OPTIBIOCAT is a 48 months project aimed at developing biocatalysts based on feruloyl esterases (FAEs) and glucuronoyl esterases (GEs) for production of phenolic fatty- and sugar- esters with antioxidant activity for cosmetic industry, expanding the number/type of industrial biotransformations. Selected FAEs and GEs available within the consortium will be improved for their thermo- and solvent- resistance and substrate specificity by site-directed mutagenesis and directed evolution. Novel enzymes will be discovered by mining for new genes from available genomes. An inventory of novel FAEs and GEs will be developed including 50 fungal and 500 bacterial esterases, 25 site-directed and 20 directed evolved mutants. Enzymatic performances will be optimized to enhance the yield (up to the theoretical yield of 100%) and productivity (up to 0.5-1 g/l/h) of reactions giving the main targeted antioxidants: butyl ferulate, p-coumarate, caffeate, sinapate and 5-O-(trans-feruloyl)-arabinofuranose (using FAEs), glucuronate and benzyl glucuronate (using GEs). FAEs and GEs will be also tested for production of other compounds with improved biological activity and properties of hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity for cosmetic applications. Cost-effective methods will be developed for production of the new biocatalysts, in the g/L scale, and for their technical application to produce antioxidants for cosmetic industry, up to 20L. Enzyme immobilization will increase their recyclability up to ten cycles. The ability of the developed catalysts to work in conditions miming the industrial ones with reduced use of solvents and lower temperature than the chemical routes will be demonstrated. The techno-economic viability and environmental friendliness will be assessed considering a full industrial scale scenario. OPTIBIOCAT involves a highly skilled and multidisciplinary partnership of 16 partners from 8 EU countries, and it is a strongly industry driven project through the participation of 8 SMEs and 1 large company.
In Südamerika sind Millionen von Menschen von Wasserressourcen abhängig, die in der hoch gelegenen Paramo Graslandschaft sowie den tropischen Bergwäldern der Anden und an der Atlantikküste gebildet werden. Diese Wasserressourcen stehen unter zunehmenden Druck, hervorgerufen durch Landnutzungsänderungen und Klimawandel. Investitionen in wasserbezogene Dienstleistungen in Wassereinzugsgebieten (Investments in Watershed Services, IWS) sind starke, wenn auch bislang nicht ausgeschöpfte Maßnahmen, die eine einmalige Gelegenheit bieten, die Auswirkungen von Landnutzungsänderungen und Klimawandel auf Wasserressourcen in diesen sensiblen Bergregionen zu bewerten. ClimateWIse will den Erfolg der jetzigen Investitionen in wasserbezogene Dienstleistungen überprüfen und ihre Wirksamkeit unter Klimaänderung bewerten. Auf diese Weise werden Forschungsergebnisse erlangt, die die weitgefassten Fragen hinsichtlich der hydrologischen Auswirkungen durch Landnutzungs- und Klimaänderungen in den tropischen Bergwäldern Südamerikas adressieren. Zunächst werden wir untersuchen, ob Investitionen in wasserbezogene Dienstleistungen gegenwärtig die Situation der Wasserressourcen in den Einzugsgebieten verbessern. Dazu werden wir 1.1) die von den IWS Interessengruppen erwarteten Ergebnisse evaluieren; 1.2) neue Daten zur IWS-Überwachung erheben und 1.3) vorhandene Simulationsmodelle zu Ausarbeitung und Bewertung von IWS-Maßnahmen verbessern. Um aber die Anpassungsfähigkeit von IWS-Maßnahmen an zukünftige Klimaveränderungen zu ermitteln, werden wir 2.1) die Berücksichtigung von Klimaaspekten in IWS Planungen überprüfen; 2.2) die Prognosen der Auswirkungen von Klimawandel und weiteren Veränderungen verbessern, sowie 2.3) die Möglichkeiten prüfen, Angaben zu Klimaänderungen in IWS zu integrieren, was zu einer Verbesserung der Widerstandsfähigkeit von IWS-Maßnahmen führt und darüber hinaus auch zur Anpassung an den Klimawandel beiträgt. ClimateWIse baut auf die Forschungsarbeiten beteiligter Projektpartner auf: diese reichen von Forschungsaktivitäten im Bereich hydrologische Konnektivität in den tropischen Bergregionen Südamerikas im Allgemeinen, bis hin zur Beurteilung von IWS-Maßnahmen im Speziellen. Diese Expertise wird erstmalig in diesem Projektantrag zusammengebracht. In diesem Zusammenhang werden wir auch die existierenden Beziehungen zum Latin American Water Funds Partnership und Brazilian Water Producer Program nutzen. ClimateWIse will die Bewirtschaftung der Wasserressourcen verbessern, die wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse über die Auswirkungen von Landnutzungs- und Klimaänderungen auf den hydrologischen Kreislauf in tropischen Bergregionen erweitern, die wissenschaftlichen Grundlagen im Bereich ökosystemorientierter Bewirtschaftung ausbauen sowie Ergebnisse für die Wassernutzer in der gesamten Region fördern. Die mit ClimateWIse erzielten Erkenntnisse werden für die Wasserwirtschaft innerhalb Südamerikas aber auch über den Kontinent hinaus von direktem Nutzen sein.
