Colloidal capsules are interesting from the point of view of both physics and application. They can be used for controlled material transport and targeted release, and they have shown tremendous potential for fabricating advanced materials through self-assembly. Recently, such capsules have also been able to propel in carrier fluid by methods including magnetic fields, thermal gradients and bubble propulsion mechanisms. Building on former research by the Experienced Researcher and the main supervisor, as well as new areas of expertise, this project will develop novel fabrication routes for microcapsules with and without functionalised shells (patchy capsules) and propel them over milimeter distances using external fields. The main objective of this action is to experimentally demonstrate propulsion of microcapsules via novel methods involving anisotropic electrodeformation and electrorotation. The experimental research will fill the missing gap in the field of propelling capsules, now mostly presented by computational and theoretical work. There are many examples of collective phenomena in nature, ranging from swarming bacteria colonies to flocking animals, and much attention has been devoted to understanding and imitating their collective properties and behaviour. The research project will give the first experimental realisation of collective capsule dynamics by propelling hundreds of electrorotating capsules at boundaries. Such a system has enormous potential for future technology and will be helpful in many aspects, for example, to lower human infertility, design microrobots for drug delivery, biodegradation of environmental pollutants and control of material properties. This proposal includes both the training of the candidate and a two-way transfer of knowledge with the host institution and partner organisations. The interdisciplinary aspect of the action is strong, involving a combination of soft-matter physics, medicine, engineering and applied sciences.

Our value proposition is improving cancer therapy by identification of novel anti-cancer candidate drug leads modulating transcription termination, bridging molecular cancer biology and therapeutic applications. We have developed a methodology to directly measure alterations in transcription termination and successfully subjected it to miniaturization and automatization processes. We are applying for funding to validate a screening platform to identify small molecule inhibitors of transcription termination.

Between the 1460s and 1620s, printed editions of canon and civil law texts witnessed a constant development of marginal paratexts, such as glosses, summaries, cases or commentaries. They were added to authoritative legal sources because the printers were interested in improving the quality and attractiveness of new source editions. They often hired legal experts who offered them new tools, resources, and ideas. These were incorporated into printed books using new printing techniques. In consequence, the dynamic between improved new editions and advances in printing enterprise fueled the ongoing development of printed legal books. Various questions concerning the origin, transmission, and influence of paratexts are embedded in the interplay between sources and marginalia, manuscripts and printing, editors and printers, and books and their readers. PetrIUS has an innovative approach for shifting the focus from source (text) to marginalia (paratexts). PetrIUS aims to examine how print and its evolution helped to petrify – that is, consolidate – landmark achievements of late medieval ius commune. This is done by enabling some doctrinal accounts to be transferred into marginalia of source editions. The novelty brought about by print affected legal science and communication. PetrIUS will acknowledge how legal experts employed novel technical tools to transfer the heritage of medieval law into early modern source editions and how these processes affected patterns of scientific work and the transfer of knowledge in academia. To do so, PetrIUS will implement typical legal and book history tools as well as natural language processing techniques. The latter enables detailed comparisons between paratexts’ printed editions and their reception in the scholarly literature. The research will conclude with a legal theoretical study that assesses the early modern significance of paratexts by treating them as the media of law, that is, the means of legal communication.