The development of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) for novel applications has attracted considerable interest in recent years, due to the enhanced properties of PNCs, including mechanical rigidity, stiffness and toughness, electrical and thermal conductivity, etc. These superior properties, coupled with the fact that PNCs are environmentally friendly, offer unique design possibilities for creating functional materials for emerging applications. Predicting and tuning the properties of PNCs from their molecular structure is a grand challenge, due to the complexity of the polymer/solid interfaces, and the multiple spatiotemporal scales associated with PNCs. This project addresses these challenges by proposing a multiscale computational methodology to predict the mechanical properties of PNCs, which involves microscopic simulations, homogenization approaches and continuum models. First, detailed atomistic molecular dynamics simulations will be performed on prototypical PNC systems with a few NPs. Then, results from the atomistic simulations will be used to parameterize homogenized continuum mechanical models, obtaining the mechanical properties of large-scale realistic systems by up-scaling towards the continuum limit. The whole approach will be applied and extended to various settings, with emphasis on non-classical effective properties, such as negative Poisson ratios and chiral effects, using various types of NPs to reinforce the polymeric matrix, determining optimal designs that lead non-classical properties, as well as introducing the effect of viscosity to study long-memory effects in PNCs via a generalized homogenization methodology. All the above will be completed in a leading multi-disciplinary computational modeling research group. Complement by a well-planned training program, the proposed work will expand applicant’s experience, research competencies and professional networks, enhancing the development of his career as an independent researcher.

Human skeletal remains can offer key information on diverse aspects of past life but, like all archaeological materials, they only give a glimpse into the life of past individuals; hence, a fragmented perspective into our ancestors’ lives. Their interpretative potential is greatly inhibited by the fact that such remains are often found fragmented due to several anthropogenic and natural taphonomic agents, such as funerary treatment, animal activity, soil pressure and others. This fragmentation severely limits the information that may be extracted from human bones in terms of metric analysis, geometry and morphology. RECONSTRUCT aims at producing 3D morphable models for the main elements of the lower and upper limbs of the human skeleton, which will be then used to infer the missing morphology of fragmented or incomplete bones. In order to achieve this aim and address a major current limitation in human skeletal analysis, RECONSTRUCT will integrate approaches from osteoarchaeology, forensic anthropology, biology, engineering, and data science. The results of the project will maximize the information that may be extracted from bioarchaeological research, contributing to a more comprehensive assessment of past life parameters. RECONSTRUCT will also have major implications in forensic anthropology since the study of modern skeletal remains suffers from similar limitations in terms of partial preservation as those witnessed in archaeological bones. Finally, the source code and raw data emanating from RECONSTRUCT will be made open access, greatly enhancing the extension of this approach to zooarchaeology, palaeoanthropology, and the prosthetic implants industry.

EIDOS (EIDOS of a city: simulating the collapse and resilience of ancient Eastern Mediterranean urban environments via agent-based modelling) is an interdisciplinary project that will expand the research communities’ perception about the mechanisms that contributed to the parallel change and transformations of cities in the network of urban habitats of the Eastern Mediterranean. EIDOS will address important questions concerning the phenomenon of urbanization: why do some cities fold at the first sign of turmoil while others, seemingly similar, thrive; what are the dynamic, emergent and complex interactions between growing and deterritorialised (dying) cities within a meshwork of urban environments, from antiquity to early modern times? What components of an ancient city enabled it to be integrated and incorporated into cities of later periods, sometime spanning to our modern period? By combining historical and archaeological data with recent advances in computational simulation methods, EIDOS will significantly add to our understanding about urban resilience in the past. The training and research offered by EIDOS will position the experienced researcher (ER) as an expert in urban computational modelling with highly interdisciplinary methodologies, enabling her to significantly influence urban archaeology and contribute solid foundations to understanding the resilience of our cities.

The CyI Solar Thermal Energy Chair for the Eastern Mediterranean (CySTEM – Chair) proposal aims in consolidating and upgrading the already substantial activity at the Cyprus Institute (CyI) in Solar Energy, principally solar-thermal and related activities. This will be accomplished by attracting and installing a cluster of outstanding researchers, led by a professor of international stature to maximally utilize and upgrade the existing facilities, and pursue a program of excellence in Cyprus with local and regional focus in the region of Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME). The principal focus will be on Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technologies for electricity production, desalination, air conditioning and heating, either in isolation or in multi-generation modes. The Chair shall be embedded in CyI’s Energy Environment and Water Research Centre (EEWRC), a Centre with intense activity in climate change (and adaptation strategies), water management, and sustainability. CyI, being a technologically orientated research and educational institution, will provide the CySTEM Chair the opportunity to contribute to other related important activities of techno-economic nature, such as the definition of a road map for Renewable Energy Sources (and Solar in particular) development in the area in light of the recent discoveries of substantial Natural Gas deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean. Following the template provided by the Commission, the proposal first presents the main objectives of the chair. This is arranged in subsections to describe what is proposed (research activities), who will carry it out (human capital), what infrastructure and tools will be employed to enable the realization of the proposed program and how the various tools and policies available to the program, including CyI’s educational programs, will be integrated and used to maximize its impact.

Human skeletal remains can offer key information on diverse aspects of past life but, like all archaeological materials, they only give a glimpse into the life of past individuals; hence, a fragmented perspective into our ancestors’ lives. Their interpretative potential is greatly inhibited by the fact that such remains are often found fragmented due to several anthropogenic and natural taphonomic agents, such as funerary treatment, animal activity, soil pressure and others. This fragmentation severely limits the information that may be extracted from human bones in terms of metric analysis, geometry and morphology. RECONSTRUCT aims at producing 3D morphable models for the main elements of the lower and upper limbs of the human skeleton, which will be then used to infer the missing morphology of fragmented or incomplete bones. In order to achieve this aim and address a major current limitation in human skeletal analysis, RECONSTRUCT will integrate approaches from osteoarchaeology, forensic anthropology, biology, engineering, and data science. The results of the project will maximize the information that may be extracted from bioarchaeological research, contributing to a more comprehensive assessment of past life parameters. RECONSTRUCT will also have major implications in forensic anthropology since the study of modern skeletal remains suffers from similar limitations in terms of partial preservation as those witnessed in archaeological bones. Finally, the source code and raw data emanating from RECONSTRUCT will be made open access, greatly enhancing the extension of this approach to zooarchaeology, palaeoanthropology, and the prosthetic implants industry.