Umweltfreundlich und ohne eigenes Auto mobil zu sein: das ist in ländlichen Räumen oftmals besonders schwierig. Die Gründe dafür liegen im demographischen Wandel, in knappen öffentlichen Kassen und in einer unzureichenden Zusammenarbeit relevanter Institutionen. Das Interreg-Projekt Peripheral Access - 'Transnational cooperation and partnership for better public transport in peripheral and cross-border regions' - will daher die Mobilität in ländlichen Räumen, im Hinterland von Ballungsräumen und in Grenzregionen verbessern. Es sollen mehr Menschen davon überzeugt werden, ihr Auto stehen zu lassen und den öffentlichen Nahverkehr zu nutzen. Um das zu erreichen, setzt das Projekt auf neue Mobilitätsstrategien. So zum Beispiel auf Busse, die auch Fahrräder befördern, oder auf Rufbusse, die die Passagiere per Smartphone bestellen können.
Recently, a new 'optimistic' discourse on migration has surfaced, highlighting migrants potential as agents of global development. While usefully underscoring migrants ability to create and spread knowledge and resources, this perspective risks portraying migrants as one homogenous group and ignoring individual or large-scale factors, like personal motivation or societal context, which can limit their contributions to overall development. This research project aims to allow a critical reading of the migration and development debate, by particularly achieving a more differentiated understanding of the dynamics of knowledge and skill flow in the migration process, which is a rather isolated theme in the migration discourse. We aim to explore the role of knowledge and skills for a migrants own personal advancement and its possible linkages with development efforts. The research assumes that with the emergence of knowledge based economies, knowledge has a great significance for wellbeing. However the access to knowledge and skills is diverse as are the opportunities to use it for productive outcomes. In this context migrants due to their experiences of different places and socio-economic environments can become brokers of knowledge, connecting these different communities. But migrants with their personal curricula and living and working in different socio-economic and political contexts are very heterogeneous and the way how skills and knowledge can be made use of do vary to a great extent. Drawing on various research activities that reflect the heterogeneity of migration - in South Asia, Central Asia and Switzerland - we use both qualitative and quantitative methods to look at the dynamics of the knowledge and skill production for migrants personal advancement and broader development efforts and the environment that favours or restricts this process both in the country of origin and new country of stay after migration. Core research activities are carried out by: Mr. Craig Hatcher (PhD cand.) The PhD research combines a legal geography framework with a philosophical approach to knowledge in migration research by developing an understanding of how internal migrants use their knowledge of law to negotiate the residence registration system in Kyrgyzstan in order to appropriate (urban) space. Ms. Jarkyn Samanchina (PhD cand.) The proposed PhD project looks at student migration between Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. Next to individual migration experiences of students the study pays particular attention to the legal and political framework between both countries, given the fact that Turkey and Kyrgyzstan have a mutal liberal migration policy and a long standing partnership on educational programmes. Dr. Anita Ghimire (postdoc) and Dr. Susan Thieme (senior res.) The research looks at student mobility in a comparative manner. usw.
