Microorganisms have a central role in soil biogeochemical processes. Essential functions include nutrient cycling, controlling greenhouse gas fluxes and supporting crop productivity. Soil is one of the most diverse habitats in the biosphere. High throughput sequencing has enabled characterisation of microbial communities, and determination of drivers such as climate and land use are well underway. However, we are only beginning to recognise the scale of viral diversity in soil, and importantly, the impacts of virus-host interactions on key soil biogeochemical cycles and subsequent functional consequences on ecosystems are unknown. Viruses have a range of life strategies, including infection and lysis of host cells or integration followed by lysis, facilitating horizontal transfer of genes and augmentation of function. When a host is lysed, cell contents are released into the labile organic matter pool. In marine systems, 40% of prokaryotes are lysed per day, releasing 150 Gt carbon per annum. However, there is a paucity of information about the impact of top-down control by viruses on soil populations nor the scale of the viral shunt of nutrients. It is likely that viruses have a major impact on microbial diversity and nutrient cycling, with consequences for ecosystem processes. Here we propose a research programme that not only aims to characterise active viral communities in situ, but advances the state-of-the-art by identifying actual impacts of viruses on selected key biogeochemical processes. Specifically, using a series of soil microcosm incubations utilising 13C stable isotope analysis, high throughput metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches, in combination with measurements of soil N and C fluxes, we will characterise, for the first time, active viruses together with direct measurements of their impact on biogeochemical cycles.

Building on TalTech’s expertise in the field of computer engineering and its high-level capacity in the domain of diagnostics and testing of nanoelectronic systems, this project aims at establishing in TalTech, with the strong support of the Advanced Partners, the capacity to R&D&I a complete customised AI-chip design flow. The research ambition of the TAICHIP (TalTech AI-chip) action is a leading-edge forward-thinking R&D framework for reliable and resource-efficient custom AI-chips based on open HW architectures (e.g., RISC-V, NVDLA), open EDA (Electronic Design Automation) tools, methodologies and implementation technologies satisfying the requirements of AI applications of tomorrow. TAICHIP project also allows building at TalTech the necessary scientific knowledge, research skills, administrative and management skills, as well as strengthening its advanced training and education capacity. Evenly related to the central goal are the additional measures that focus on building the supporting capacities, as well as dissemination, exploitation and communication, and public policy focused activities.

Development of efficient, safe, green, and reconfigurable manufacturing systems requires seamless integration between software and hardware solutions, requiring cooperation between experts from different fields. The project aims to make advancements in green manufacturing systems through collaborative robots (CoBots), making them viable for SMEs. The field of robotics faces the challenge of a disconnect between experts from computer science that provide generic solutions and the end-users that work and interact with the hardware. By bridging this gap to enable the development of lightweight, efficient, and sustainable CoBots, SureROB will holistically train skilled researchers to contribute to European manufacturing. Through a well-balanced consortium of renowned academic bodies and industrial partners from seven countries, SureROB will develop and benchmark industrially feasible solutions. The focus would be not only to make the manufacturing process sustainable, but also address the sustainability of manufacturing CoBots themselves. Green tools and techniques will be developed. An important target would be achieving up to 20% reduction in the weight of the robot's components (drives and arms), resulting in lower energy consumption without compromising on the system reliability and robustness. Structural and geometric optimisation of the drives and arms will be investigated to improve the dynamic behaviour and efficiency with software-based design solutions. These will be supported with vibration control strategies working in sync with optimised path planning and condition monitoring strategies. Numerical and experimental evaluation of the developed solutions will be conducted for benchmarking them against the reference system. SureROB will address the cost and impact of existing technologies to make them economically feasible and eco-friendly, and will actively disseminate the results, engage with the public, and promote open science.

The open fan concept has been around for decades. Its high propulsive efficiency combined with the elimination of the nacelle drag and weight has been always appealing to replace high by-pass ratio ducted fans and reduce CO2 and NOx emissions. The CS1 and CS2 programs have made relevant efforts to pursue the contra-rotating open rotor (CROR) concept as well. Though CROR has not made it to market, progress has been done reducing noise levels to that of ducted fans. Open fans exhibit several differences with respect to ducted fans which by today are highly sophisticated components accumulating decades of research. The chasm between the OP concept and its product is too big to be covered by a single demonstrator since a wrong materialization of the idea can give rise to misleading conclusions. Turbomachinery simulations have been perfected for decades and are essential to close the gap between the concept and the detailed implementation of the product. However, open rotors exacerbate existing problems (e.g., blade-to-blade variations even for small angles of attack, strong coupling between CO2 and noise emissions, etc.). Moreover, open fans lack publicly available data or test cases preventing researchers from validating their ideas. The first global assessment of CS2 reported an expected noise reduction of -9dB in the innovative TP 130 pax project with respect to the last generation of ducted fans though at a lower flight Mach number. This project aims to obtain relevant noise and performance experimental data of an unducted single fan (USF) for the short/medium-range aircraft with two objectives. Firstly, confirm that about 5-10 dB noise reduction is achievable at the expense of a slight penalty in fan efficiency, and secondly, validate and expand the scope of numerical tools. An experimental database with the key results of the projects will be built to unlock the application of the USF for SAF, Hydrogen, and Hybrid-electric engine and aircraft configurations.

Globally, 50-70% of the N fertilizer applied to cropping systems is lost as nitrate and N-oxides, raising agricultural production costs and contributing to pollution and climate change. These losses are directly linked to the nitrification process catalysed by soil nitrifying microbes. The mitigation of reactive nitrogen (Nr) loss via nitrification inhibitors (NIs) is a promising solution for increasing N use efficiency (NUE) in agriculture. ACTIONr aims to unravel the scientific excellence and innovation potential of a Widening country (Greece), through a European network of excellence on establishing novel tools and pathways for optimized NUE, reducing the continued acceleration of the N cycle, and decreasing the environmental footprint of Nr. As a centre for Greek agricultural production, Thessaly is suited to serve as a model for research on microbial N transformations for optimizing NUE in agroecosystems, but local capacity is not fully explored yet. Twinning of UTH with two internationally leading partners in Ecogenomics (UNIVIE) and Microbial Ecology (CNRS) of the soil N cycle will: (i) further develop research excellence of UTH, (ii) improve its networking efficiency and interdisciplinarity, and (iii) have broad societal and environmental impact towards more efficient N management in agricultural settings. These objectives will be achieved through the implementation of a well-designed plan of training, networking, and dissemination/communication activities, including staff exchanges, on-site training, summer schools and symposia, working groups on protocol unification, integrated PhD programs, and outreach events directed towards potential stakeholders and local communities. The expected impacts include an increase in scientific output and capacity building of UTH, the integration of sustainable N-fertilization strategies at EU level in compliance with SDG (e.g., SDG13 and 15), and the stimulation of public awareness on agri-environmental issues.