The COMIS project aims at developing a new method for evaluating the efficiency of innovative systems in energy-efficient buildings, through an original commissioning approach focused on the first year of a building's operation, which is often particularly critical in terms of fine-tuning the active systems operation parameters in the building. The proposed commissioning approach is based on measurements and numerical simulations, and combines a virtual comparison of the considered system's actual operating conditions to theoretical "ideal" operating conditions and to a conventional reference system. The proposed methodology will be developed in 3 main steps. The first step aims at measuring the operating characteristics of the considered systems, in their respective operating environments. One of the important aspects in this field is the choice of the adequate metrology, regarding the identification of the physical parameters relative to the considered systems, the indoor conditions, and the building's usage. The developed methodology will rely on statistical procedures such as "sensitivity analysis" or "principal component analysis", in order to choose the appropriate spatial granularity and acquisition frequency for the instrumentation to be installed. Then, even before being used for the model parameters identification in the numerical simulations, the acquired measurement data need to be filtered, corrected, possibly rebuilt, and finally aggregated into high level indicators. For this purpose, a full set of data processing algorithms will be developed. These algorithms will be adapted to the nature of the measured physical parameters and to the acquisition devices used. Once the system's operating conditions and parameters have been characterized in the used building, based on the measured and processed data, the next step is to evaluate its performance against the expected theoretical performance, which is estimated from the actual weather conditions, envelope measured characteristics and real usage of the building. For this the theoretical "ideal" operating conditions of the system have to be defined, considering its internal parameters and the expected service. A behavioral model of each considered system will be developed, and their parameters will be identified from the actual measurement data acquired in the building. These behavioral models will be used to identify the parameters of the theoretical "ideal" operating conditions, defined either in terms of sizing (of its internal elements) or command and control (of each element regarding the other ones). The reliability of the developed models and performance indicators used in the project will be assessed by characterizing the influence of models input parameters uncertainties on models output results. In addition to the "ideal" operating conditions approach, the observed system will be compared to a conventional reference solution providing an identical service under identical conditions (weather, usage, building envelope intrinsic performance). The aim of this complementary approach is to assess that the rightful choice has been made during the conception phase, regarding the expected service and original choice criteria. As a final step, the COMIS project will include the study of four new or newly renovated buildings displaying ambitious energy performance targets (low consumption, passive or positive energy labels) and including innovative heating, cooling, ventilation, DHW production and management systems. The developed commissioning methodology will be implemented, tested, improved and eventually validated on these test cases.

The scientific and technological interest in Graphene has recently exploded due to its unique properties, promising many exciting applications in optics, mechanics and electronics. However many challenges remain before graphene can be integrated into sophisticated devices. The electronic states of graphene are strongly affected by surface charges, and the presence of surface contaminants dramatically degrades the film properties, especially the electronic mobility. Therefore, a key point in all graphene-based technology is the development of cleaning techniques, which can selectively etch surface contaminants. However, no such technology exists at present. For nano-electronic applications the opening of an electronic band gap is another challenge. This could be achieved either by substitutional doping or by edge patterning of graphene nano-ribbons, but mo mature processes have been developed. This project will address these issues by developing innovative plasma processes. Plasma surface processing is universally used for integrated circuit fabrication. However, plasma processing of graphene remains marginal, with only a few papers published in 2012. This is mainly because conventional plasma sources are too aggressive for atomically thin layers, usually causing damage the basal plane of graphene. However, we will investigate the use of novel low ion energy plasma sources which have recently been developed for the microelectronic and photovoltaic industries to reduce plasma induced damage and allow controlled atomic-scale etching. The goal of this project is to evaluate two new plasma sources (Pulsed ICP plasmas at LTM and TVWP at LPP/LPICM) to clean, dope and pattern graphene layers in a controlled way, opening the possibility for graphene device manufacturing. These plasma sources have demonstrated remarkable capabilities in 2012 to etch and deposit ultrathin layers. In particular, H2 plasmas are promising for graphene cleaning (H atoms can etch amorphous hydrocarbons while preserving the integrity of the graphene), while Cl2, N2 and BCl3 are interesting