This project will demonstrate the significance of semiotics (the study of meaning-making) for science and society by developing a definition and conceptualisation of one of the most emblematic phenomena of Modernity: the brand. Indeed, although brands are of interest to us all, they remain multifaceted phenomena and defining them proves to be quite a difficult task: they are associated with entities that are not only very different to each other (e.g. an organisation, a product, a logo), but also hazy (e.g. a service, values). Whether one comes from marketing or social sciences, the quasi-ontological question of “what a brand is?” turns out to be a real intellectual challenge. Thus, drawing on and developing the theoretical and methodological apparatus of semiotics, the objective of this fellowship will be (O1) to define what a brand is semio-ontologically and what it produces semio-functionally. This involves determining how brands physically come into existence, and what they bring, in turn, to the social experience of the individuals who use them. The conclusions of my PhD thesis on the concept of “forms of life” will bring innovative hypotheses that will also enable me (O2) to create an alternative model for brand identity to those developed over the last 20 years in marketing, notably because it will place experience at the heart of all the issues. Finally, to refine the model and reveal its advantages, I will conduct a case study aimed at (O3) modelling the identity of Marca Perú, the Peruvian nation brand. By (O4) investigating the meaningful gap, that brands always raise, between promised experiences (in communication) and real-life experiences (in consumption), this case study will complete and conclude my principal objectives (O1-O2), as well as the global aim of this fellowship: to contribute to the development of the European semiotics in non-academic sectors (specifically the business one) and in other continents (mainly the American one).

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

An important requirement of performance-based earthquake engineering is the simultaneous control of structural and non-structural damage. Structural damage measures are related to story drifts, inelastic deformations and residual drifts. Non-structural damage measures are related to story drifts and storey accelerations. Earthquake reconnaissance reports highlight that injuries, fatalities and economical losses related to failure of non-structural components far exceed those related to structural failures. Moreover, explicit consideration of non-structural damage becomes vital in the design of critical facilities such as hospitals carrying acceleration-sensitive medical equipment, which have to remain functional in the aftermath of an earthquake. Structural and non-structural damage results in direct and indirect losses such as repair costs and costly downtime during which the building is repaired and cannot be used or occupied. Therefore, there is an urgent need for minimal-damage structures that can truly achieve seismic resilience. Researchers have developed self-centering frames with the goal of avoiding residual drifts. Other studies focused on increasing the energy dissipation capacity of structures by adding dampers with the goal of reducing storey drifts and storey accelerations. This project aims to couple, for the first time, self-centring systems and modern seismic energy dissipation systems with the goal of developing a novel earthquake-resilient steel frame. The optimal combined design of the self-centering and energy dissipation mechanisms will lead to a steel frame with superior minimal-damage seismic performance.

This proposal presents unique and innovative approaches for ultra-high-resolution functional electrochemical imaging of living cells, using smart nanometer probes that will enable the investigation of bio-physicochemical process within a single living cell with unprecedented sub-cellular resolution. Truly nanoscale electrochemical probes will be developed that shall be capable of performing multiple in-situ and time-resolved electrochemical measurements, and synchronously map cell topography. This will bring a whole analyses laboratory onto a probe tip in a new conceptual idea of a “lab-on-a-tip”, which is at the core of this proposal. Using PC12 cells as an exemplar, we will investigate cellular uptake/release, cellular membrane charge heterogeneity (down to the single protein) and temperature gradients, as well as chemical and environmental aspects to respiration. The developments from this proposal will represent a major breakthrough in functional electrochemical imaging and will elucidate key cellular processes. This developments will have a huge impact on life sciences and on the electrochemical imaging field and, granted the wide applicability of electrochemical imaging, will be hugely beneficial for other areas of science. The proposal is highly interdisciplinary, and there is a natural fit between the Fellow’s profile and activities at the Host Group and collaborators in Life Sciences. The proposal draws on the Fellow’s solid background in chemistry and instrumentation development, which will be married with the world-leading research on new nanoscale functional imaging techniques of the Warwick Host. With support and expertise from the Host, this project will provide the applicant, Gabriel N. Meloni, with an outstanding opportunity to pioneer a new area of science, from which he will benefit in the future as he develops his independence. The project build and strengthen scientific links between the Gabriel’s home country (Brazil) and groups in Europe.

Antibiotics are a vital part of modern medicine. However, the available arsenal of antibiotics becomes less effective as microorganisms develop "resistance" against them. The resulting crisis in medicine necessitates development of new drugs. Natural products inspired compounds are a potential solution to this challenge. For example, gladiolin biosythesized by a mulitenzyme polyketide synthase (PKS) was shown to be active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a multidrug resistant bacterium that one third of world’s population is infected with. The PKS producing gladiolinum is a good example of multienzymatic assembly lines that due to their modular nature are ideal for genetic manipulation paving the way for synthetic biology approach to produce new drugs (that are difficult to synthesize using chemical methods). However, for such approach to be successful it is crucial to understand molecular level structural and dynamical factors responsible for controlling directionality and specificity of biosynthesis. Neglecting such factors, when modifying PKSs often results in assembly lines that are inactive or dysfunctional. Here we propose to use a novel approach combining state-of-the-art solution and solid-state NMR methods to investigate structure, dynamics and interactions of proteins from module 12 of gladiolin PKS, particularly acyl carrier proteins (ACP12a and ACP12b) and special adapter ketosynthase (KS12), all of them highly required in industrial biosynthesis toolbox. We will use solution NMR to characterize isolated ACPs and solid-state NMR to study ACPs-KS12 complexes (direct structural information is difficult to obtain by solution NMR due to the large complex size). Combining solution and solid-state NMR relaxation methods will allow us to probe protein motions over 6 orders of magnitude providing a comprehensive picture of relevant dynamic changes in ACPs-KS12 complexes.