The negative attitudes towards immigration in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries were on clear display during the 2015/2016 immigration crisis, particularly in the Visegrád Group countries, but also in the Baltics. Against this backdrop, the overwhelming support for Ukrainians fleeing the war in CEE has come as a surprise to many. It has highlighted the huge inequalities in the treatment of Ukrainians vs. other third country asylum seekers and clearly revealed conditionality of migration and integration systems as well as their potential for change. While there have been countless examples of populist leaders being able to successfully stoke hostility towards immigrants, there is little evidence to indicate what can systematically decrease anti-immigrant sentiments in CEE on such a broad scale. Making use of the unique historical conditions, the project draws from scientific disciplines often overlooked in research on attitudes towards migrants (memory studies, history, security studies, political science, behavioural economics, communication etc.) aiming to generate an original understanding of societal attitudes that go beyond ‘xenophobia’ and ‘prejudice’, and raises broader questions about the relationship between structural, political, cultural, economic, ideological, and agential influences on attitudes towards immigration. The project is based on case studies of three CEE countries (Poland, Latvia, Hungary) and Italy as a benchmark case. While most previous research focuses on negative narratives surrounding immigration, this project seeks to learn from the experience with Ukrainian refugees in CEE and looks for practical solutions on how to effectively counter the negative narratives. In addition to qualitative research methods, it relies on a novel experimental survey design based on full factorial analysis to test how attitudes are influenced by different characteristics of migrants and different framing (information treatment)

During the project, studies of the structure and dynamics of negative ions will be performed with the aim of improving our knowledge and understanding of atomic systems in which electron correlation effects play a major role. Spectroscopic measurements of the process of removing an electron from negative ions will be studied. Several experimental equipment will be used for the work. Initial experiments will be carried out on the ion beam equipment GRIBA (Gothenburg Riga Ion Beam Accelerator), which is located at the Institute of Atomic Physics and Spectroscopy, using the TOF (Time of Flight) spectrometer. Information on the structure of negative ion energy levels will be obtained. The obtained information will make it possible to plan the scheme of the experiment and the necessary (mainly lasers) for high-precision measurements on very advanced experimental equipment at Europe\\\'s leading science facilities: GANDALPH at CERN, and DESIREE at Stockholm University. Finally, high-precision data will be obtained and will be published in the world\\\'s leading journals and reported at conferences. Senior scientists will work on the project together with MSc, BSc and PhD students. Their results will be used in their PhD, master and bachelor thesis. The data for negative ions are needed by specialists in various fields of science and technology: atomic and molecular physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics, atmospheric photochemistry, medicine, semiconductor industry, energetics etc.

In a rapidly changing global context marked by digital advancements and critical issues like the Ukraine conflict and climate change, our project seeks innovative ways to enhance social cohesion and civic engagement. Emphasizing a multidisciplinary approach, it aims to comprehensively analyze Latvia\'s cohesion policy, covering its evolution, characteristics, and administration. This entails integrating philosophical, sociological, economic, environmental, and psychological insights. Key areas include Societal Cohesion and Identity Formation, Media Environment and Information Resilience, Language and Cultural Integration, and Socio-Economic Impact and Sustainable Development. Additionally, the project incorporates open-science activities and a strong emphasis on science communication to ensure broad dissemination and impact. It will produce peer-reviewed publications across various disciplines and engage with policymakers for actionable recommendations, contributing significantly to the fields of social cohesion and civil society research.

Development of new, molecular marker-based method of detecting seeds of plant species in the soil seed bank can become a tool useful for fundamental and applied research of plant populations. This research is aimed at a practical problem: detection of Apera spica-venti, a weed species that has potential to reduce yield of important cereal crops in Europe and other cereal-growing areas. Conventional methods of soil seed bank analysis are extremely labor-intensive or time-consuming, which is an important limitation to soil seed bank research. The aim of the project is to develop a set of molecular markers for detecting seeds of A. spica-venti in soil samples. To achieve this aim, first, in silico design and selection of primers useful for selective amplification of target species A. spica-venti will be performed. Publicly available datasets with A. spica-venti sequence data will be used for this purpose. Specificity of the designed primers will be tested using DNA isolated from several target weed individuals as well as DNA of other weed and crop species. The performance of the selected primers will be validated using soil samples spiked with A. spica-venti seeds. Two different methods, qPCR and KASP will be used at this stage. This research will extend the use of molecular detection methods in soil seed bank research beyond parasitic weed species and include a Poaceae family species which is an economically important arable weed.

In this action, we propose a novel portable and cost-effective multispectral device for smartphones that will monitor dog skin health in terms of erythema. Up to 50-% of European households own a dog, and the five of the ten most common reasons for a veterinary visit can be reflected in erythematous skin. Currently, there are no methods for the objective estimation of the intensity of erythema. In this action, we will first develop multispectral near-infrared device for the detection of extra absorption peaks of hemoglobin. In order to learn about hemodynamics, we will continue with objective measurements of capillary refill time. Then, we will develop a device for the multimodal acquisition of visible multispectral and fluorescence images and near-infrared multispectral data. This will serve for an estimation of erythema intensity by calculating an erythema index. The latter will be validated using existing dermatological tests (e.g. CADESI) in order to study whether erythema index can replace erythema visual assessment. Finally, we will investigate if there is any correlation between erythema and underlying causes (tumors). The proposed methods can simplify and improve current diagnostic procedures in veterinary dermatology. The action will improve the experienced researcher’s knowledge and skills in both fields of his profession: biophotonics and veterinary medicine, which will lead to well integrated interdisciplinary knowledge. This will allow the researcher to address interdisciplinary research challenges much better and, consequently, enhance his future career prospects. Furthermore, he will also obtain additional training to acquire extra professional skills (e.g. mentorship). Moreover, the beneficiary’s biophotonic techniques will be upgraded and promoted in the new scientific field (i.e. veterinary medicine). Additionally, the host will be able to better validate his work with higher number of samples, which will make research in human medicine much safer.