This project stands in the general context of the current worldwide energy and environmental crisis. It aims to engineer a new generation of conjugated microporous polymers based on fused metalloporphyrins for the low-cost, clean and efficient production of hydrogen from solar water splitting. The CLEANH2 concept relies on the gas phase reaction of metalloporphyrins to engineer new heterogeneous catalysts with remarkable hydrogen production yields. Metalloporphyrins, selected by Nature to fulfil the main catalytic phenomena allowing life, are attractive molecules for water splitting owing to their highly conjugated structure and central metal ion, which can readily interconvert between different oxidation states to accomplish oxidation and reduction reactions. For efficiency and sustainability considerations, it is highly desirable to employ metalloporphyrins in conductive assemblies for heterogeneous catalysis. Nevertheless, due to the lack of synthetic approach, the design and application of conjugated porphyrin assemblies is a largely unexplored topic in view of the plethora of available porphyrin patterns. The central idea of CLEANH2 builds upon our recent advance in the gas phase synthesis and deposition of directly fused metalloporphyrins coatings. Progress in our approach is expected to open the way for the construction of powerful catalytic and photocatalytic materials. To achieve this, the key challenging goals of this project are: 1) the engineering of the microstructure and electronic structure of directly fused metalloporphyrins thin films; 2) the use of the full potential of directly fused metalloporphyrins thin films for the unmet, clean and high quantum yield overall water splitting for hydrogen production. The outcomes of CLEANH2 will be foundational for the engineering of directly fused metalloporphyrins systems and their implementation in advanced technological applications related to catalysis and solar energy.

The group of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are thermally and chemically stable with strong hydrophobic and lipophobic properties, making them highly suitable for many applications. However, they are part of the emerging chemicals identified to be persistent and bioaccumulative. They are very stable, non-degradable, and present all around the world. More than 9000 distinct individual compounds make up the PFAS group, with a carbon chain backbone between 4 and 14 C atoms in length, and a charged functional moiety: sulfonate or carboxylate. The two principal representatives and studied PFAS (perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)) are banned in many countries, leading the major global manufacturers to find alternatives having shorter carbon chains (< C8) or with replacement chemistry with multiple ether-oxygens inserted between the perfluorinated carbon backbones, allowing the formation of non-covalent hydrogen bonds with a water molecule, which makes them more labile to degradation. However, those new chemicals have been identified in various environmental matrices are now becoming global contaminants. But our understanding of the PFAS alternatives toxicity is lacking in aquatic organisms and, in the case of emerging replacements and by-products, even not unexplored. Studies assessing their potential genetic, developmental, cellular, and systemic toxicities have not yet been conducted in aquatic organisms. To that purpose, the ECOPFAS project will investigate the acute toxicity, developmental toxicity, genotoxicity and toxicity pathways for PFAS alternatives in three freshwater species. ECOPFAS project will build on the expertise of the researchers involved together with the acquired data to provide a basis for a better understanding of the influence of the effects on individual and population fitness to support a broader integration of these data into risk assessment frameworks.

GETUI investigates through user studies the use of gestures in interaction with Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) in the context of technology-based assessment (TBA) of collaborative and complex problem solving skills. Collaborative problem solving is defined as the capacity to recognise the perspective of other people in a group, participate, contribute knowledge, recognise the need for contributions and build knowledge and understanding as member on a collaborative setting (Ras et al. 2013). Most of the research in TBA of collaborative problem solving skills dealt with the improvement of assessment of traditional skills. However, the focus should be on the so-called 21st Century skills: CPS, creativity, critical thinking, learning to learn, decision-making. Ras et al. (2013) state that for many challenges in TBA, ICT are the solution to assess 21st Century skills, but also the problem, as scientific knowledge about how assessment models need to be adapted as well as practical knowledge about how to create more authentic problem situations with future assessment tools are lacking. Until now there is no TUI that has been systematically used and evaluated in the context of TBA. Moreover, in TBA, gestures on TUIs have not been yet explored. Thus not only is the research of TUI as an assessment construct a new research field, but also the dimension of gestures makes GETUI an innovative and timely project. This interdisciplenary research will not only fill the gap of scientific knowledge, but will also have an impact at a European level creating new instruments for assessing 21st Century skills based on capturing behavioural indices of human-computer and human-human interactions in collaborative TBA situations. Ras E, Maquil V, Foulonneau M, Latour T (2013) Empirical studies on a Tangible user interface for technology-based assessment: Insights and emerging challenges. Pedagogy and Technology: Harmony and Tensions International Journal of e-Assessment, 3(1).

In this research program, I will develop and use a tool solving for the dynamics of the coupled spin and structural (polarization and oxygen octahedral tilts) order parameters in bismuth ferrite nanostructures. The final outcome will be twofold: (1) advancements in the understanding and optimization of the collective magnetoelectric (ME) switching of BFO at the mesoscale. The focus will be on elucidating the influence of domain topology, size, elastic and electrical boundary conditions on the ME coupling (and resulting switching properties useful for an emergent device concept). (2) an open-source computational package to simulate both magnetic dipoles and structural distortions in a single dynamical phase-field simulation, useful for both BFO and also other multiferroic compounds. The developed open-source software Ferret, will be benchmarked against available codes and methods and to demonstrate a rigorous feasibility for use in academic research and industrial applications.

Forests play a crucial climate-regulating role, acting as a resilient interface between the soil and the atmosphere, fostering biodiversity, natural resources or carbon capture. However, climate change, especially severe droughts, may push them beyond their limits. Traditional eco-hydrological methods provide valuable insights on tree-water interactions, but observational gaps hinder a full understanding of how trees mitigate water stress and source water. What could be the advantages of geophysical monitoring? With recent advancements in geoelectrical and Fibre Optic Sensing (FOS) technologies, geophysics can monitor water storage and fluxes within and around trees with unprecedented resolution. In ForestPulse, I will address methodological barriers to unlock the full potential of geophysical monitoring in forest ecosystems. Advanced monitoring systems at the Bambësch Forest, Luxembourg, will track seasonal and diurnal water dynamics wihtin the soil-tree-atmosphere continuum and enhance our understanding of tree responses to drought. Long-term geoelectrical monitoring, using a distributed network of open-source resistivity meters, will image soil and tree water dynamics on beech stands. Pilot FOS experiments will investigate finer-scale water uptake and flow patterns. Hosted in a multidisciplinary team of eco-hydrologists at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, I will foster interdisciplinary collaboration. Secondments at the Université libre de Bruxelles and Royal Observatory of Belgium will support cutting-edge methodological advancements. ForestPulse will enhance my career by strategically focusing my geophysical expertise on eco-hydrological challenges. Integrating open-source geophysical tools into forest monitoring and improving the observability of tree-water dynamics will contribute to more sustainable forest management practices, help to fight climate change, and pave the way for future research projects on eco-hydrogeophysics.