Background: As Albanian agriculture began returning to the private sector in the late 1990s, it was evident that the infrastructure was weak, resulting in low production standards and inefficient use of resources. Despite efforts in the last two decades to restructure and strengthen the agriculture sector, it still remains underdeveloped, characterised by inadequate research, development, transfer of knowledge and modernisation. Farmers still rely on outdated, inefficient pesticide application equipment and often use highly toxic pesticides that are banned in the rest of Europe. Within the agricultural schools and universities, there is a weak capacity for agricultural research and knowledge transfer stemming from several infrastructure-related shortcomings, such as lack of resources and contact with the global scientific community. This constrains the international competitiveness of researchers as well as the training of students in modern pest management approaches. The limited capacity for technology transfer hinders the generation of science-based solutions for local agricultural problems and an ineffective advisory service means that farmers remain disconnected from agricultural research and technology development. Aim: This project aims to build the capacity of relevant institutions in research and knowledge transfer in integrated pest management (IPM); a sustainable pest management approach that reduces overreliance on chemical pesticides and alleviates the negative impacts of agriculture on human health and the environment. The project also aims to strengthen the infrastructure required to improve the quality of agricultural production and enable self-reliance in developing and implementing sustainable IPM solutions. Significance: Through the integration of effective theoretical and practical IPM training into higher education, this project will better prepare students for future employment in an agricultural profession and increase the overall IPM knowledge base within the agricultural sector. The provision of relevant resources and training will enhance capacity for conducting IPM-related research as well as foster integration into the international scientific community. Finally, strengthening the link between research and farmers will provide an effective channel through which to disseminate practical IPM solutions to farmers. In taking an institutional partnership approach, this project will consolidate the linkages between all key IPM stakeholders and create the infrastructure required to promote awareness, communication and institutionalisation of IPM along the whole chain of agricultural research, education, policy and practice.
The Focus Area Cultural Heritage (FACH) is one of the 7 Focus Areas (FAs) of the European Construction Technology Platform (ECTP). So far, a first version of the FACH Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) has been launched in Dec 2005 and integrated into the ECTP and its SRA through the ECTP Support Group (SG). An Action Plan for its sound integration into the ECTP and FP7 is starting now. The overall objective of CHRAF is to support the FACH activities regarding Cultural Heritage (CH) research, its dissemination, coordination and integration into the ECTP and FP7. Partial objectives: - To help identify priorities and develop strategies regarding CH Research as input to the ECTP and its SRA as well as to future FP7, - To support the organisation and co-ordination of the FACH of the ECTP and its Working Groups (WGs) in relation to the other ECTP FAs and its WGs, - To promote the exchange of information and dissemination of results of FP5-FP6 projects in CH research. Main measurable results: - 3 updated & upgraded versions of FACH SRA implemented within the ECTP, - Synthesis of clear research priorities recommendations for FACH s SRA implementation in FP7 work programme for 2007, 2008 and 2009, - A secretariat for the FACH, set up and recommendations for future structure of the FACH within the ECTP and relations with other Fora and European Platforms CH related, - Mapping FP5-FP6 projects in CH and information exchange activities, - Assessment of results regarding FP5-FP6 projects in CH & recommendations for further exploitation, - Dissemination and exploitation plans & deployment. The consortium is formed by 4 partners from 3 member states: VINCI and UL FGG, as FACH co-ordinators and members of the ECTP s SG, CSTB as ECTP secretariat and Labein, as a relevant FACH and ECTP member. FACH s relevant members will participate in the project as subcontractors. In total it will represent 10 research institutes, 7 universities and 6 industries or SMEs. 1017903 The PICTURE project aims at providing a substantial contribution to the fight against illegal trade and theft of coins which appears to be a major part of the illegal antiques market. For this goal, state-of-art Information Technology will be used. The project will develop standardized inventories by defining a domain ontology based on CIDOC-CRM, the standard ontology for Cultural Heritage, and a multilingual thesaurus. Data management tools will be created as well, and a specialized web search tool. The recognition of coins will be based on new algorithms of pattern recognition and image processing, in a field (classification and identification of ancient coins) as yet unexplored. The project will disseminate its results also by means of a demonstrator freely accessible on the Internet. Substantial contribution to the project will come from stakeholders, some of which are present in the partnership, which includes the Italian law enforcement organisation Carabinieri and three major national museums wit
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