How were court and civic festivities funded in the early modern period? This innovative, interdisciplinary project aims to shed light on an often disregarded aspect of the history of theatre and music: the economic realities of the production of public and private ceremonial and entertainment in early modern France. Scholars have tended to examine multiple aspects of such festivities (their allegorical meanings, political function, the artists involved, the birth of new theatrical and musical genres, etc.), but there is still no specific, systematic research that has dealt with quantifying the expenditure on such ephemeral cultural activities that could themselves be the subject of both blame (as a wasteful use of time and money) and praise (propaganda in favour of the sovereign, the state, and civic communities). The conventional view of festivities as a case of lavish conspicuous consumption is often supported by one set of sources reporting on it, such as printed descriptions, diary entries, letters, and so forth. But the information contained within these documents is usually determined by their function (official propaganda) or its sources (hearsay and gossip). Financial accounts of these festivities themselves, however, often present a different picture wherein expenses are carefully controlled and subject to prudent budget management. The gap between these “real” expenses and “fictional” expenditures is akin to the gap between reality and theatrical illusion; it also forces consideration of the professional world of artists and artisans—and the opportunities available to them—who created these festivities under taut economic and other constraints. The results of this pioneering survey, alongside with those already conducted by the ER on Florentine festival expenses, will make a further step towards a comprehensive study of the economics of spectacle at a transnational and european level.

This project aims at bridging the gap between describing, reflecting on, and experiencing historical soundscapes. It will integrate historical, sensorial, and artistic approaches so as to retrieve the soundscapes of Early Modern Royal entries in Iberian cities in the time of Emperor Charles V (1517-58). Sonic information will be extracted from coeval documentation to be analysed and organised in a database and georeferenced in a map through GIS technology. The sound data will serve as the basis to create an immersive multimedia event, where selected sonic scenes will be reproduced by engineered sound and live music. The spatial surroundings will be recreated through historical paintings and 3D renditions of selected urban spaces. The immersive event will be a highly distinctive experience, with the potential to transform the traditional understanding of historical events by introducing elements of sensorial scholarship. It will facilitate exposure of high-quality repertoire within specific historical events. Likewise, the project will explore new avenues of the possibilities that the use of digital technologies provides to the understanding of music historical subjects (as postulated by European policies such as 'Digital Futures') and its management as intangible heritage. This research will make academic impact at different levels. The most significant will be the establishment of a groundbreaking methodology to facilitate the experiencing of sensorial experiences of the past, drawing on a phenomenological perspective. It will provide complementary tools to the traditional understanding of historical soundscapes, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration that will bring together areas such as music, history, geography, performance, and technology. Ultimately, it will open alternative pathways to communicate historical events to modern audiences.

Plants produce some of the most potent human therapeutics and have been used for millennia to treat illnesses. The monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) are plant secondary metabolites that show a remarkable structural diversity and pharmaceutically valuable biological activities with more than 2,000 MIAs derived from the common precursor strictosidine. However, because most MIA chemicals do not have their biosynthetic pathways elucidated and MIA-producing plants are not genetically trackable, MIAs are under-represented in recently introduced medicines. In the consortium for Refactoring of Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloids in Microbial Cell Factories (MIAMi) our main objective is to develop sustainable microbial production of new human therapies for the benefit of the European biotech industry, human health, and the environment. To do so, MIAMi will i) develop a new approach for MIA biosynthetic pathway discovery in plants founded on supervised learning algorithms based on omics data sampled from > 20 MIA producing plants, ii) contribute to standardisation of bioengineering by development of SOPs for characterisation of > 100 DNA elements for control of gene expression, protein interactions, and sub-cellular localisation, iii) build a public parts repository and Bio-CAD for forward engineering of compartmentalised biosynthetic pathway designs in yeast, and iv) apply automated genome engineering to prototype > 1,000 new-to-nature MIA biosynthetic pathway designs in order to identify robust designs for scale-up microbial MIA production processes, and evaluate the environmental benefits and risks compared to existing value chains. The excellent, interdisciplinary and inter-sectorial consortium will showcase the use of the new approaches and standardised data inventory to produce both commercially available and new-to-market MIAs rauwolscine, tabersonine and alstonine in yeast, and finally test their bioactivity as new cancer and psychosis treatment drug leads.

Non-invasively imaging small numbers of molecular probes, to help image particular targets or pathways in vivo, is currently undergoing a technological revolution. Recent breakthroughs in molecular hyperpolarization proved > 10,000-fold increase in sensitivity on conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, thus providing insight into previously unseen metabolic processes with enormous potential for socioeconomic relevant diseases. E.g. pyruvate-based hyperpolarized imaging was clinically demonstrated to be effective for prostate cancer diagnostics in human patients. However, the current state-of-the-art hyperpolarization methods are expensive and cumbersome, limiting the access to hyperpolarization technology, and require long hyperpolarization times of 60-90 minutes per dosage; hyperpolarization probes exhibit short hyperpolarization duration (1-5 minutes), limiting the usage of hyperpolarization to metabolic imaging. A quantum technological breakthrough, Nitrogen-Vacancy defects (NV centres) in diamonds, is set to revolutionize the field of hyperpolarization for both hyperpolarizer and probes. The primary objective of HYPERDIAMOND is the development and commercialization of two new molecular imaging technologies for sensitive diagnosis and treatment monitoring, based on NV centres: The Diamond Hyperpolarizer will offer a cost- and time-effective solution for hyperpolarization that easily fits current MRI layouts, hyperpolarizes within 5 minutes, and improves clinical viability. The Nano-diamond (ND) Probe will introduce the first targeted MRI probe capable of achieving comparable molecular sensitivity to positron emission tomography (PET) with MRI systems, exhibiting extremely long hyperpolarization duration (~1 hour), and enabling non-metabolic hyperpolarized imaging. HYPERDIAMOND will bridge the gap between novel quantum and nanotechnology and their applications in hyperpolarized imaging, producing innovation not feasible with current technology.

The 4CH project will design and prepare for a European Competence Centre (CC) on the Conservation of Cultural Heritage which will work proactively for the preservation and conservation of cultural heritage (CH). The project aims to start implementing the structure, organization and services of the CC which will operate as a virtual infrastructure providing expertise, advice and services using state-of-the-art ICT with a special focus on 3D technology. A Strategic Advisory Board, including representatives of major national and international CH bodies, will be established to advise on cultural, scientific, technological, financial, strategy and policy areas. 4CH will design and implement the ICT infrastructure of the CC, based on a Cultural Heritage Cloud, compliant with the EOSC vision, to provide an open collaborative digital space for cultural heritage conservation giving access to repositories of data, metadata, standards and guidelines. Access to High Performance Computing service providers will be supported. The core results of 4CH work will comprise of: • a holistic interdisciplinary approach to state-of-the-art 3D documentation of monuments and sites for conservation, preservation, access and exploitation • guidance on policies and strategies • a catalogue of well-documented standards • an inventory of software and tools • guidelines for data acquisition, management and storage • a set of success stories on advanced digitization • advice on funding opportunities • training and education plans for professionals and managers • communication and dissemination of 4CH results • a complete business model and a sustainability plan for the Competence Centre. 4CH will foster the implementation of actions to substantially increase the number and the quality of digitized sites, documents and monuments.