Active phenomena across scales in biological systems (ACTIVE)

New perspectives on the multiscale organisation of life by developing new concepts of active matter across biological scales.

The project at a glance

Start date:

01 Nov 2020
Duration in months:

78
Funding:

FNR – Luxembourg
Principal Investigator(s):

Massimiliano ESPOSITO

About

The Doctoral Training Unit ACTIVE aims at training 14 PhD students in the emerging field of active systems, i.e. systems subjected to nonequilibrium driving forces keeping them away from thermodynamic equilibrium. This relatively new field is rapidly growing in importance and has enormous implications for the understanding of living systems, which represent by far the most complex class of active systems. A particular focus is placed on the multiscale organisation of primary metabolism as the essential mechanism to keep living systems out of equilibrium. The links between intramolecular energy transfers, enzyme activity and nutrient exchanges are analyzed from the perspective of active interactions at the molecular, cellular and population level. The integration of these complementary approaches lays out more general strategies to study active interactions in mesoscopic systems and provides new insights into the nonequilibrium organisation of life. The DTU ACTIVE brings together 9 internationally leading research groups in Biology, Physics and Engineering at the University of Luxembourg. The PhD students have the unique opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary and collaborative environment that brings together theory with analytical and computational approaches of active living matter and cutting-edge experiments from life science across various scales (molecular, cellular and population level). ACTIVE is framed within the broader Complex Living Systems initiative at the University of Luxembourg that aims at joining forces at the interface between Physics and Biology to quantitatively reveal the mechanisms at work in living systems. This initiative perfectly coincides with the priority areas appearing Luxembourg’s National Priorities for Public Research, as published in 2019 by the FNR, as ACTIVE facilitates scientific progress and trains the next generation of researchers needed for this newly emerging innovative and interdisciplinary field. Research groups leading this effort are: ● Complex Systems and Statistical Physics, led by Massimiliano Esposito (DTU ACTIVE coordinator) – Physics and Materials Science Department (DPhyMS) ● Integrative Cell Signalling led by Alexander Skupin – Luxembourg Center for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) ● Physics of Living Matter led by Anupam Sengupta (DPhyMS) ● Theoretical Chemical Physics led by Alexandre Tkatchenko (DPhyMS). ● Theory of Mesoscopic Systems led by Thomas Schmidt (DPhyMS) ● Enzymology & Metabolism led by Carole Linster (LCSB) ● Systems Control led by Jorge Goncalves (LCSB) ● Computational mechanics led by Stéphane Bordas from the Institute of Computational Engineering and Science ● Active matter group of Etienne Fodor (DPhyMS) We value your feedback and inquiries. Contact prof. Massimiliano Esposito.

Complex Living Systems Initiative