry, optical spectroscopy and laser irradiation over a temperature range from 2 K to room temperature. It implies investigating  collective behaviour of iron complexes in terms of short- and long-range correlations as well as the role of the other magnetically passive crystal structure components involved in the spin crossover process and developing theoretical models for the cros sover process and associated structural transitions. The latter modelling is primarily based on Landau theory but also includes combination with Ising-like models of theory.

PETROMAKS-Maksimal utnyttelse av petroleumsreserver

Prediction of deposition and transport of sand in sand-liquid flows (STRONG)

Awarded: NOK 7.4 mill.

Funding scheme:

PETROMAKS-Maksimal utnyttelse av petroleumsreserver

Funding Sources

Thematic Areas and Topics