for graphene doping. Efficient process development will be achieved using the following strategy: 1) Molecular Dynamic simulations (MD) to predict the necessary flux and energy of particles to the surface; 2) Plasma diagnostics to control the flux and energy of incident particles; 3) Surface diagnostics to monitor the effect of the plasma treatment. Several powerful surface analysis techniques (XPS, Raman, XPEEM, µ-Auger) will be used to characterize the effect of plasma treatment on the film structure, composition and electronic properties. Finally, we plan to fabricate and electrically characterize real electronic devices in graphene. Our success will repose upon the complementary skills of the five partners in graphene devices, in plasma processing and in surface characterization. I-Néel has expertise in the CVD growth of high mobility graphene on large area substrates and the fabrication and electrical characterization of graphene electronic devices. LTM, LPP and LPICM are specialized in the characterization and development of plasma processes for microelectronic and photovoltaic applications, respectively. They have recently developed the two new plasma sources at the heart of this project. Finally, CEA-LETI has the expertise in photoelectron spectromicroscopy (XPEEM) combined with scanning probes and Auger microscopies. XPEEM provides direct, spatially-resolved information on the surface chemical properties and band structure of graphene relevant to doping and cleaning (Dirac point and Fermi level positions). This tool will guide the development of plasma cleaning, doping and etching of graphene. Thanks to our complementary expertise, we aim to achieve technological breakthroughs in the fabrication of graphene devices, which will be of great utility to the entire national graphene community

A paper mbius strip is like a cylinder in which the paper twists as it goes round. It looks looks quite like the simple cylinder, but it cannot be transformed into one without some drastic action such as cutting it with a pair of scissors. The mathematics describing this fact is known as topology. It allows the classification of shapes and objects into sets whose members are fundamentally similar to each other, and fundamentally different from objects in other sets. This seems abstract, and it is. However, abstract concepts can sometimes point the way to futuristic applications of sciences. One of the ambitious dreams of modern physics and electrical engineering is to build a quantum computer, a machine that would function completely differently to today's computers, and be a step-change in technology. In order to do that, one has to harness a property of quantum mechanics called 'coherence', which allows its laws to be realised. In the everyday world, fully coherent systems are extremely rare, because when they couple with everything around them, that environment acts like a source of strong random noise that scrambles the system up. This 'decoherence' is one of the core problems of the field. Ground-breaking theoretical research over the last decade has shown that there might be special classes of quantum system which are topologically distinct from the vast majority of other systems. This means that they will not couple to the environmental noise that is such a problem, and offer a route to overcoming decoherence. The second key issue for an electronics revolution is understanding what happens when you severely disturb even a normal quantum mechanical system. This is called driving it from equilibrium, and is going to be more and more important as we try to make electronics run faster and over smaller distances. We understand equilibrium quantum physics very well, but as soon as we go far from equilibrium we enter unexplored territory.In this Programme, we will address both these issues. Building on a breakthrough which has shown that topology is much more important in modern materials than we had ever suspected, we will perform a series of interlinked projects aimed at establishing which materials are most likely to offer topological protection from decoherence. Although ambitious, this is not an empty dream. Microsoft, who formally support our work, have created an entire research centre in the USA to work towards it. Their efforts are mainly theoretical, while ours will be mainly concerned with concrete experiments both on naturally occurring materials and on specially engineered hybrids. The second thrust of our Programme, non-equilibrium quantum mechanics, will be mostly theoretical work to begin with. Its primary focus will be gaining insights that will be of relevance to futuristic electronics in general, but we believe there is particular value in coupling that work with the investigation of topological effects. Nothing is proven yet, but there are good grounds to think that non-equilibrium systems may themselves ultimately prove to be the best platform for stablising the topological excitations that so many people are seeking.Our work is highly adventurous, and will push back the frontiers of current knowledge. Doing it as a co-ordinated Programme will bring exactly the cross-fertilisation of ideas and techniques, and of experiment and theory, that maximises the chances of success. The scale of a Programme also enables engaging with top international collaborators. In addition to working with Microsoft's research centre, we will exchange ideas and personnel with groups from Harvard, Berkeley, Cornell and Princeton in the USA, Grenoble in France and Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan. Major challenges require this level of global collaboration, which will expose the young people who we will train to the very best minds.