Tropical pelagic biodiversity plays an essential role for the food security and incomes of many coastal developing countries, thus calling for its sustainable use. It is currently subject to major stressors from human activities and climate change. Due to its sparseness, remoteness and vastness, the open ocean is difficult to access and monitor. As a consequence, the diversity trends and status of pelagic species still remain poorly assessed. The project aims at filling this knowledge gap, by developing monitoring platforms to observe the open ocean and its biodiversity in collaboration with fishers. At the core of the project is the fact that thousands of platforms already exist in the open ocean and are regularly maintained by fishers: the so-called Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs). FADs are artificial buoys or rafts deployed offshore by fishers to increase their chances of finding fish. They exploit the behavior of many tropical species, which associate and form multi-specific aggregations around floating objects. The project builds upon this concept and aims at using FADs as scientific platforms to access the open ocean and monitor its pelagic biodiversity. The project focuses on three main study areas located in the Indian ocean: Mayotte (French overseas department), the Maldives and Indonesia. The methodology employed relies on the combination of innovative monitoring techniques conducted at FADs, ranging from molecular ecology (eDNA, metabarcoding), underwater acoustics (echosounders and bioacoustics) as well as underwater videos, supported by the use of artificial intelligence for species identification. The project also employs a citizen-science approach that builds upon the traditional and ecological knowledge of fishers, empowering fishers to promote community-based ocean monitoring and ocean sustainability. Furthermore, more conventional existing data, such as catch data, is considered and harmonized with the new data collected to produce relevant biodiversity indicators. The knowledge on pelagic biodiversity produced by the project’s interdisciplinary scientific team is the platform on which all knowledge-holders exchange, learn and create close connections to promote the long-term and multi-faceted use of such monitoring schemes. Because the pelagic resource is, by nature, distributed over wide ranges going beyond national borders, the project has an intrinsic transnational dimension. It is relevant for policy-making and society, since it aims at providing new knowledge for the sustainable use of pelagic biodiversity. Given the importance of pelagic resources for food security, their sustainable use is a global societal challenge in line with the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development (Goal 14). The results of the project can support several end-users, from fishers (by improving the sustainability of their fishing practices) to international policy makers, such as the tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations.

To move away from the dependence on hydrazine for space propulsion, greener alternatives must be sought. Cryogenic propellant combinations such as oxygen / methane offer higher specific impulses than storable combinations, but their low saturation temperatures raise additional challenges with respect to preventing their evaporation during long-term storage. While the ability to refuel craft with cryogenic propellants would allow for longer-term manned missions to Mars and the Moon, as well as aid in the improvement of in-space sustainability, preventing the evaporation of the propellants during the transfer process also poses challenges. As of today, neither long-term storage nor refuelling with cryogenic propellants has been demonstrated in-orbit. CRYSALIS will develop and mature the technologies needed for the management of cryogenic propellant for future space transportation and in-orbit servicing activities. This maturation will include performing a small-scale in-orbit demonstration to mature those whose performance can only be characterised in a microgravity environment. This will be a closed-system demonstrator flown on-board the Nyx capsule, which will aim to not only demonstrate the feasibility of such processes but will aim to improve the understanding of the behaviour of such propellants under microgravity, allowing for development of future systems. These technologies will aid in ensuring the independent access of the EU to space, in particular to manned and heavy missions beyond GEO and LEO, by supporting the development of a logistical network of craft, depots, and hubs, required for cis-lunar and future Martian missions.

The roadmap of the European Materials Modelling Council has identified a strong need in European industries for materials modelling, especially on the atomic, molecular and quantum level. A key bottleneck is the lack of scientists that can translate industrial problems into modelling strategies, to carry out simulations with the right tools, or to derive results of practical engineering value. EUSpecLab addresses this problem by training a new generation of innovative material scientists that will bridge the gap between industrial processes and theoretical understanding, and leverage novel informatics tools in artificial intelligence. EUSpecLab will train students in the theory, development and application of computer codes for the modelling of cutting-edge spectroscopies. Examples are the time and spin-resolved spectroscopies at the forefront of fundamental research in the characterization and designing of the new materials that will shape the future of our society. The results will be exploited using machine learning, to leverage first principles results and explore vast classes of materials. To provide beyond state-of-the-art training, EUSpecLab gathers the expertise of scientists in quantum physics/chemistry, in theory/ modelling and experimental methods, in computer science and artificial intelligence, in atomic and spin/time structure, working in academic laboratories and in companies involved in the making and modelling of materials. The students will become fluent with high-level programming, able to develop innovative computational approaches and software. With the involvement of the software or applied research companies, the Researchers will be exposed to the process of transforming research programs into professionally supported simulation platforms with applications to industrial problems.