The ability of catalysts to facilitate chemical reactions and to make them selective is of immense importance for industrial production processes. A wide range of heterogeneous catalysts consists of supported active nanoparticles that are intrinsically metastable due to their high surface area. In order to fine-tune catalysts for maximum reactivity and selectivity, a key challenge is the fundamental understanding of particle mobility under reaction conditions. Despite decades of research, these cluster dynamics are still far from being well understood at the atomic scale. Project "ClusterDynamics" aims at investigating model catalysts with an unprecedented degree of definition, in particular size-selected metal clusters soft-landed on inert substrates by use of a laser evaportion cluster source. State-of-the art fast scanning tunnelling microscopy (FastSTM) will be used to monitor cluster diffusion and rearrangement on the atomic scale with a time resolution down to some ms. In particular, Pd clusters, which are a very versatile model system thanks to their rich redox chemistry, will be deposited on Moiré films, such as graphene grown on Ru(0001) or Rh(111) or boron nitride grown on Rh(111), and their dynamics monitored in real-time. Initially, thermally induced lateral diffusion as well as cluster-internal fluctuation will be studied in ultra-high vacuum conditions. Subsequently, it will be determined whether the cluster dynamics are influenced by the presence of adsorbate molecules and whether the adsorbate-cluster interaction is dependent on cluster size. Finally, the cluster dynamics will be studied under reaction conditions. In order to expose the clusters to a high pressure environment, a sniffer tube will be installed that can be brought into contact with the sample to introduce a gas environment. The influence of the ambient can thus be investigated by comparing the cluster dynamics before and after exposure to reactive gas atmospheres.

This proof-of-concept project aims to develop and bring to market a novel visuo-haptic sensor system for robotic manipulators, which allows for multimodal sensing, reduced system complexity and significantly lower costs compared to current systems. It replaces dedicated force sensors with passive components and a camera, providing coherent measurements of both force and contact shape. Three sensor setups for grippers, mobile platforms and tools on the endeffector have already been implemented as research prototypes in the context of the ERC Starting Grant ProHaptics. The commercial prototype to be developed within this project will consist of a standard commercial gripper, the visuo-haptic sensor, as well as soft-ware for manipulation planning. In later stages, it is planned to apply the concept to an entire robotic arm, replacing the dedicated and expensive joint and torque sensors required today. Costs and system complexity are cut considerably by our approach since rigid mechanics as well as highly specialized sensor systems as used by current robot arms are no longer required. The application focus of this proof-of-concept project is collaborative production. This concept helps to keep production competitive in in high-income countries. While our market entry strategy targets the commercially highly relevant production scenario, we believe that this paradigm will open new markets for robotic systems also in interpersonal communication, household robotics and games/entertainment. Such systems need low-cost multimodal sensor systems, which provide a rich representation of the environment. In a recent market study, a high interest for robotic manipulators that operate in un-structured environments and offer natural compliance has been identified, especially in the application areas of robotic commissioning and joint mounting, verification and documentation of components.

Two decades ago, the eld of strongly interacting particles entered a golden age with the discovery of exotic hadrons labeled as XYZs. The breakthrough fueled a surge in experimental research, uncovering dozens of states that appear to lie outside the conventional quark model, although some still require experimental conrmation. The plethora of new states has sparked intense theoretical investigations into new forms of matter, such as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks, making it one of the most signicant open problems in particle physics. Despite the progress, unresolved patterns of masses, decays, and transitions above open-avor thresholds persist and have deepened the mystery surrounding these exotics. The intriguing details of production and suppression observed in heavy ion collisions elevated the importance of these studies to probe their nature. With EFT-XYZ I intend to develop for the rst time, a comprehensive and unied description of these exotics rooted in quantum eld theory, going beyond existing models. On the basis of scales separation, I construct a general nonrelativistic effective eld theory treatment. Scale factorization introduces systematicity and simplicity allowing model independent predictions. The dynamics contained in the nonperturbative low energy correlators is addressed with new and tailored lattice QCD computational tools. By using an open quantum system framework and lattice QCD input, the effective eld theory can describe the XYZ production in heavy ion collisions. EFT-XYZ is poised to make breakthroughs in calculating the properties, dynamics, and interactions of the XYZ in various environments. It holds the promise to unravel the nature of these new states having impact on both experiments and our understanding of strongly correlated systems, with interdisciplinary implications to other elds. EFT-XYZ success is related to the recent advancement in the aforementioned elds in which I played a pivotal role.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease that gradually degrades the cartilage joints, affecting more than 50 million people in Europe. With no known treatment, this population is at risk of lower quality of life and permanent disability. The chondrocyte is a native cell in the cartilage joints that has been studied as a promising cell therapy agent for early-stage OA. Recently, by using a stimuli-responsive (SR) culture plate, many cell types can be prepared as a sheet-like cluster (cell sheet) analogous to the native biological tissue, entailing the enhanced regenerative efficacy when used as cell therapy. However, it is challenging to prepare the chondrocyte cell sheet, as the chondrocyte gradually loses the cartilage feature upon being cultured on the stiff SR plate. In this project, I aim to prepare the cartilage-like chondrocyte cell sheet by developing an innovative technique that is premised on the tuning of substrate stiffness during the cell culture stage. I will focus on three objectives: (1) to develop a new cell sheet-fabrication substrate that has the magnetically tunable stiffness, (2) to study the proof-of-concept of the tunable stiffness technique for modifying the model cell sheet activities, and (3) to apply this dynamic technique to obtain the cartilage-like chondrocyte cell sheet of which its regenerative efficacy against early-stage OA will be evaluated. To perform this project, I will draw from and extend upon my current expertise and works in biomaterial development and stiffness-cell interaction, with that of academic host Prof. Berensmeier (magnetic nanotechnology) and of industrial partner Dr. Vonk (cartilage cell therapy). This synergized academic-industry partnership will continue to the non-academic placement, wherein I will undertake the next-stage preclinical developments of chondrocyte cell sheets in a deeper and more relevant context of OA treatment. The proposed project gives a great contribution to the OA-stricken European society.